Careers Books

Ross Shafer has written a really funny book that encourages people to trust their own gut, instead of relying on self-help experts.

With regard to Anthony Robbins, he says, "I bought 'Awaken the Giant Within' but fell asleep before I could finish it. In speaking of Ken Blanchard, he notes, "The One-Minute Managers have been laid off."

Behind the humor, though, he offers some good (dare I say, self-help) advice. His overriding message is that you should trust yourself. Beyond that, he also offers suggestions such as:

- If someone has hurt you, practice forgiveness
- Don't place limitations on what you can achieve
- Invest in yourself (your own business) rather than the stock market
- Greatly enhance any career by learning to speak in public
- Don't let fear and worry keep you from charging ahead in life

This book will keep you entertained, while passing on some good advice on trusting your gut and living your life on your own terms!

A hysterical but poignant look at how to treat all the advice coming your way from the so-called advice experts who sell books to the masses to fill the void created by seemingly meaningless anxiety-filled lives. All this strife is created by the neverending capitalistic quest that is now in its downward spiral as our lives of instant gratification now have reached their pinnacle with Chinese-made flat screen TVs and plastic goods from Walmart that have filled our homes but leave our American lives empty. The American dream appears to be a good one until you realize that having a home stuffed full of junk you don't need doesn't equal nirvana. And Ross Shaffer points out that these self help books only get you to reevaluate what people perhaps were already aware of in a simpler, less materialistic time--this life is meant to be lived and moments shared--not acquired through career or material gains. Be happy and use all your senses to be thankful and celebrate your ordinary yet life-nourishing moments throughout your blessedly ordinary life.

I just couldn't put this book down. Funny and he made some very good points. He gave me a totally different perspective on Tony Robbins. A must read.

This is the best book I've ever purchased from Amazon. Ross Shafer's approach is quite refreshing. I haven't stopped laughing since buying this book.

After reading Ron Shafer's "Nobody Moved Your Cheese" I thought he would be a great guest on my radio show. He was! Ron's wit and charm shine through in this book! His insights are crisp and provide motivation without the fluff we are all unwillingly subjected to.

This book is by far my favorite book on the subject. I would recommend it to anyone starting out in their teaching career. Don't be put off by the "dummies" title.

This book is very easy to read and written in an informal style, but manages to provide great tips and information to make teaching a lot easier. I haven't started teaching yet, but this book has served to warn me about some problems and experiences I may encounter. It doesn't go over what they teach you in education courses, like lesson planning and educational psychology, but it does tell you things like what to do if you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of your class and gives management, organizational, and networking tips to help you avoid having to reinvent the wheel in some areas. Overall, a good read that I found hard to put down, because it was entertaining, helpful, and oh-so-true.

I really liked this book. I was an easy read, very helpful, and humorous! I was hesitant at first because it's written by a high school teacher, and I am elementary. However, his advice, tips, and warnings apply to ALL grade levels. This book skips the educational theories, and dives right into the important things that rookies really want to know: setting up your classroom for the 1st day; getting to know parents; how to deal with your administrators; and keeping your kids under control, among many other topics. The author includes many anecdotes from his teaching career. This book is excellent; I definitely recommend!

This book is one of the best I have read on being a teacher. I am a new teacher, but have been in the classroom for 10 years. The author has a very good insight on what it is all about, from dealing with the kids, the never ending responsibilities of being in charge of a classroom and dealing with the adults involved. W. Michael Kelley has a fantastic sense of humor and gives so many inspiring examples of how to make teaching fun, not only for the teacher but for the students as well. I highly recommend this book to rookie teachers as well as veteran teachers who feel they need to revamp their teaching styles and methods.

I am in the stages of deciding whether teaching would be a good career change for myself. Michael Kelley's book has really helped me get a clear picture of what to expect in the world of teaching. It is very easy to read and fun too -- he has a wonderful sense of humor and has some great antidotes. I highly recommend this book. This one will be going in my "to keep" pile as I have highlighted quite a few passages worth remembering.

You have an "inner CEO," a confident, balanced, successful executive persona that wants to emerge. Allan Cox provides insights, models and assessments to help you let that persona bloom. He develops his material at a certain pace and it gets stronger as you move deeper into the book. Bypass the book's sometimes puzzling charts and read the text for fresh perspectives on your career. Cox discusses building strong relationships, and explains why both learning and mentoring are important. //getAbstract// finds that his material on developing your vision and your company's mission is helpful, and recommends this book to those CEOs who have been so busy being bosses that they sometimes forget to be people.

As a Top CEO Coach, it was clear to me that in reading Allan's book that he had the credentials and experience to help CEOs seeking to refine their skills. In my book Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual: WHAT IT TAKES TO REACH THE C-SUITE AND STAY THERE I put forth many thoughts that compliment the information Allan provides. I would strongly recommend that any executive interested in becoming a CEO purchase Allan's book and refer to it often.

An outstanding book by Allan Cox, executive coach and respected author, filled with invaluable ideas and thought-provoking insights that are applicable to the college graduate about to enter the business world as well as the experienced senior executive. It's a must read for anyone seriously focused on self-development and planned career growth.

I began today watching an interview with Alicia Keys (CBS Sunday Morning), American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, pianist, actress, and author. Keys has sold over twenty million albums worldwide and has won numerous awards including nine Grammy Awards, eleven Billboard Music Awards, and three American Music Awards. Keys's success story is relevant to Allan Cox's "Your Inner CEO" and why it is an important read.

Keys signed a contract with Columbia records at age 16. Within a short period of time, she realized she had made a mistake. Columbia did not understand her or her music so they pushed her "to change" her style and be more like a young Madonna or Brittany Spears. This did not fit with Alicia's vision, mission, or "Style-of-Life" as her primary interest was to bring her unique brand of music to the public, not fame and fortune. She got out of her contract and was quickly picked up by recording wizard Clive Davis. Davis told her to be herself. The rest is history.

There is no faster way to create enduring unhappiness than to act against your beliefs, your desired "Style-of-Life," your personal vision, and your mission. When we act against ourselves, we betray our soul and our destiny.

Unfortunately, today's reality is that most of us today live in a world where people seem to be acting contrary to their beliefs with an ever-increasing frequency, living divided lives. The divided life has its attraction or we would not be drawn to it but it comes at a very real cost to ourselves and to the people around us. It is manifested in restlessness, disease, a reduced ability to contribute positively to society, and an inability to experience joy to the denial of selfhood, a general discontentedness, and the inability to engage in meaningful relationships.

Author Cox explores the "divided life" and provides a way to determine what goals are really guiding our life, if we are on the path that is our true destiny, and how to fix them if we are not. He then extrapolates this to teams and organizations.

Cox is a keen observer of performance, happiness, and the "fulfilled destiny." Like Ram Charan, Pat Lencioni, and others, he has worked with and observed hundreds of senior executives and leaders over the span of three plus decades.

Cox, a disciple of psychiatrist Alfred Adler, builds on Adler's concept of "Indivisible Psychology" which is committed to the flowering of the person based on discovery and expression of our unique wholeness-- our true indivisibility. The book begins with an exercise to discover hidden goals. The central goal that governs your life for better or worse, and the same for such a goal for your organization itself is an expression of purpose--for good or ill. Goals are engines of attraction, pulling you into the future in a way that either enhances your life or derails it. With guided self-examination you can ferret out these goals and rid yourself of them if they threaten you or nurture them if they support you.

"Your Inner CEO" begins with exploring existing and desired "Style-of-Life", vision, and mission. "Style-of-Life" centers on our organized convictions about life, which, at best, we are only dimly aware of. It has three elements: self-image - who am I?; worldview - what life do I lead?; and, a central Goal - what pulls me forward (the attractor which is either a looming threat or guardian presence). These three elements shape our actions and reactions.

Cox guides us in recognizing lost dreams and values, and the boundaries that keep us unaware and inept. Cox then provides exercises for developing "boundary competence" - the ability to cross a boundary that separates a dull life from an extraordinary life of a destiny fulfilled.

Success in the long run has less to do with finding the best idea or business model than it does with discovering what matters to us as individuals. Extraordinary people, teams, and organizations are simply ordinary people doing extraordinary things that truly matter to them and overcoming boundaries that limit awareness and performance. Extraordinary requires self-awareness and courage.

So as you lay plans for your career, your team, or your company, implement the steps necessary to excel. "Inner CEO" provides the framework and the necessary steps. "Inner CEO" requires time and attention to reap its rewards, but the rewards are great - wholeness and a compass that will point you to your destiny.

Thank you Mr. Cox, you are a Master Teacher and you have another winner here in this very compelling book.

Allan Cox's book, "Your Inner CEO", is a true gem and hidden treasure for any executive. It will soon be recognized as a business classic, carefully prepared and documented by a seasoned expert who knows the ropes and has been there, on the front lines, numerous times. It should be required reading for anyone who aspires to be a CEO, is a CEO or finds themselves thrust into a position of leadership and wants to effect true and constructive change within themselves and in the lives of those in his or her environment or field of influence.

Cox systematically shows the reader how to dive within and do the inner house cleaning and self-evaluation and self-discovery needed for one to be clear, effective, productive, practical and powerful on the surface. Highly recommended, especially for those who understand and believe that the top job and head position is open and available to those that have the courage to look within and gently, effortlessly yet constructively, face their weaknesses.

It is refreshing to see that this book truly delivers and helps the reader rediscover, re-boot and get in touch with their hidden goals, unique talents, and core strengths in order to be an effective, confident, enlightened leader.

John Maxwell wrote a timely book on how to plan your life. No detail was left unturned in this book. John helps you define your purpose, where do you want to go, how far can you go, how do you get there from here! Then he helps you see your full potential by asking simple questions: What should you pack for your journey, how to handle detours, are you there yet. He than introduces the concept of helping others get to their dreams in route to your dreams. Is it a family trip, who else should be on the journey, and what should you do along the way! John than beautifully ties a bow on the book by asking what you like best about the trip.

This is a great book for planning the rest of your life. Again, I buy it by the case and give to everyone involved in any type of business! My way of helping others grow as I grow myself. A must read!

A popular leadership speaker and prolific author, John C. Maxwell has a great deal of experience in the process of personal growth, and he communicates it well. This book, published as The Success Journey in 1977, is a useful step-by-step guide to plotting your journey to success, right down to the thoughtful exercises at the end of each chapter. Maxwell does a nice job of mixing the personal and professional sides of success and encouraging you to redefine it. His definition is that success is following your true purpose and living up to your dreams and potential, rather than just accumulating wealth and possessions. The book is quite a fast read - probably because a good portion of it is devoted to quoting others - and its evangelical tone may not appeal to all readers. Maxwell also makes frequent use of catchphrases, which help fill a page but say little. We recommend this book to ambitious individuals looking for guidance on creating and following a workable, actionable life plan.

I am definitely a John Maxwell fan. This man is truly gifted and knows how to communicate so all can understand and benefit.This book was great but even better if read as a sequel. Don't get me wrong this is a stand alone book by itself but I am glad that I first read The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. The 21 Laws is much more dry and technical while this book is personal in its application. You will better understand the process by first knowing the driving principles.There are several excellent lists that are explained in detail but my favorite is entitled, "How to Take Others for a (Life Changing) Ride. #2 states to , "Limit Who You Take Along". This one explanation alone is worth the book. It should prevent burn out and minimize disappointments.Page 177 has a chart on communication styles and the results. He applies this not only to the business world but to the family unit as well.I particulary like the chapter, What Should I Pack in My Suitcase. This will help me redeem my "downtime" as I travel. This guy is a genius.

The Roadmap to Success is by far the best motivational book I have ever read. It was the first book that I have read by Maxwell, and since then I have read four others. He teaches us a new way to think about success. Clearly stated success is: knowing your purpose, growing to reach your potential, and sowing seeds to help others. It is amazing how much better you perform and how much more you enjoy life when you view success through this framework. If you have been successful so far in your life, this book will help reinforce any doubts you have about your choices and reaffirm the actions you have taken. If you are committed to growth and development then this book is a great start to helping you put aside your fears to get the most out of your life. If you are closed minded, resistant to change and generally a pessimistic person this book is not for you. While those people that continue to make excuses for their failures or the way their life turned out will never succeed, those who have the right mindset and follow Maxwell's advise will surely go far in life and reap the beiefits and joys of success.

The following is what I liked best:

The section on Goals
They MUST be activities that are: written, personal, specific, achievable, measurable, and time sensitive.

The Quotes:
"You can not make any progress when you are facing the wrong way." & the another one by Charles 'Tremendous' Jones who said "The only difference between the person you are today and who you will be in 5 years come from the books you read and the people you associate with."

The Benchmarking idea:
To attain success you should ONLY pick 3 to 5 areas to work on & grow in at one time.

The section on Choices:
In order to make progress it will involve 3 choices: to gain something, to lose something, or to trade something
and when you choose: pick the former rather than latter:
Achievement over affirmation
Excellence over acceptability
Personal growth over pleasure
Future potential over personal gain
Narrow focus over scattered interests
Significance over security

And finally the Laws on Developing others:
Take someone with you: "There is no success without a successor"

Rating: Strong Buy

As much of a panacea as the numereous cures for baldness! The cover is flashy and dramatic but the contents and title are deja vu and the publishing sub-par. To be fair the book is fairly comprehensive and does focus on a few key areas: the résumé as a marketing tool, filling the pipeline and your unconscious competence (what the author misleadingly terms "your genius" or "Unique Skills"). However, there are numerous books that equally convincingly discourage the use of a résumé in a tough job market. People desparately looking for work will try anything! And so there are a lot of charlatans in the unregulated career coach business. So I don't understand how everyone else gave the book 5 stars - perhaps the author coached them privately into doing it or they just coincidently found a job or got an interview after reading the book and attributed it to the book. When all is said and done finding a job is mostly a function of supply and demand. In a tight labor market and with rampant high-tech outsourcing if you don't have exactly what an employer wants or are unable to prove it you don't get the job even if your résumé shines like the sun because there are plenty of people out of work and plenty of engineers in China and India for a fraction of the cost. I would read this book if available free in the library or get a cheap PDF copy from the author's website (www.7keys.org). But don't expect to do everything it says and expect to find a job in 90 days - instead take it with a pinch of common salt.

There are very few handy guides for senior executives that can provide the needed help in their transitions. I am making a major transition in my own career now that needed very specific guidance and battle-tested scripts. I found that resource in Dilip Saraf's The 7 Keys to a Dream Job. The book lays out some foundational material that I found invaluable. It is this material that helped me achieve a breakthrough positioning and attain a transitional momentum that I found rewarding. The book warns of many pitfalls in managing an effective campaign, and if I had not read and taken that part to heart early on, I would have missed out on the multiple offers that came through in a very short order.

The book is rich with advice that is very practical for every stage of the campaign and is often counterintuitive in today's upended job market. Although the work is hard, the rewards make it really worthwhile. This is a life skill. Thanks for a great book!

After many years of growing and managing a successful marketing consulting business, I decided to change gears in late 2004 and return to my corporate roots. The impact of the economic tsunami that hit Silicon Valley - and particularly the high-tech industry a few years back - did not affect me until I started my search for a corporate position. While I knew from my clients that profound changes had occurred in the job market since I last worked on the corporate side, I was unprepared for the cold reception I received initially. After all, I told myself, I am an experienced marketing executive with a shelf full of awards and a portfolio of exceptional work.

Then I came across Dilip Saraf's book, The 7 Keys to a Dream Job. After reading it, I quickly realized that I needed to create a forward looking message that clearly articulates "my genius" (Mr. Saraf's words, not mine) in ways that intrigue hiring managers enough to call for interviews.

The book contains many examples that helped me fashion my message. Despite the fact that I can market high technology successfully without breaking a sweat, I was like the proverbial cobbler's children when it came to marketing me - until I experienced an insightful breakthrough from reading the book.

I refashioned my resume to resonate with hiring managers, and the responses were immediate and substantial. Within six weeks, I had three offers. I now have a full-time job in an industry that I love with company that needs and appreciates "my genius". The bonus from the process is that I discovered my genius and learned how to articulate it to make a difference in how others see me. At this stage of my life, I needed that perspective. So thanks to Mr. Saraf for this gift of self-discovery and for teaching me how to build a compelling value proposition around it.

After many years in one function in large corporations I was looking to make a career change, as well as a change in company. A "double whammy" as people called it! However, I wanted to reinvent myself and break into a new and emerging area that excited me.

The first step was to create a resume. I did this with the help of advisors from placement firms, and had it reviewed by senior managers in the field I wanted to get into. They told me it was a well written resume. I posted my resume on several job boards anticipating immediate responses. Weeks and months went by, but I did not get any calls in response to my postings.

It seemed that the traditional way of creating a resume kept frustrating my efforts to present myself differently. This was due to the fact that my job history did not directly support what I wanted to do in the future, although my unofficial role provided my with the experience in the area I wanted to pursue.

A close friend suggested that I read Dilip Saraf's The 7 Keys to a Dream Job. Once I understood the book's message, I realized what I had been doing wrong for the past two years. Using the ideas, tools, and the examples in the book, I completely redid my resume.

For me the breakthrough was how the book shows ways of doing ones resume, which is forward looking and is based on one's inner voice (one's genius). With a few coaching sessions from the author, and by using the many examples in the book I was able to redo my resume and confidently portray my skills to align with my new goals.

Almost immediately I began to get enthusiastic responses and interviews; something I did not get for over two years! I wish that I had read the book earlier and saved myself all the learning that took too long.

Thank you for a great book. It is inspiring!

I recently was laid off from a major company in the Silicon Valley. I have over 20 years' experience in a variety of industries and have been successful in different roles at senior management levels. I did not realize that this would pose a problem for me when I started going after jobs that seem to fit my background and interests. In most cases I did not even get a call-back, even though I knew that there was a good match and that I could do a great job in the position. After many months of such frustrating experiences, I came across Dilip Saraf's The 7 Keys to a Dream Job: A Career Nirvana Playbook! For me the book's message immediately resonated because it clearly showed how a backward looking resume can limit the power of your message if you want to leverage your past. The book pioneers a great concept of discovering your genius and then using that as a centerpiece of your value proposition. Once I understood that concept I got excited about changing my resume based on my genius and then building my value message with that focus. Although I have a varied background, this concept of showcasing my value around my genius (Unique Skills) allowed me to integrate all my diverse background and showcase my specific value as a highly focused ("laser") value proposition. Voila! That was the break I needed. As soon as I went out with my new resume, I got almost immediate responses that were exciting. I am now interviewing with the companies of my choosing and selectively going after the opportunities that I am interested in. What a difference! I highly recommend this book to anyone, especially for those mid-career professionals who are tempted to bury their past and shortchange themselves during critical career transitions. This book taught me an important life skill and gave my confidence back!

Robert Johnson has been a great teacher, mentor, and inspiration for many in the exploration of the inner world, and ultimately the discovery for what he has known as 'the golden world'.It is a homecoming and a place of bliss and repose. I had the privilege to study and share time with Robert in the U.S. and India. He provided for me a taste of that world and a living inspiration in the very real possibility of developing a sacred and blissful rapport between the inner and outer worlds we inhabit. I was delighted to find in this book my own tiny contribution in suggesting to Robert that he take a polaroid camera to India. The realm of Enlightenment is the destiny of all humanity, and here is the humble story of one man who is pointing for us the way to follow... if we are willing to find the courage to do so.

Sometimes I think if I was being scurried away to a desert island I would only bring Robert Johnson, Robert Bly, and James Hollis books because these three are such amazing writers and thinkers. This autobiography is so heartfelt and real and just a total gem all around, Don't miss it- or any of his other books, especially He, She, We, and Ecstacy.

I learned a great deal from this book. It gave me a basic understanding of Jungian analysis, in particular how dreams are used to tap into the sub-conscious mind and help identify one's personal "destiny" or "thread" as Johnson describes it. I appreciated his several visions of the "Golden World" and how he sought, throughout his life, to re-experience this heightened state of awareness. He also describes how we project our desires onto others in order to experience this sense of connection. I loved Mr. Johnson's experiences in India, and the way he immersed himself in the culture and learned so much about their distinct way of viewing the world. I hope to read another of his books.

Beginning in his youth, Robert Johnson shares a frank history of his spiritual development through his entire life, through the lens of a master of Jungian theories and concepts. He describes his early experiences and wounding, his early adult years following the "slender threads" that guide him to finding God's will for him. He describes his sensitive personality type and its close connection to a world both present and just beyond our grasp. His life demonstrates a beautiful rendition of following the spiritual path and its relationship to development from a Jungian perspective. He is as humble and unassuming in his writing as I suspect he was in life. This biography is a beautiful portait of a man's life lived well in the pursuit of following God's will. It demonstrates the unique understanding that can be developed by pursuing life from a Jungian perspective spiritually. I would recommend this book to people who have some sense of the breadth of Jungian psychology and some sense of their own "type", as well as some general concept of type dynamics and the concept of the shadow or inferior function. It is thoroughly engrossing and enjoyable. I would recommend it especially to middle to older age adults, seminarians, or others pursuing their personal spiritual development.

When I'm asked for the most influential books in my life, this is the one that tops my list. As someone who reads 50-200 books a year, that's a big list. I've given it as gifts, quoted it in sermons, referred to it as a spiritual counselor, used it for my own growth and have come back to it over and over since it was first published. I happened upon these reviews while ordering Johnson's latest CD, Golden World, which I'm thrilled to know has been produced. I've read all his books and agree with other reviewers that this is the best, or at any rate, the one that has provided a helpful road map for my life and experiences, and hence, for the many whom I also touch. For those of us, and there are numerous souls, who have had extraordinary tastes of the Golden World (and its inhabitants), "balancing heaven and earth" for the rest of one's life is a daily task; sometimes grace, often a struggle. His words in this memoir (my paraphrase): "there have always been those whose job it is to tend the borders between the worlds" gave me context when I first needed it. His book "We," while it didn't save me from romantic errors (and he writes: "the genie"--e.g. romantic love--"can't be put back in the bottle,") did, again, provide a context for healing and future lessons ("the depression is always in direct proportion to the inflation that preceded it.)His experiences with Krishnamurthi, recounted in this book, gave me important lessons as a teacher, e.g."don't try to give an old man's wisdom to a young person," and his lessons on sainthood have been extremely important as well. If you are living the inner journey, have any sort of spiritual life, and especially, if like Parsifal, Johnson's oft-referred to mythic model, have suffered the agony and the ecstasy of a visit to the Grail Castle and then "lost" it, this book is for you.

Cynthia's warm and engaging style is a total treat. Her 99 gifts are just that - gifts of wisdom, heart and practicality that help put our ridiculously fast-paced lives in a more realistic perspective!

Libby Gill, Author of Traveling Hopefully

This is a book that you can pick up everyday! I open it it to any page and read--a guarantee mood pick me upper! Author Cynthia Brian is so right with her insights, stories, and huge dosage of encouragement that you will feel like you have your very own fairy godmother beside you. Her words make you sit up and decide to reach for the stars. There is light meant to be in the world and after reading her book, you will know it is meant to also come from you.

This is a superb self help book. Cynthia Brian did an awesome job collecting 99 empowering messages which she calls gifts about a wide variety of subjects on personal development and achieving greatness

In this book you will find the secrets on how bring super success and abundance into your life. As you read this book, you will see for yourself that she is doing this for the love of helping people. Her genuine desire to help people improve their lives is really touching. Her enthusiasm and zest for life will inspire and enrich you to live your life to its fullest! Highly recommended!

Zev Saftlas, Author of Motivation That Works

I cerainly can see why all of those famous authors give this book the sendoff it has received. If the reader could develop the marvelous attitude that ms.Brian extolls, Life would be lived to the Max.

I carry this book in my brief case, handy for "stolen moments" of reading and sharing. I am sure I have read each insightful and entertaining story at least twice. Cynthia's 99 gifts for living life has made a difference in my life; she reminds us to strive for our fullest potential each and every day. This is a book that should be shared with others; a gift that will inspire and encourage a higher plateau of living.
Yes, I am a star, and am shining more brightly because Cynthia has reminded me to live and love life.

This book is just great. It combines every metaphysical, positive thinking principle that has been written in hundreds of books- into one small, READABLE, AFFORDABLE (!) treasure.The author "gets it" and - after reading this book- we get it too. A great gift! No preaching here, just a wonderful communication of positive ideas laid out beautifully.

This is a wonderful little handbook for life, written in a conversational style. Don't be deceived by its straightforward, down-to-earth tone. Throughout the book are centuries of wisdom, presented as quotations from philosophers, scholars, poets and other wise thinkers. These are interspersed with real-life experiences of people who have lived by these wise aphorisms.

In addition to presenting experiences of specific people, the author gives examples from her own life: not only how she created luck for herself, but also how she had inadvertently blocked it. Such a personal approach gives you the feeling that you and she are having a heart-to-heart conversation at the kitchen table.

This is a book to be read more than once. Each time you read it, you are apt to be at a different place in your life, which will draw your attention to new insights.

Pauline Wallin, Ph.D.
Author, "Taming Your Inner Brat: A Guide for Transforming Self-defeating Behavior"

Do you believe that good luck is something that "just happens?" Do you ever wonder why good things happen again and again to some people, while others seem to have black clouds over their heads? In this book, Azriela Jaffe identifies eight strategies for attracting good luck. Each strategy comes with Luck Builders, Luck Busters, and Luck Blockers--specific behaviors that can bring luck to you or chase it away. With these strategies, you can start making lucky breaks come your way.

Although we can't control everything in our lives, we can open the door to new opportunities and give luck easy entry into our lives. Simply changing your mindset and being open to new possibilities can make luck happen in amazing ways for you. That's the point of a story involving me that is included in "Create Your Own Luck." I won't give all the details here, but on page 106 you can read about how I was able to salvage a problem situation and turn it into an exciting opportunity.

Being included in this book is in itself an example of one of the ways I've created luck in my life. When my problem occurred, and I made lemonade from the lemons, I posted the story to an email discussion group. Azriela saved that post and asked for my permission to include it in her book. If I hadn't taken the time to share my story, I wouldn't have been "lucky" enough to have my story shared with the world through this book. Just making yourself available can make you lucky!

I've always been a big believer in creating your own luck, and I had employed some of the strategies here intuitively. The good advice in this book showed me how to consciously and consistently use luck-creating strategies to create success after success. If you read this book and put its ideas to work for you, you will begin attracting good fortune in all areas of your life.

This is an excellent book filled with practical advice on increasing your good luck. My only complaint (a very small one) is that the book is probably more targeted to a female audience with several references to finding a husband or handling children. As a man, I found most of the exercises too introspective for my taste. Primitive that I am, I don't like to recollect big mistakes that I have made or probe deeply into my own psyche. I guess I'm just not wired that way. These small issues aside. I thought the book was fun to read and worthwhile. I probably enjoyed Dr. Wiseman's "The Luck Factor," a little more.

a short review: I recieved this book by complete chance and coincidence... I've only had it for ten days now. At first I was merely skeptical. I said to myself "oh great, another somebody trying to explain the principles pf the universe."

But that wasn't the case... This book is about gentelness. It does not preach you to do anything or that you're doing anything wrong..... It merely reminds you, in the most gentle of ways, that you either ALLOW good-Luck to flow into your life, or you don't... I was a little bit STUNNED because this book is SO FULL OF TRUTHS that it made me see how many LUCK-BUSTERS and LUCK BLOCKERS I have had in my life... and guess who has created them?--Moi!!...... This is not an easy thing to recognize. It makes you upset and angry with yourself for a while (because deep down in your heart you know this is TRUTH!), but once you LET GO of this anger, you begin to ALLOW good things to be entering your life...... and INDEED, in the past WEEK (since I started reading this book) I've experienced more love and happiness than I have for a LONG LONG TIME :-)

This is not because of the book. This is not some MAGICAL BOOK. This book, however, does what only the BEST BOOKS CAN DO... It reminds you of Universal truths that YOU ALREADY KNOW... It does so in a FUN and GENTLE way.... This book was clearly written in the SPIRIT OF LOVE.... It gets my HIGHEST RECCOMENDATION. Anyone, like me, who is on a spiritual path, anyone who is with an OPEN MIND(Principle # 1 of LUCK-CREATION according to the book)... Anyone who likes to be reminded of gentle yet POWERFUL universal truths should read this book!

This book is a non-stop argument for successfull thinking. Mr Castro reminds us that we are in charge of our own potential and it is never too late to begin to accomplish your dreams and goals. This no excuses approach is motivating and inspiring.

When craziness breaks loose in your life, how will you handle it? Not that each of us will experiences the type of heartbreak often inevitable in life, but Critical Choices examines how overcoming difficulty is largely a matter of how you choose to focus your mind. What do you think will happen? Now that might sound easy when not faced with difficulty, but the author talks to so many people some famous and some not, and shows us examples on how focus and belief in an outcome will cause us to act accordingly. The examples from Martin Luther King, Walt Disney, James Earl Jones and countless others are inspiring and uplifting. While we may have heard the believe it, achieve it homily before, Castor motivates readers, inherent in the examples that there are ways the average person can achieve a hero's status in life.

Critical Choices by Dan Castro is one of the largest sources of inspiration I have come across in many years. The book is a quick read, and packs an incredible amount of motivation.

Each success story is easy to understand, and all of them are relevant to every day life, and the bulk will likely help you do what needs to be done; make choices to change your life for the better. All the short accounts of the Hero's lives are bound by common themes which led them to success.

Critical Choices will likely change the way you think about many things for the better, and positively change the way you perceive the world.

I learned a great deal from reading Dan's book, and I plan on sharing it with my friends and family. I suggest you do the same.

One day I was in a very cool book store People's Books) in Austin, Texas; you know those lazy, Summer afternoons when you find yourself all blissed out with the very, very rare opportunity of time? Time to think about your place here, your life and the bountiful world we create around us. Well, as soon as I walked into the store, I felt this magnetic pull toward the second floor...as I rounded the corner up the stair case, I came across this handsome gentle, sweet man in a suit, with this impressively large poster sized cover of a book. It was clear he was getting ready to speak, not privy to the topic of this book or if even this bright soul had written it, I checked out the cover and asked if he was going to be speaking soon and if he had written this book? His warm reply cemented my interested in hearing what this intriguing stranger had share with an intimate group, in a funky book store in Central Texas. When the time approached for him to begin, I took my seat quietly at the front of the room. The beautiful little voice inside me said that I was in for delicious surprise! As soon as Dan Castro stood up in front of the room and began to speak, I was captivated! His beautifully woven tale of how this book came to be was like watching an artist recreate with love and compassion. The light in his eyes as he held the room for more than an hour was so incredibly vibrate, that it made you lean forward with the concentration level of a surgeon. I was so taken by the heart, drive and message coming from this man that the hour felt like only seconds had passed. It was such a gift to have stumbled across this book that I bought two copies that day right after he was done and I have bought three more since, for family and friends. In today's busy world, I know we all wish we had more time to read; please let me personally assure you this book is worth the precious spare time you indulge yourself to read a wonderfully good book!

Like many inspiring, self-help books, Castro's contains myriad stories of "success" under fire. But to me, the most important point he makes is that we all face decision points in our lives. We can CHOOSE how we respond. A common thread ties together almost all of those briefly profiled in this book--they chose to act in an "heroic" manner.

I was especially interested in Castro's first chapter where he laid out his thinking about the difference between what he defines as "heroes," and the rest of us. The secret, he asserts, lies with how they answer three questions: 1. What are you focusing on? 2. What do you believe? 3. What are you expecting.

As a life coach, I think these are excellent questions for anyone who wants to achieve anything outside of their comfort zone. In fact the entire first chapter of the book where Castro develops his thesis about why "heroes" make the choices they do, was informative and helpful. His Seven Laws of Critical Focus could be a roadmap for people who are looking for ways to help them meet challenges in their own lives.

This has been one of the few books I've ever read that has truly changed the way I think about life. It isn't just a list of awesome jobs, internships and opportunities around the world, but it's a way of living. The working world can wait! Why act like your 35 when your only 22? You've spent 16 years of your life being educated the way they want. Now spend a few years of freedom and independence to learn about the world your way. See the world, see the people in it. Money and material things can wait; they can never replace experiences, memories or relationships.

This book talks about all that. It gives you hundreds of very specific ideas on jobs, finding jobs/opportunities and how to make ends meet. The whole book is mingled with personal accounts from people who actually went out into the world and lived an amazing life. I work in a news room for my college newspaper, and half of the staff is seniors. I've left the book in the office, and everyone of them reads it and tells me how great it is. Best $10 I've ever spent!

I have just started to read this book, and I knew in the first few pages that it was a worthwhile purchase. The author does a great job of motivating the reader to take a less-traveled path, and continues to flood you with ideas and information that are sure to make you hungry for adventure. I have also found that the author is a very entertaining writer, and goes through points and information with a sense of humor and excitement - much like what we would expect from the twenty-something adventure-seeker she says she is.

Overall, I am enjoying the book thoroughly. I find it to be extremely informative, motivating, and well organized. Even the book itself is very nice physically, with a very attractive layout, smooth heavy pages, crisp bold fonts, and a perfect medium size.

Highly recommended!!!

I can't believe there is a book like this. It's so much against what corporate America ingrains into you, that of life being all about the rat race. I'm still doing what I want, experiencing the world, and having experiences I could never have in the US, in my 30's still. I see no reason to stop and surrender to the boring "real world" in America.

I've been traveling the world and doing what I want for the past 5 years now, before finally settling here in the Philippines. Although I'm poor, not accruing any social security or pensions, not following any real career path, etc. I'm happy. And that's the most important thing. I don't believe in getting a serious job unless it's something I love, just because society says so. The purpose of life is to enjoy it, and if you're not enjoying it with enriching experiences, then you are wasting your life in my book, even if you're making good money in a good job.

I have recommended this book to all my email group and list. It gives a whole new dimension on life and offers an alternative that the educational establishment in America never tells you about.

I've created my own website describing the joyous benefits unknown to most Americans of being abroad long term. It's called Happier Abroad at http://www.happierabroad.com. It helps inspire people to pursue international living, dating and traveling, and cultivate an awareness of the positive benefits overseas unknown to most Americans, who instead are living in fear and isolation perpetuated by the US media and culture which tells them that there is nothing good outside the US and that you are empty inside and need to work and consume to fill that emptiness. It's a soulless life lacking connectedness with others and inner life.

Check it out. It'll give you a whole new dimension on life.

Thanks for reading this review.

Sincerely,
Winston

The Renaissance Soul: Life Design for People with Too Many Passions to Pick Just One Learning new things is great but going straight from classroom to career choice just leaves out too many interesting experiences. Delaying the Real World is perfect if you want some stops in between, especially if you prefer variety and combination to choosing just one thing.

This book serves as a catalyst for big ideas. Not everything is about "delaying the real world," much of the book revolves around readers identifying their own talents and putting them into action. It jump started my own thinking on how to make the best out of my twenties and beyond.