Rating: 
Summary: I read it again and it's still 5 stars!
Review: I was recently looking at one of my bookshelves for something to read as I settled in for the evening. I did not have anything particular in mind. What I was hoping was that a book would leap off the shelf and have "READ ME" written all over it. One did. The book I picked up was "Working on Yourself Doesn't Work" by Ariel and Shya Kane. I had already read the book twice some time ago and I smiled as I remembered the experience. I read it for the third time and smiled again. It was like reading the book for the very first time. Its direct simplicity and powerful principles combine to create a context within which transformation from moment to moment can actually be experienced - I say "experienced" because I am not convinced it can be "understood". Well, the book hit home and I was glad that I read it again. I am an Interfaith Minister and have been exposed to many different spiritual paths, disciplines and techniques for self-actualization and personal growth - everything from the Landmark Forum to month-long retreats, to mainstream religions and exotic meditations. They each have their value, their truths and their place. But what I find is that the ideas presented by the Kanes in their book, not only resonate with the wisdom passed down over the ages, but they also stand on their own. They are presented in a way that people living in the 21st century can actually experience personal transformation instantaneously and cumulatively over time. "Working on Yourself Doesn't Work" was easy to read and very powerful - all three times!
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Summary: This book is such a gift!
Review: "Working on yourself doesn't work" is, since I read it the first time, my favorite book. Ariel & Shya Kane write in such a warmhearted way, in for everybody understandable and beautiful words about Instantaneous Transformation. About how my life, everbodys life can transform instantaneously, without changing anything or anybody, without fixing or blaming anything or anybody. It shows, how you step into your own life in one instant, in a state where aliveness takes place, awareness - just being in the moment. And it's so unbelievable: it work's! Even for somebody who's so sceptical like me! I thank the Kanes for this book, because knowing and understanding and not at least experiencing Instantaneous Transformation gave me my life back. I have so much more fun in all areas of my life, and nothing has changed - it has just transformed. I recommand this book and this experience to everybody. Since I read it, it's my favorite birthday present for all my friends. Share it with the people you like - and share it with the people you think you don't like, and enjoy watching how they and their lifes transform.
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Summary: I met myself in this book.
Review: After reading "WORKING ON YOURSELF DOESN'T WORK" by Ariel and Shya Kane, I re-read the chapter on WORMs, the computer acronym for "Write Once Read Many." The Kanes compare WORMs to decisions and repetitive thoughts or emotions that re-play mechanically throughout our lives. They even list a page of common WORMs that seems to have been pulled from my own list of "greatest hits." These mechanical thoughts and behaviors that SEEM new to us are just oldies putting a limit on our realities. The real gem in this chapter is the Kanes' pointing out that these WORMs may never go away, but that simple awareness of them will free us from the restrictions they create in our lives. I don't know how awareness, or simply
noticing what's happening in my life sets me free, but I've found that it does. One of my WORMs is "there has to be an explanation for why awareness works," but when I apply the Kanes' principles of transformation, that WORM magically fades to the background and life is, quite simply, great. Having gone the route of hard work to fix myself, I can heartily recommend this book to anyone who's tired of trying to fix themselves, but who still senses that a magnificent life is possible. My deepest thanks to the Kanes.
Rating:
Summary: Turning An Ordinary Life Into Extraordinary Moments
Review: Turning An Ordinary Life Into Extraordinary Moments
I read this book in September and find myself returning to it often since then. I am a Associate Director at one of the world's most profitable banks and find my work days go by fast with lots of challenges that come up that need to be resolved quickly. For me this book is a wonderful source of insightful examples that enables me to maintain a sense of well being and centeredness in my work days. And I'm finding that this sense of well being has carried over into all areas of my life. The practical techniques that are presented in the book are easy to employ with very little, if any, effort on my part.
I have passed on my copy to a friend and am glad I can share such a wonderful book that has such a positive impact in my life. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A different self help book
Review: Most of the self-help books tell you to be proactive, and to take actions. This book is different. It says "there is no work involved in transformation ...(it is) a state of being". It encourages people to be "in the moment", don't be dragged by the past, or worry about the future ... sounds like spiritual philosophy from the East !
It is a light book to read. Not complicated with theoretical framework. Some ideas are good reminders, e.g. avoid being judgmental and confined by prejudices, be forgiving. But some points can be debatable, e.g. while it tells you don't worry about future ... but if you don't take care of some problems at present, you will be in trouble in future. It has three principles of transformation, e.g. "anything you resist, persists - and gets stronger" - you can't deny this completely, but you would wonder the degree of relevance to your many life events.
Some ideas are contradictory (or "Paradoxical" in the words of authors), e.g. there is no action vs. need to develop "in the moment" as a habit. Some contents are repetitive, e.g. old decisions are no longer relevant now.
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Summary: "Different From The Pack"
Review: Why is it that I can barely remember most of the self-help books I have read? I know that while reading them I felt a certain surge of resolve to make my life better, wealthier, healthier, and more spiritually in touch. But then comes the inevitable hangover familiar to self-help junkies everywhere- "I'll never change, I'll never be really happy, and-what was habit #47 for a successful life?"
In the pack of how to...live, love, express, de-stress books out there, this one stands out as something out of the ordinary. For starters, you gotta love the title. ("You mean, I don't have to work on myself? Then what on earth will I do with all that free time?) The Kanes have brilliantly and simply distilled elements of age old wisdom about human behavior and present it in way that's fresh, accessible and different from anything I've read. The three principles of transformation (three, I can remember!), seem to at once encompass, explain, and empower the ability to
alter life-long behaviors and thought processes.
Since reading the book, I find surprisingly brilliant things popping into my head and out of my mouth. ( Did I just say that? But I'm actually a glass is half-empty kind of guy!) For anyone like me, tired of negotiating the self-help maze I can't recommend this book enough. Or maybe you're lucky enough to have found this one first.
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Summary: An Insightful Road Map for Life
Review: With the question of which personal transformation book should I read to answer many questions I had, including "How can I obtain and keep a sense of wellness in my life," I made my way into the marketplace of Amazon. Eureka! I found what I was searching for in the Kanes' wonderfully simple yet potent book.
Through applying the Kanes' approach of non-judgmental awareness to life situations and ways of relating to others, an ease and flow of appropriate ways of being and relating have become a reality for me. My mind is a lot quieter these days and I have a sense of wellness, satisfaction and joy that I never thought was possibly before.
Often on the road of life, challenges and bumps appear, but with the Kanes' insightful guidebook, the road can become a smooth and enjoyable ride.
Rating: 
Summary: Working on Yourself Doesn't Work Doesn't Work
Review: The only thing that does work is the title. But of course, the book is about completely the opposite, i.e. how to work at not working!
So, just another self-help book thinly disguised as a non-self-help book.
Interestingly, a book that does pay off on this book's title goes under the title Radical Self-Acceptance,by Tara Brach. Check it out: self-acceptance is the real deal. It's the key to living in the moment.
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Summary: Rekindling My Aliveness !
Review: When I first found "Working On Yourself Doesn't Work, A Book About Instantaneous Transformation," I was in the throwes of a failed six year relationship. I had relocated from Florida to NY to take care of an ailing parent leaving behind a successful 28 year career. In my new career (teaching Yoga) I had missed a passing grade for teaching certification. I was sleeping more and enjoying life less, much less. The Kanes book opened my eyes and heart to forgiveness and clear seeing of my life without judging myself and others . These were not new ideas to me, but the Kanes' approach includes such simple, self evident principles that made it irresistible for me not to try them out myself. Lightheartedness and generosity were immediately rekindled and my life is improving steadily and effortlessly ! Joe Cilmi , Iyengar Yoga Instructor
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Summary: I read it again and it's still 5 stars!
Review: I came to this book through the back door, in the sense that another book had been recommended to me by a friend, The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle. When I went to the bookstore to look at The Power of Now, I looked at this one also, because on Amazon this book had been recommended by somebody either instead of or in addition to the Tolle book. When I looked at the two books together, I picked this one. I picked it because it is less verbose, easier to read, more to the point-and I "got it." I didn't buy it the first time I looked at it; but I read it. I read it all the way through, in one sitting, and I got a lot out of it. It really provoked me. It opened my world. And still I didn't buy it. I put it back on the shelf, and three weeks later I came back to the bookstore, with the ideas from the book percolating in me the entire time, and I read it again. I was very surprised: this time when I read it I read an entirely different book because I was different. The first reading of the book had changed me already. I found what I understood from the book on the second reading was completely different from what I had understood on the first reading-and it was glorious! And still I didn't buy it. Three more weeks go by, the book percolating inside of me the entire time, and I came back to the bookstore. I read it a third time. And again I found I read a completely different book than the book I had read the first two times. This time I bought it. (No, I didn't buy it on Amazon.) I'm really glad I did. One of the reasons I bought the book on October 18, 2003, is that in the back of the book there's information about how to go to the seminars that are conducted by the authors. They're in New York, and I'm in New York, and I decided to go to one of their Monday night Transformation Evenings-which I did, for the first time on October 20, 2003. I've been going ever since. This little book, this slender volume, is one of the best books I've ever read, and I've read a lot of books. It's definitely in my Top 100.
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