Jim Loehr

My mind was rather rigid(no more!) and personally, I couldnt tell the difference between emotional, mental and spiritual mindset. I also always thought that tapping into the spiritual means you get more involved with religion but this book taught me otherwise.

The book also contains many other advices which I feel is useful to me because I tend to view life as a marathon, which is not necessarily the right way to think.

I like the various real life examples in the book.

I was initially disappointed that this book focused so much on business or work performance. However, in the later part of the book, I saw how what he was proposing, his fundamental tenet, that we focus on energy (that is, health) rather than time, would be revolutionary if it were implemented on a wide scale. The work place would change drastically. The structure, the simplistically punative systems, the oversight, all of these things would have to change to accommodate the well-being of show more the people doing the work.

So I was won over to the focus on business--change that sphere and the possibilities open up for greater personal effectiveness. But of course, businesses don't like change. And so he is trying to effect individuals at the top levels to embrace this idea in all areas of their lives and work.

Another disappointment was that "story" for him essentially means self-talk and self-concept. I was hoping it had to do more with imagination. And while he does give a lot of credit to imaginative self-concept and visualization, he is essentially leading people to create a self-concept and lifestyle that are positive and in harmony.

Grandiose language about an "ultimate purpose" tends to irritate me and Loehr emphasizes that as a way to help people prioritize or focus on what they should focus on. He is catering to type As, so the language and the press toward perfection de-motivates me rather than motivates me (not a type A).

However, I did like his notion of embedding and self-indoctrination. I feel this is an area of self-help psychology that hasn't been adequately brought into the light and Loehr doesn't shy from it. I'm hoping he hasn't written the last word on it because the exercises and suggestions don't seem quite adequate, but he at least gives more guidelines to follow for making a desired change actually stick than many people.

I've kept this book because I feel its a good one to go back through periodically. He emphasizes getting honest with oneself. I think we all develop self-illusions over time. Sometimes we kick them only to have them show up again. Sometimes new ones arrive with new circumstances. It's good to have a guide for reviewing these and reasserting personal truths and priorities. show less

Nicely paced read that keeps pulling you in with thoughtful truths. Really like their take on things laid out simply in the back of the book. The rest of the book puts flesh on the concepts with practical examples. There seemed, to me, too many examples but many resonated with me. I think this makes for a good reference book, you can get cheaply since it is 10 years old. However, the truths have enduring relevance. It makes sense to watch you energy maybe more than your time. Particularly show more like the sprint and recovery concept. Some things about eating, not so sure that is scientifically up to date. show less

Highly recommended. Without having known of this fully, I've been quoting from it for years. The language and structure are a little too much like a workbook for my tastes but the ideas, recommendations and practices are sound and compelling and will appeal to many over-stressed folks. Those most skeptical of the softer psycho-spiritual works will be impressed.