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Summary: Owner's Manual for the Human Brain
Review: It's been decades since I first read this book - I'm now digging it out for a second read - but it identified some absolutely crucial aspects of the human mind that to my knowledge have either never been adequately presented elsewhere or never given the emphasis they deserve. The analogy of the mind to a computer is dead-on accurate, with the conscious mind being the "programmer" of the subconscious; the subconscious being the machine-language "operating system" that just does what it's programmed to do, whether positive or negative. Absolutely brilliant and in a way frightening - in the fact of the sheer quantity of people walking the Earth who are utterly ignorant of that fundamental structure of their sole survival tool: their brain. The only other book this vital to human self-awareness is Rand's "Intro to Objectivist Epistemology" (and of course her philosophical novels.) These all fall into the category of "Goldmines of information that no one else - not your parents, your teachers, certainly not your preachers, your politicians, and sadly, even most licensed psychotherapists - will tell you." Particularly enlightening - and applicable to so many vital situations in life - is Maltz' identification of the "21 day" phenomenon: the fact that the human mind takes almost exactly 21 days to adjust to a major life change, universally - whether it's a negative like a loss of a limb or a loved one, a change of employment or residence, or positive like entering into a new romantic relationship.
Ever wonder how many couples have broken up because after roughly three weeks the "magic" seems to have dissipated? How in ignorance of this natural aspect of the human mind they automatically assume there was something fundamentally flawed with their relationship? Sad, and so unnecessary. Read this book if you haven't already, and discover how to operate the complex computational instrument that is your mind.
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Summary: Amazing
Review: Excellent read, everything it claims to be.
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Summary: I prefer the 2000 version
Review: Throughout my life, I have read a lot of self help books and more when I became an insurance agent in 2000. All the books came to a similar advice that one should be HAPPY, one should be MOTIVATED, one should be PESISTANCE and so on and on. But somehow I had felt that all the books missed something. How do you get motivated when rejection from customers and circumstances keep putting your spirit down? Most of us KNOW that we should be happy and normally we use willpower to 'try' to get into the state. I have set goals, new year resolutions and adopted all the positive thinking exercise that I have dutifully carried out daily according to some self help books. But the effects did not last or didn't work at all. I came to a conclusion that finding the source of the 'how to' is more important instead of willing myself to be happy. I searched and finally stumpled onto psycho cybernetics. I started with Bobbe sommer 1997 version first and after reading some of the reviews here, got my hand on the original 1960 version. With a background as a mechanical design engineer, businessman and with a relatively 'creative' mind, I found that Bobbe's version is more digestable. Her version contains some concepts that Maxwell Maltz mentioned but could not elaborate due to his era...for example the left and right brain effects. The books are FANTASTIC, it spell out a simple, scientific proven way on some simple steps to achieve happiness, a goal or any power you want to adopt. And the steps don't even need to be activated ALL at once, for the first week, I started with step 1 which is to say CANCEL whenever I feel 'stress' by some negative opinons. I probably CANCEL tons of negative thought patterns. Soon I will start on step 2 and so on. The basic concepts of the origanl classic and the PC-2000 version are the same. But I feel that folks that are below certain age group will relate more to PC-2000 than the classic (1960s ideas). This is because of the language and the examples used. I could go on and on about the virtues of these books, but the bottom line is...read it and you will find the keys to many of your 'problems'.
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Summary: A must read for everyone
Review: A great self-improvement book for anyone. Psycho-Cybernetics is a catchy sci-fi sounding term, but don't be put off by that. The ideas in this book have nothing to do w/ L. Ron Hubbard's psycho babble in Dianetics. The ideas in this book are solid and very applicable. Even without practicing the recommended exercises in the book, your life will take an immediate turn for the better. Initially, I had some reservations when I learned that Dr. Maltz was a cosmetic surgeon. But these concerns were quickly put to rest as I read a few pages of his book. Read this book, underline the important parts, and revisit periodically.
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Summary: A Sucess Classic
Review: Think and Grow Rich, NLP, and this book...get started today.
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Summary: The origional is wonderful, 2000 is not!!!
Review: I read the origional book by Maltz 15 years ago and it really helped to change my life. I'm always picking up self help books because I believe if you get at least one new idea from it,then it is worth it. Well I can't really say that I got much from this book, nothing actually.
I picked it up mainly because I wanted to see how Dr. Maltz's ideas are viewed with the advancements in the field of psycology. I saw that it mentioned something about the right and left hemispheres of the brain which was something that the original did not touch on.
This version by Bobbe Sommer is long and drawn out, just filled with story after story after story, that really never address anything. A book just needs to tell a person the technics, don't give a thousand case studies. Sure the origional version gives a few examples, be they had a point to them.
The author claims that this book speaks in a language that people can understand today and not in the "outdated language" of the origional. All she does is use a few references that have happened since the origional and mention a few modern appliances that weren't around back then.
If you want something that will make a difference, buy the origional Psyco-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz. The ideas were true then and they are true now. If some of the expressions seem outdated, you know how to update it in you own mind. The truth of the book still stands strong today. I'm pulling my old copy off of shelf and reading it again.
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Summary: THE BEST
Review: This book is one the best books on the subject of self help around. It is clear and logical, nothing too outlandish like some books of this kind. Just time tested methods that will last forever.
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Summary: Give Yourself An Emotional Mental Face Lift!
Review: Read this book with a commitment to get everything that you can possibly get out of it. This is about being human, taking responsibility for your experiences, and seeing your way through to all sorts of success. Last year, I read this book twice, (the 1960 version). And from the notes that I wrote in the margins, I see how I have evolved, tremendously. While I enhanced my life, last year, as a result of what I learned from reading this book, twice. I still had trouble with visualizations, because I kept telling myself that I am not a visual person. This year, having just read this book, and having decided to be visual, I create visions of myself being and doing what I most aspire to be and do. In fact, as I was finishing this 3rd read, I was also in a meeting that looked like I was going to lose a lot of money. During our break, I read more of this book, and peacefully wrote out what I wanted out of this meeting, when all was said and done. And 10 minutes after I wrote those details down, with a relaxed frame of mind, I got everything that I wanted. Read this book to see yourself where you want to be. You will be doing things that you want and love to do, naturally.
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Summary: Finally - a book that makes SENSE
Review: Napoleon Hill founded the laws of success, Dale Carnegie taught us how to win friends and Maxwell Maltz taught us how to live it all. This book has in my opinion, what 99.9% of books will forever lack - and that's common sense. There is no need for hype, Maltz speaks the truth which is refreshing in this day and age. He teaches (and in my opinion was the first to teach) the art of compassion, self- respect, relaxation, forgiveness and the art of being a professional human being. In this book you will learn that it doesn't matter how many success principles you know, that if you really want to change you must do so through the self-image -the foundation for all success. It is a book filled with wisdom, humor and hope. So if you want to change and live a better life overall, then buy this book. Take a knife and cut through the diddle daddle and motivation found in those other so-called self-help books. After all, how many other authors have 33 million copies in print over a 40 year life span? BUY IT!
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Summary: A Man Ahead of His Time
Review: This book carries a copyright date of 1960. It's author died in 1975. And to be quite honest, the age of the book sometimes shows through in the author's style of writing and in some of his basic ideas (no, human beings are NOT highly sophisticated servo-mechanisms, nor is the human brain some kind of super computer). Leaving these basic misconceptions aside, however, this is still one of the best books of its kind that you're going to find (though I understand that, after more than 40 years as 'king of the hill', it may at last be about to face some real competition).
This is all the more amazing given that the author didn't even have a basic qualification in psychology. On the contrary, he was a plastic surgeon. Yet there is more genuine insight in this book than in many of the later works on Cognitive Therapy, etc., by high powered Ph.Ds. This is not to say that the book is absolutely the last word on the subject. There are, for example, several places where the author has touched upon some really crucial piece of information and then passed on, apparently without fully understanding the importance of what he was writing about.
In the case of agression, for example, in Maltz' day 'catharsis' (acting out frustration, aggression, etc.) was all the rage and he tells us that: "All types of physical exercise are excellent for draining off aggression. ... Especially good are those games where you hit or smash something ..." Nowadays we understand that this approach is more likely to breed future aggression than to provide genuine relief. To be fair to Maltz, however, despite all his comments on providing release valves for the RELIEF of frustration and agression, he does, in passing, (pages 135-6) indicate the far more beneficial method for AVOIDING the kind of thinking that leads to aggression in the first place. Yet despite whatever flaws the book may have, it is still streets ahead of most of it's rivals. Whether you have actual problems that you are struggling to deal with, or if you just want to improve the quality of your life, this book is well worth your attention.
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