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The Essential Laws of Fearless Living: Find the Power to Never Feel Powerless Again

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The Essential Laws of Fearless Living is a stepbystep manual for all who aspire to realize their ultimate potential as a human being. In its seven chapters of forty concise essays, Finley explores deeply personal and meaningful ideas, revealing the secrets of the universe itself/ but he does so in a way that makes the journey fascinating, compelling, and comforting at the same time. A great hope fills the heart that the untold mystery of human existence has not only been revealed, but solved. Then, most importantly, at the close of each chapter readers are given specific insights and practical exercises that empower them to make real and lasting changes in their lives. Loneliness, stress, anger, and fear are replaced by a contentment, ease, compassion, and freedom that never fade away.

190 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

39 people are currently reading
212 people want to read

About the author

Guy Finley

248 books84 followers
BEST-SELLING "LETTING GO" author Guy Finley's encouraging and accessible message is one of the true bright lights in our world today. His ideas go straight to the heart of our most important personal and social issues -- relationships, success, addiction, stress, peace, happiness, freedom -- and lead the way to a higher life.

Finley is the acclaimed author of The Secret of Letting Go, The Essential Laws of Fearless Living and 35 other major works that have sold over a million copies in 18 languages worldwide. In addition, he has presented over 4,000 unique self-realization seminars to thousands of grateful students throughout North America and Europe over the past 25 years and has been a guest on over 400 television and radio shows, including appearances on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, NPR and many others. He is a member of the faculty of the Omega Institute and a daily contributor to Beliefnet.

Finley is Director of Life of Learning Foundation, the non-profit self-realization school in Merlin, Oregon, and his popular Key Lesson e-mails are read each week by 200,000 subscribers in 142 countries. His work is widely endorsed by doctors, business professionals, celebrities, and religious leaders of all denominations.

Guy's career reached this point through a circuitous path. Born into a successful show business family, he is the son of Late-Night TV and radio pioneer Larry Finley. His childhood friends were the sons and daughters of the most famous celebrities in the world. As a young man Guy enjoyed success in a number of areas including composing award-winning music for many popular recording artists including Diana Ross, The Jackson 5, Billy Preston, The Four Seasons, as well as writing the scores for several motion pictures and TV shows. From 1970-1979 he wrote and recorded his own albums under the Motown and RCA recording labels.

Throughout his youth, Guy suspected there was more to life than the type of worldly success that led to the emptiness and frustration he saw among his own "successful" friends and colleagues. In 1979, after travels throughout North America, India and the Far East in search of truth and Higher Wisdom, Guy voluntarily retired from his flourishing music career in order to simplify his life and to concentrate on deeper self-studies.

In addition to his writing and appearance schedule, Guy presents four inner-life classes each week at Life of Learning Foundation in Merlin, Oregon. These classes are ongoing and open to the public. Click here for more details about Guy's ongoing talks.

“Guy Finley is... one of the leading experts at the forefront of human potential.”
- Nightingale Conant

“Guy Finley's books are essential guides for positive living and achieving your maximum potential!”
- Suzanne Somers

“There is something profoundly healing in the way Guy Finley talks to us, as if he understands what we have gone through and what we are now capable of.”
- Hugh Prather
Author of Notes to Myself

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5 stars
65 (40%)
4 stars
45 (28%)
3 stars
30 (18%)
2 stars
12 (7%)
1 star
8 (5%)
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
Profile Image for Mycala.
556 reviews
September 13, 2016
I've been reading a lot of books on positive mindset lately. A lot of those books have titles with the word "depression" somewhere in them -- avoiding it, getting out of it, whatever. This book puts a more positive spin with its uplifting title, while still doling out some of the same ideas. Except that I never made it the whole way through any of the "depression" titles but I read through this one, making frequent notes and scribbling quotes and adding reminders to my calendar to ponder certain points over and over again. For example:

"The size of the discouragement you feel is directly proportional to the size of your insistence that life conform to your demands."

This one caused me to put down the book and go, "whoa." Not only that, but I nudged my other half and said, "hey listen to this!" and he went, "whoa." Of course, it makes perfect sense but it's one of those "hit me in the head with a brick" moments. "True peace doesn't exist outside Now -- the present moment." I have been trying to practice mindfulness for over a year now, and I feel like at the point I read this, it all made total sense. I almost want to write that on 100 stickys and post them everywhere, because it's the kind of thing that is so true and yet I constantly need to go back to it and remind myself of it.

This is a good book. I will read it over and over. Definitely "permanent library" worthy.
40 reviews3 followers
December 10, 2009
This was my second book by Guy Finley, and at first I was disappointed; it is a collection of his stuff from books and audio, and "attitude determines altitude" in the early pages hit me as trite and worn out.

Given that we are all at different places on the self-help continuum, one never knows what may strike a chord. Midway through the book I hit a gem that was worth the whole book(pg 69-71).

"Want what life wants." (rather than what you want). When you want what life wants:
- You are never disappointed with what happens
- You are always at the right place at the right time
- You are quietly confident no matter what the circumstances
- You are out of reach of anger and anxiety
- You are awake and sensitve to your surroundings
- You are free of feeling as though you've missed out.
- You are never thrown for a loss
- You are intotoa command of events
- You are mentailly quiet
- You are eternally grateful.

The simple guideline to follow to distinguish between what Life wants and what I want: "If any want is the source of anxiety or sorrow, that want is yours an not Life's. If the want has pain, it is in vain."

"Let Life bring you itself. Welcome it... Want what life wants"
Profile Image for Jean.
21 reviews
October 4, 2013
Read this a few years ago and liked it. Wanted to start it again.
Profile Image for LemontreeLime.
3,698 reviews17 followers
March 29, 2013
This is apparently a 'greatest hits' synopsis of other writings by this author. I think i can sum up the general gist in one line, however. "Become a Bodhisattva, and everything will be fine." Apparently if you can cast off all those human traits of irritation, guilt, envy, and the rest of what makes us miserable, and focus on just being happy, well then, you're going to be happy!! Imagine that. Maybe he's capable of this,(and if so, good for him,) and maybe other readers enjoy his track on the 'think yourself into perfection' movement,(and if it works for them, then yay), but I am afraid I am far too flawed and human to find success with his advice.

but the upside is since i read the 'greatest hits' i wont have to read any of the others. excellent. This was not for me.
1,199 reviews13 followers
July 16, 2012
I am totally loving these books by Guy Finley. They are speaking to me and each page brings important lessons from which I can relate and grow. I have never been more serious about re-reading and re-reading a series of books! I can't decide between reading the next one or going back and re-reading a previous one. Wow -I don't know how I stumbled upon this author, but am glad I did. Nothing like learning at the age of 59 things I wish I had known at age 19!

PS I was reading this book while on the exercise bike at 24-hour fitness and I was peddling as fast as I could. A gentleman walked by me and asked me what I was reading. When I gave him this title, he said " no wonder you are peddling so fast!"
Profile Image for Andrea Allen.
92 reviews2 followers
March 8, 2025
A very good read but quite heavy at times, I had to read over bits again.
28 reviews3 followers
August 21, 2012
Really well done and I loved the advice! The only thing that I wasn't as much a fan of in this book is that it can be a bit hard to follow at times. I do not recommend skimming through this book, you will need to take your time with it. However, with that being said, it's extremely well written. Just focus on it. I loved the information with it and believe that it is a good way to work on anxiety issues. Four stars.
Profile Image for Mike.
32 reviews9 followers
March 22, 2013
I found this book to be an excellent teacher. It served to review some principles already in action in my life.
I found the analogies to some children's classics a very effective writing style. A simple direct way to communicate.
In the first part of the book I had to re-read some bits that, to me, seemed slightly wordy. However the task was rewarded with the learning gained.

I will mark this as a to "re-read".
8 reviews1 follower
July 17, 2008
This book is a little bit lame. It has it's touching moments, but the author notedly tries to broaden the appeal to too large an audience (Christians, New-age, buddhists) and it really causes it to resonate poorly with me. I suppose I really don't like the author's prose although lots of the ideas are engaging for me (hence the 3 stars).
Profile Image for Leslie.
576 reviews10 followers
March 18, 2013
This is a "best of" some of Guy Finley's books. I enjoyed it but enjoyed "Let go and Live in the Now" and "Secret of Letting Go" more since he goes into more depth rather than jumping from topic to topic.
Profile Image for Jerry Williams.
115 reviews20 followers
March 13, 2016
One of the most powerful books that I have come across in the last few years, it's not just some "feel" good book filled with meaningless metaphors, everything that the book says is very prolific and spills over with practical positivity.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews

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