Rating: 
Summary: Solid, practical advice
Review: Over the years, I've read many a book on goal-setting and achievement. I started many years ago with the obligatory 'Think and Grow Rich', avoided Anthony Robbin's 'Unlimited Power' because it looked 'too American', floundered around some more in the Positive Mental Attitude books, and came back to Anthony Robbins in desperation. I was seeking something practical and effective, to help me manage my life, as I was having problems due to giving up a well-paid job to study full-time. At that point, I was hooked on NLP. However, if I had read Wishcraft, I might have bypassed Anthony Robbins altogether, and would not be where I am today (such at it is :-) ) Why? Because this book provides everything I was looking for in a book at that time.It is split into two broad sections: the first helps you to answer the question "What are my goals?"; the second, "How do I achieve them?". The first section contains a number of fairly standard exercises to help you brainstorm your goals. If you are new to the idea of goal-setting, this is a great place to start; however, if you have done many exercises in goal-setting, then most of these exercises will be familiar. However, I suspect that most people will find something of use here, no matter how well- read they are. The second section is where the book comes into its own. The authors outline a number of tools and methods to help you be successful once you know what your goals are. Some of them are to do with planning, some to do with emotions and managing your state, some are to do with getting the help of others. The planning model is the best I've come across, and I've done some formal training on planning in a corporate environment. It doesn't cover complex ideas like GANT charts, critical-path analysis, and so on, but it does provide a simple, workable, and effective method of setting out what you'll actually need to do to reach your goal. And it all boils down to two simple questions ..... Can I do this tomorrow? If not, what do I need to do first? Keep going through those two questions, and you'll end up with a plan consisting of achievable steps that you can do in a day, rather than huge steps which take days or weeks to accomplish. One of the difficulties that many people experience with tasks of this size is due to lack of specificity; breaking the task down into smaller ones helps to make it more 'real' and hence easier to get started on and to acccomplish. However, in any planning model, particularly where you are venturing out into uncharted territory, there will be some points in your plan where you simply do not know what steps are required - if you are familiar with the idea of unconscious incompetence, then you'll know what I mean. (If not, take a quick look at the article below). Again, using one simple idea, the authors can help you to overcome those problems, based on the idea that if you can't do something, then you know someone who can, or you know someone who knows someone who can, or you know someone who knows someone who... They call the idea 'barnraising', from the idea in certain communities where each person helps the others build their barn, and then receive help from each person in building their own barn. They suggest getting all your friends, family, and colleagues together; tell them EXPLICITLY what you want; and see how they can help. At the same time, help them with their goals or plans. Whilst not a new idea, the authors go out of their way to tell you that you don't have to do everything by yourself, and then give you a framework in which to work with others to achieve your mutual goals. Anyone familiar with Stephen Covey's Seven Habits will immediately recognize the win/win situation. Where this ties in nicely with NLP is the 'explicit' part: the meta-model is the ideal tool here for: A) defining what you need B) clarifying exactly what help others can provide C) helping others define what they need. The authors also provide two questions that will help if you encounter a problem in the form of 'I can't do/have X until I have/do Y' The two questions are: How can I get X without having/doing Y? How can I get/do Y? Later, the book covers some basic time management skills, and some general strategies for dealing with fear, including one called 'Lower Your Standards - at First'. The latter goes against many positive thinking-type books by saying if your goals are too far beyond your current beliefs about what you can do, you will most likely be afraid. The way to reduce your fear is to aim to do things badly, then there is no problem if you do actually do them badly. Then, when you've got some experience under your belt, you will be in a position to set realistic, challenging, and achievable goals. The comments I've written here sound fairly mundane - I'm not one to rant and rave over a book. One of the biggest complements that I can give a book is to say that I will never throw it away, and I will read it at least once per year without fail. I've had this book for about 4 years now, and I've read it 5-6 times, and I will never throw it away (at least, I might, but only to replace it with a less dog-eared copy). Its simplicity, elegance, and plain- talking, combined with sold, practical advice, make it one of my favourite books.
Rating:
Summary: Life Changing
Review: Several years ago I participated in the planning and enjoyment of a women's retreat which was based on this book. The retreat was very powerful, and led to a group of us continuing our work with the book for a year. We met every month to six weeks in the lovely lake front home of one of the participants and we worked through the book, chapter by chapter. Most of use believe we were changed by the experience. I know I was. The book helps you work out how to get what it is that you really want from life. Working through it with friends was priceless, but working it alone is a valuable experience as well. The advantage of doing it with friends is the encouragement they give you- their unwillingness for you to quit! The exercises are simple in form but challenging in spirit, but the book is well worth it if you feel you aren't getting enough from life as you are living it right now.
Rating:
Summary: readable, practical, valuable
Review: That's a second book by Sher that I've read, which I did because I really liked another one. But, this time, I've been reading really carefully and critically. In other words, what I do is not just saunter along soaking in the feel-good factor, but re-reading a lot and asking myself very specific questions everywhere I can. Well, and so the first and most important question I have is how do you know if it's all true, and if it is, to what degree? I mean the lady's own career went magically from an unemployed anthropologist (divorced, with 4 kids, in NYC - ever tried to live in NYC unemployed with 4 kids? OK, if not, don't try, before checking out the rents in the classified section of the NYT) to some kind of professional councellor with the city social services, to (in a year!) a self-employed advisor to the public (not in issues related to anthropology). I think there's something missing here, or it's not the whole story, or it simply isn't true, or the lady is feeding snake oil to the NYC suckers for a living, which is a good job, of course, but where's a proof of competence? One begins to understand why some professionals must be licensed in order to practise, otherwise how would you know your doctor is not a recent BA in political science disaffected by his original vocational choice. As the previous Sher book that I read, this one is well written, goes really easy and contains a lot of good insight as far as analyzing personal experiences of the author. That part, imo, is 100% bona fide. But then we get to those energetic, very categorical pronunciamentoes, incantations, and quasi-religious "you can do it" pep talk, and that's where it gets more questionable. The author posits a lot, but where is supporting evidence? Personal history cases, how do I know it's not all made up? Are those real people? Were they interviewed again, 20 years later, to see where they are now, and are they successful, and if so, how much of their success is due to Sher's techniques and how much to something else? I mean, it all seems blatantly deficient in the scientific method department. The fact that the book is published is no proof of concepts offered therein. At the same time, Sher proposes a number of rather radical ideas here, so be careful if you decide to implement them headlong. For example: she completely - no make it COMPLETELY - ignores the factor of time. She goes, you try this, if it's no good, you try something else, and again and again, at least you're accumulating life experience. My man, that's very true about experience, but consider this: you try something at 20, and next time you'll be 30, another try, boom, you're 40. I don't say don't do anything, I say the author's oblivious to that side, so don't be too quick to jump in if you got a mortgage... that usually happens after you reach 30. Another thing, she puts a lot of weight on exploring your, for lack of better word, "inner depths" in order to find general direction. But what about the fact that you simply don't know a lot? The problem is, an individual's progression in life is much more complex and his exposure to different things is much more important that mining the dormant childhood fantasies. Which intersects with the time factor I've mentioned above. So, from that standpoint, the book is simplistic, it ignores important and rather obvious things. OK, to summarize it all: it's a useful book (the analytical component is flawless) to read if you're very deliberate in interpreting it and super careful in acting out the advice. Otherwise, be careful. It's not really any kind of scientific research, and the author is unlikely to be accountable in any way for the results. The author is a lady who switched jobs herself and it's completely unclear from this book what credentials she can claim to the line of work she's supposedly in at the moment, other than the low quality of social services in NYC that enabled her to enter a field for which she's not qualified professionally - and even that assuming what the book says about it is true, of which I'm certain not at all. I also came to question the mass of glowing reviews here, after all, didn't the things I've mentioned occur to anyone else?
Rating: 
Summary: Be careful with these books
Review: That's a second book by Sher that I've read, which I did because I really liked another one. But, this time, I've been reading really carefully and critically. In other words, what I do is not just saunter along soaking in the feel-good factor, but re-reading a lot and asking myself very specific questions everywhere I can. Well, and so the first and most important question I have is how do you know if it's all true, and if it is, to what degree? I mean the lady's own career went magically from an unemployed anthropologist (divorced, with 4 kids, in NYC - ever tried to live in NYC unemployed with 4 kids? OK, if not, don't try, before checking out the rents in the classified section of the NYT) to some kind of professional councellor with the city social services, to (in a year!) a self-employed advisor to the public (not in issues related to anthropology). I think there's something missing here, or it's not the whole story, or it simply isn't true, or the lady is feeding snake oil to the NYC suckers for a living, which is a good job, of course, but where's a proof of competence? One begins to understand why some professionals must be licensed in order to practise, otherwise how would you know your doctor is not a recent BA in political science disaffected by his original vocational choice. As the previous Sher book that I read, this one is well written, goes really easy and contains a lot of good insight as far as analyzing personal experiences of the author. That part, imo, is 100% bona fide. But then we get to those energetic, very categorical pronunciamentoes, incantations, and quasi-religious "you can do it" pep talk, and that's where it gets more questionable. The author posits a lot, but where is supporting evidence? Personal history cases, how do I know it's not all made up? Are those real people? Were they interviewed again, 20 years later, to see where they are now, and are they successful, and if so, how much of their success is due to Sher's techniques and how much to something else? I mean, it all seems blatantly deficient in the scientific method department. The fact that the book is published is no proof of concepts offered therein. At the same time, Sher proposes a number of rather radical ideas here, so be careful if you decide to implement them headlong. For example: she completely - no make it COMPLETELY - ignores the factor of time. She goes, you try this, if it's no good, you try something else, and again and again, at least you're accumulating life experience. My man, that's very true about experience, but consider this: you try something at 20, and next time you'll be 30, another try, boom, you're 40. I don't say don't do anything, I say the author's oblivious to that side, so don't be too quick to jump in if you got a mortgage... that usually happens after you reach 30. Another thing, she puts a lot of weight on exploring your, for lack of better word, "inner depths" in order to find general direction. But what about the fact that you simply don't know a lot? The problem is, an individual's progression in life is much more complex and his exposure to different things is much more important that mining the dormant childhood fantasies. Which intersects with the time factor I've mentioned above. So, from that standpoint, the book is simplistic, it ignores important and rather obvious things. OK, to summarize it all: it's a useful book (the analytical component is flawless) to read if you're very deliberate in interpreting it and super careful in acting out the advice. Otherwise, be careful. It's not really any kind of scientific research, and the author is unlikely to be accountable in any way for the results. The author is a lady who switched jobs herself and it's completely unclear from this book what credentials she can claim to the line of work she's supposedly in at the moment, other than the low quality of social services in NYC that enabled her to enter a field for which she's not qualified professionally - and even that assuming what the book says about it is true, of which I'm certain not at all. I also came to question the mass of glowing reviews here, after all, didn't the things I've mentioned occur to anyone else?
Rating:
Summary: The best book I've ever read on the subject
Review: This book is a must read for everyone. The first part of the book takes you through deciding what your dreams are and what you want to accomplish in life and why. And the second part, my favorite, takes you step-by-step to accomplishing your goals. All those time management and organizational books out there cannot compare with her system. She takes you dreams and turns them into reality one action at a time.
Rating:
Summary: The best book I've ever read
Review: This book is absolutely fantastic. Filled with great advice on setting goals and reaching them. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best self-help books on the market today.
Review: This is truly a life-changing book. If there is anything at all that you have wanted to do with your life, Barbara Sher shows you how to accomplish it--regardless of how small or how large your goal may be. I read this book 10 years ago, and by following her step by step process I have reached goals in my life that I had thought were impossible. Not only do I remommend this book to anyone who wants or needs to change their life, I bought copies for my sisters, my friends, and my mother! The greatest thing that I learned from this book is "If it has ever been done by anyone, it can be done by you!" That line alone opened up a whole new world for me. Rose Sheridan
Rating:
Summary: Super!
Review: Wonderful prescription for getting your life in order and your plan on the road!
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