Making Self-Help work for YOU!
“If you feel that you have fallen short of getting the
promised results from self-help programs, you need to know that
the real problem isn’t you personally or the advice you’ve
received.” –Janne Ruokonen
What do you dream about becoming? There is probably a book
out there for just about anything you have ever thought about.
But how do you achieve your dream? Is reading the book enough?
This is the first guide to show how you can use personal
development books, tapes and seminars. Janne Ruokonen will show
you how to:
1. Find and use the best personal development advice
2. Understand why you may have failed before
3. Avoid the common self-help- pitfalls
4. Make sense of gurus and their ideas and methods
5. Discover how ordinary people achieve extraordinary results
By reading this book you will see how to get the most out of
the advice self-help books give. This is a realistic guide that
shows you what works in real life and how you can create lasting
change. Janne has come to the realization that many books fail
to show the reader how to take the advice and use it to achieve
maximum results.
He started collecting self-help books, interviewing people
who used the books and participated in online discussion groups.
He soon saw a pattern emerging. In the last section of the book,
he lists page after page of books you will want to read. I’ve
always thought a good book was one that recommends other good
books!
The Contents Include:
Part One: What You Can Achieve and Whose Advice to Follow
Part Two: Why Self-Improvement Fails and How to Succeed
Part Three: From Advice to Action: Making a Lasting Change in
Your Life
Janne also gives lists of what people are reading and
listening to. Then he shows you how to read effectively and
“actively.” I like that he says you should make notes and
almost “review” the book. I’ve found that if I review a
book I really do absorb more of the content. I’m not sure I
could only read two chapters per week, but many people are
probably encouraged if they can read two chapters of a self-help
book each week. After all, that might not be all you are
reading.
Janne Ruokonen has worked as a manager and consultant. He
knows how to put personal development ideas to work for himself
and his staff and his career includes working at a leading
personal development and sales training company.
In this book you will realize that life is far too short to
learn everything on your own by trial and error. Why not learn
from other people’s mistakes or success?
Who would have thought you would need a self-help book to
read self-help books, but it makes complete sense.
One of my main problems is that I tend to think Big and then
try to take Big steps. That is why I’ve failed with self-help
on numerous occasions. When I sat down and realized that each
time I tried to get fit, I was jumping in too fast and
exhausting myself from the onset, I started to realize that at
time if you take smaller steps at the start, you will be able to
more easily reach your final goal. You would think this would be
obvious, but ambition can often blind you to reality.
I mean, you can sit and watch a workout tape all day, but if
you don’t get on the floor and start working out, it isn’t
going to get you very far. Sure, the tape is fun to watch and
review, but the satisfaction comes from looking in the mirror
and seeing the results you have achieved. I also found that
watching movies while walking on the treadmill keeps me more
interested in walking. So, everyone had to find that secret way
to motivate themselves. Rewards do seem to work.
Janne says that many people go wrong because they try to just
focus on the “goal” and not on the “steps” to get to
that goal. He also discusses Procrastination and “The Overload
Barrier.”
“How to Read How-To & Self-Help Books” is a balanced
approach to achieving your goals, gives you the motivation to
take the steps needed to improve your life and shows you how to
realize your dreams!
~The Rebecca Review
Beyond the Breath Meditation
Creating
a Soul Sanctuary, October 13, 2005
"It's been said that we learn more from our mistakes than
our successes - and I think that's true - but only if we
eventually have success; otherwise we just keep making the same
mistakes over and over." ~Marshall Glickman
Learning to take care of our bodies by eating correctly and
exercising seems a true journey all on its own. When you decide
to incorporate a style of meditation into your life then a
whole-body Vipassana might bring you more peace of mind. It is a
sensation-based style of meditation.
Marshall Glickman has a beautiful writing style and his ideas
connect perfectly with the modern reader who may or may not be
familiar with meditation. His ideas are presented in a way that
makes meditation come alive. I used to think meditation was
complete stillness and lack of thought, but there are ways to
focus on sensation that bring you to a deeper understanding of
yourself. Some of the intellectually intriguing aspects of this
work include:
The Power and Pleasure Principle
The Biochemical Basics of Pleasure
The Neurochemistry of Karma
There are chapters filled with instructions on how to meditate,
but the real highlights of this book are the insights into
living life effectively and understanding how our bodies
function on the chemical level.
"Focusing on sensations puts us more directly in touch with
what's motivating us, while at the same time helping to free us
from the storylines which tend to obscure our feelings. In this
way, greater awareness to our sensations increases our emotional
sensitivity." ~Marshall Glickman
If you have trouble settling into a meditation session, do yoga
first. It helps your body to work out all the extra energy that
might keep you from sitting still. You can also meditate while
reclining in bed or while sitting in a chair. You don't have to
meditate in a guru-style seated position. I normally meditate
while laying flat on my back after an invigorating yoga
practice. Some of the most blissful happy places I've ever been
have been after doing a Chakra Yoga workout. I finally
understood the place meditation could take you. I like imagining
colors inside my body and working with sensations and the
release of negative thoughts. I've noticed that when I do
meditate I think more clearly and can solve problems more
effectively. When I don't meditate, chaos creeps into my life.
After reading this work, you may also enjoy Tobin Blake's
"The Power of Stillness: Learn Meditation in 30 Days."
~The Rebecca Review
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