What's stopping you? Book review

			What's Stopping You?: Why Smart People Don't Always Reach Their Potential and How You Can. by Luke Johnson Edition: Paperback Price: £5.49 Availability: In stock
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful and a unique perspective, 9 May 2011

This book is a great read. I chose it because I feel there are times when I seem to be a bit stuck on moving forward on certain projects. So the title intrigued me. I agree with the author that some self-help books appear to be asking you to morph into a hyper, upbeat eternal optimist. One that has the machine gun like ability to clear off everything on a to do list, every day. Some of us mere mortals might never reach those dizzy heights, assuming we wanted too.

This book is more about being realistic about what you can achieve. He points out clever ways to take failure away from being personal. One of the tips I liked was treating your goal objectives as a corporation. Me inc. So failures happen from time to time. Its the task that failed not you as a miserable wannabe.

There is a very clear picture drawn of high level fear of failure types. They can be drawn to almost impossible goals. That way if they fail its viewed as a good effort. Or they shoot really low so they won't fail. I guess we need these people to at least attempt the seemingly impossible goals so we move forward in our evolution. People in out-of-reach careers can sometimes still have a high fear of failure and regard themselves as one breath away from it crashing down. He cites that certain celebrities can fall into this category. It goes some way to explain how they can go off the rails.

I have always enjoyed using a diary to track my thoughts, write out ideas. I find it has allowed me to de-mystify emotions and feelings, ideas, shortcomings, all sorts of things. So when the author expanded on the use of CBT it had a ring of confirmation for me. Although I have recently being putting my thoughts down in online documents using a PC or 5" Tablet, I went back to old school and bought a Black and Red hardback A5 diary. Its been great to use the pen again.

Some books just invite you in to read more. This is one of those books. I love the layout of the chapters and the sub-headings. Its a great font used as well. The chapters are concise and stay on topic.

The author has put himself in the category of a hff. He describes the books he's read, some unrealistic, others very helpful. He lays out the techniques he's found really useful.

He's added some business techniques as well. Like strategies and tactics, appropriate goal setting, processing the work, ideas, being an entrepreneur, expanding on ME inc.

I feel this book rises above a lot of self-help books out there and adds a fresh perspective on the mastering yourself category.

A great book to own and understand about the science of happiness, and the importance of challenges is Flow: The Psychology of Happiness: The Classic Work on How to Achieve Happiness