Plot summary
This book describes the theory and practice behind Weldon Long's amazing journey from high school dropout, derelict dad, and prison inmate to upright, wealthy, contributing member of the human community. The first three chapters are theoretical and deal primarily with the importance of the thoughts that dominate our stream of consciousness. Long emphasizes that thoughts produce feelings, which produce expectations that eventually come true. In other words, we indeed are what we think and our lives will never amount to more than our dreams. The second part of the book is more interesting and innovative and deals with the practice of turning your life around by preparing a "prosperity plan". The author details several steps such as describing our dreams in great detail, creating incredible focus (this really helped me!), and forging an emotional bond with the dreams and goals that we laid out in the previous steps, a bond that will keep us consistently on the path to our dreams and thus inevitably propel us towards their realization.
My opinion
I have read numerous self-help books in my life, perhaps close to two hundred, and this one has to be one of the best. A lot of self-help books tell what you should do but very few tell you exactly how to do it in such a clear and simple way. I'll say it again: The instructions for detailing your dreams, focusing, and creating the necessary emotional bond are clear, precise and easy to understand. Personally I believe that taking complexity and making it simple is an act of genius, therefore, this is a book of genius. Thus, implementation of the practical principles detailed by Long is simple, easy and effective.
The fact that Long himself managed to use this system to extricate himself from such a hopeless and miserable situation proves to the reader that these principles really work and serves as inspiration. As Long puts it: "If a loser like me managed to do it while in jail, surely you can too." And he's probably right. So all you have to do is start working on the exercises detailed in the book and see where it takes you. I'll confess that I was so fired up by the book that I started putting together my "prosperity plan" while I was reading, and I must admit that I have never been so focused in my life (though I haven't become a millionaire yet…). In fact, this new blog is part of fulfilling my dreams.
Pros: The writing is extremely clear, very inspiring and sometimes even moving. The exercises are easy to understand and implement and seem to have a profound effect.
Cons: I'm grasping at straws here...well the title is terrible. I have no idea why the book is called "Prosperity Mindset Training for Sales and Business Professionals". This is a book for everyone, even high school students will benefit from it (and probably learn more from it than from their entire sojourn through the education system, but that's another issue…).
Who should read it: anyone who feels stuck in life, anyone who urgently desires change, and anyone who has trouble focusing, setting goals, or being consistent (that probably doesn't leave out all that many humans, does it?).
Bottom line: This is a great book, really one of a kind, and I cannot recommend it enough. If you are serious about changing your life, do yourself a favor and buy it. Read it through and do the exercises, and start your refocused, personal journey to the life of your dreams.