Rating: 
Summary: It;s just not that simple no matter how much you want it 2 b
Review: Phil seems to approach everyone with a one size fits all fix and... hate that for him, but life isn't that simple. It's not black and white and fitting in the box easily. That just isn't the way it is. I wish it were that simple. I wish people could read this book and PPOOF be better. but it's much more work than that
Rating: 
Summary: You must be willing to do what it takes,
Review: Dr. Phil is a realist who provides down-to-earth strategies for success in this excellent book. If you want to avoid doing what it takes, you should avoid this book. If you are ready to get off your butt and adopt fundamental strategies for success, your life will work. I absolutely recommend this book. I also strongly recommend Optimal Thinking--How To Be Your Best Self where you learn how to make the most of your thinking, feelings, and anything that comes your way. If you want to live your best life, educate yourself with these books. Like most of us, you probably didn't get this education in school, but it's right here now.
Rating:
Summary: Very helpful
Review: This book has been very helpful to get myself on the right track. I liked how the author used examples of actual people to inspire and motivate us. If you know you need to change and you are looking for some direction as well as a little push in the back, this book is very helpful. The writing is powerful and motivating and the book includes many good practical suggestions about what to do to make this change happen. If you are more interested in understanding people and how our path to happiness is sometimes blocked or opened up, I'd highly recommend "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato. It provides a comprehensive account of the theory behind all of this and explains many psychological things in a way that everyone can understand. Though not a motivation book, it is absolutely inspiring!
Rating: 
Summary: Worst of Breed
Review: This is, of all the "self-help" books I've ever seen, the weakest by far -- dashed off, flip, and wholly derivative. If it took McGraw more than a weekend to slap this together, he was as bored with it as I am.Try Tony Robbins. He actually tries to put together books that people other than himself may benefit from. McGraw intermingles the glib with the cliched. Terrible. "Awaken the Giant Within" has actually helped people. This book, however, is simply a let's-make-a-quick-buck-on-my-fame disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Seems easy enough
Review: Dr. Phil's life strategies seem easy, but they take a true commitment to implement. His advice makes me mad sometimes, probably because I know it is true. You either get it or you don't!
I also recommend Rat Race Relaxer: Your Potential & The Maza of Life.
Rating:
Summary: I bought it twice and returned it twice
Review: ...To sum up: I think the author have a few good points on life laws and strategies, but if you were like me, you may find it very hard to continue reading the book to eventually get it all ' there are many ill-written and unedited sentences and the author tend to elaborate, if not exaggerate, his points, both of which could be very annoying. Also in some case it doesn't seem obvious how to implement/activate the suggested strategies. But, hey, it could just be me who really didn't and perhaps couldn't get it.
Rating: 
Summary: not the usual psychobabble....
Review: To the stay at home mom who didn't find it useful, I'd like to say that it's not just for people who want to get ahead at work. You can be a stay at home mom and still have a purposeful life. Life isn't just about work, and I think that's one thing, among others, that I got out of this book. The whole concept of an authentic is probably not a new thing of Dr. Phil's, but the way he doesn't mollycoddle people is great. His strength is that he tells it to people straight, but if you've seen his shows, you also know that he cares very much about the people he talks to. That's why he doesn't mince words. The whole thing about taking responsibility for your own actions is something we Americans need to keep in mind more often! Now, maybe it's impossible to reduce life to ten little rules, , but I think the whole point is that if we have some major guidelines, the little decisions kind of take care of themselves. Think of the rules as way to check that you're on track in life. Now what exactly that means to you is also something you can explore in the process of reading his books. How many of us have truly sat down and thought about what we really want out of life? That's what I meant when I said it's not just for people wanting to get ahead at work. This book is definitely worth working through.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth the read
Review: Dr. Phil is obviously completely wrapped up in a Huministic/ existential world. He spouts words of wisdom from the Humanistic/Existential field of psychology but he steals elements from the psychodynamic and behavioral fields of study and renames them to make them fit his humanistic/existential views. Life Law #3 is completly based on the the behavioral theory of operant conditioning. Positive and negitive reinforcement of behavior. The basic rewards and punishment system. My question is, how can a person be responsible for thier own problems if they have been operantly conditioned to be the way they are through abuse or their enviornment. He also discounts Freud completly but borrows from the ego defenses mechanisms of the psychodynamic theory in Life Law #4. The main ego defense mechanism is denial. The Humanistic/Existential view of psychology and the way people live their lives is a bit outdated. How can you have a person take complete responsibility for all of their shortcomings and completly discount sociocultural and biological factors. I am not impressed at all. I give him one star because everyone deserves to have their own opinion - they just should not give it to those who may not know all the elements that should be involved
Rating:
Summary: Impressed & Pleasantly surprised
Review: I bought this cassette for my husband back in December. It was a Christmas present since he travels quite a bit. I felt I was taking a risk at him appreciating the material since he usually buys business-related material (ie "How to become am effective manager," "How to close a sale," etc. To my great surprise, he came home one day commenting on how he listened to the "Life Strategies" cassette and was sincerely impressed with the amount of thought-provoking informaton contained in every part of the cassette. He said he finished the tape faster than any other audio cassette he had purchased himself! He did not know about Dr. Phil, beforehand, but said he felt the tape made him look and approach situations in a completely different manner. Personally, I listened to the tape after he did because I was curious to find out what was behing his 'review.' I wanted to be Enlightened myself! Immediately, I heard the tape and LOVED every bit of the tape. Being that it was an audio book, I appreciated it even more because I felt the advice by Dr. Phil, himself, more profound and personalized. I heard it twice in one month because I felt I needed another chance at grasping the wealth of information. I found it wonderfully insightful, witty, and inspiring. It's a wake up call to many of us who were at one time more self-aware, more confident, more directed, more independent, and more capable beings who simply began settling for one thing after another until became a pattern. This could have been because of motherhood, divorce, repressed feelings, etc. This book forced my husband & I to be honest about patterns and behaviors we had adopted over time and ways to change them. I believe one MUST be prepared for the hard truth and be willing to accept criticism and use that 'hard truth' as fuel for change to Truly appreciate this book. I loved Dr. Phil's style, his examples & stories. The fact that he actually gives you a REAL SOLUTION - one that can be easily understood and applied to your life is the best part of the whole book. Sound solutions and endless possibilities is what I got from this tape. I have told countless friends about the cassette because I believe it can be the beginning of profound change in one's life that begings with Awareness, Realization, Acceptance and, ultimately, Tranformation.
Rating:
Summary: Pah.
Review: This book is a collection of soundbites. As another reviewer said more eloquently, the book wallows about, contradicting itself, making unsubstantiated claims, and occasionally foaming over with nonsensical palaver.
But I'd still give it a marginally passing grade because there's a kernel of wisdom that deserves much wider recognition. McGraw says that each of us is responsible for what we do (and 'doing' includes feeling and reacting).
Yep. And I do believe quite a few of us would rather not take responsibility for ourselves. We'd all be better off if we did this more broadly. A new concept? Hardly. But still, important.
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