The 7 Mindsets To Live Your Ultimate Life

by Scott Shickler, JEFF WALLER

If everyone wants to live a happy & successful life, why do so few achieve it?This simple question launched a multi-year, multi-million dollar research project searching for the commonalities of happy and successful people.After thousands of hours of research; 400 interviews, and the deconstruction of over 100 books; the results are astounding.So what do happy & successful people have in common? Well, it’s not whether they grew up in a loving home or a broken home, or whether they were rich or poor. It doesn’t have anything to do with how far they went in school or even their skill sets. Simply put, what they have in common is how they think, and in particular, what we call The 7 Mindsets.The most surprising discovery was that the vast majority of people are not living these 7 Mindsets, but in actuality, are thinking and acting in direct opposition to them.This book provides an unexpected blueprint to living an extraordinary life. The findings are revolutionary and will impact countless lives. If you want to live your ultimate life and help ensure that future generations do as well, then this book is a must read!

Genres: Nonfiction

190 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2013

Reviews

[Melissa Colby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a quick read with some practical advice on achieving your dreams or, as they call it, your "ultimate life". It gives seven pieces of advice backed with evidence. The writers researched the lives of hundreds of successful, happy people and took their observations to create seven common characteristics/actions those people took that positively impacted their life. I liked their idea of 100% Accountability, giving first, and finding your unique dream. The idea of dream big and follow your dreams is hackneyed, but they put a nice spin on it by explaining that your dream needs to align with your unique talents, which is something many of my students need to learn. Overall, it was full of good reminders and inspiring stories and I was able to read it in two sittings.

[Amy Soma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this book for work. I'm always a little skeptical of pop psychology and this book is no exception. While I did find many good ideas that I think I will try to implement, I found myself questioning some of the "data" and premises. Still, it did cause me to pause and reflect on my own life practices, which is never harmful.

[Beth Lind · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great advice in a simple format.

[Kimberley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Where do I begin? This text of large print and lots of spaces consists of 159 pages: pages 1 and 2 contain a message from the authors, pages 3 - 8 are the introduction, pages 9 - 124 are full of regurgitated inspirational words, anecdotes, and movie examples from fictional characters I've heard numerous times (they even include "Forrest Gump" and "Pay It Forward"). The only anecdotes and quotes I've never heard are the very few contributed by the actual "authors."

I read this book to consider its potential to help middle school and high school students, as an SEL program. Unfortunately, all I found was two men without the credentials, in my opinion, to be selling this "program" to public schools.

And I'm not done: pages 125 - 134 are Afterword and commercials. I strongly encourage anyone considering this program to actually fact check, as I did, some of their claims. Pages 135 - 136 contain the authors' bios - please read these carefully. Read what they really say. Pages 137 - 142 are Acknowledgments. Pages 143 - 148 contain Appendix A: People Interviewed and Studied - this one is laughable. Please allow me to do the math for you: out of 100 listed, only 23 were actual interviews. Out of the 23, 14 are other authors and/or motivational speakers. Think about it.

I'm still not done here. Pages 149 - 155 contain Appendix B: Reference Books (because, trust me, this book contains A LOT of other people's words). Page 156 is completely blank. Pages 157 - 159 contain "More Praise" for this text. I failed to mention there's some of that on the first few pages because there are no page numbers on them.

Now, if you made it all the way to here and are still considering wasting your time on this text, don't say I didn't warn you. It took everything I had to get through it for work. I'll never get that time back. However, the rabbit trail it sent me on to really look into this program was worthy of my time to give my school district an honest opinion of what I think about this text and the men who "wrote" it.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why did the world need this book? I had read it for my job and I am insulted that I had to pay $25 for a book that is barely 100 pages and basically repeats material that can be found anywhere and everywhere else in the self-help book section. There is no new thinking here and no research-based evidence to add depth.

The authors have parlayed this into a school curriculum program where they teach each aphorism-filled chapter as a part of a student advisory program. But it will cost you $5 per student.

I guess this is the safe, watered-down content that sells well and doesn't challenge anyone. No grit building, no quiestioning. Just safe cliches formulated out of light philosophy. What a racket.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first reaction was - this is obvious. My second reaction was - though this is obvious, why am I so often critical of others or dismissive rather than proactive. I am thinking more about my actions and trying to be more aware of my internal thoughts and outward behaviors. I am working toward more intentional positive actions.

[Clare Brookshire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is fine. Great messages but a bit too pseudoscientific for my own taste. There are better books on mindset out there.

[Martha]

Required reading at school. Not terribly inspiring, it rehashes old ideas. Never hurts to be reminded of them, but I've read better motivational books.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good ideas in here, but lots of selling us on more books and trainings in this series.