The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
I don’t usually review fiction books but this one is different. First of all, it is the follow-up to The DaVinci Code, a book that millions of people loved including me. Second, it is set in Washington D.C. and brings in a lot of American history in this historic place. And third, it revolves around the science and research into the mind and how the discovery of the connection between thought and action is so powerful. All three aspects of the book not only appealed to me, but captivated me. I read the book in a week because I had a hard time leaving it alone.
Should you read it?
If you love a good story with really interesting characters and a lot of twists - this book has these in spades. If you are interested in how we use our thoughts to create, and the power such a connection could hold, Dan Brown has done a good job of weaving it through this story. When you finish the book, you will have had quite an exciting journey and learned some things along the way. That are always the qualities of a book worth reading and this one is.
I am currently reading quite a few books and will be sharing them shortly. Let me know if you have one to suggest I consider. Books are like flowers, they just keep appearing everyday and keeping up with them is not easy but well worth it, just like the flowers.
Excuses Begone by Wayne Dyer - Review
This book represents in many ways a return to Wayne Dyer’s beginning works. Trained in counseling with Abraham Maslow as his mentor during his doctoral studies, the mind as creator of experiences is critical in his writings. In this book he addresses thinking that is self-defeating or what he calls the “habit mind.” In our habitual thinking are the excuses or self-limiting thoughts and beliefs we repeat to choose our actions and behaviors now. They keep us from living our fullest life by trapping us in our past life in the form of programming. Until we challenge these “excuses” they persist and continue to create (or recreate) automatically. The good news is that we can actually “create” something new and different, make new choices, and have different experiences. This is done through “creative consciousness” by using seven principles and a paradigm shift process to address the eighteen common and most limiting excuses in the “subconscious” mind. These excuses include familiar ones such as: “I don’t deserve it,” “I can’t afford it,” “I’m too busy,” and “It will be difficult.” These and the other fourteen are the barriers to everything we want and don’t have.
The first part of the book explains how the mind works uses excuses to dominate our experiences and create lives we don’t want and don’t enjoy. The second part of the book thoughtfully presents his seven principles that include: awareness, alignment, now, contemplation, willingness, passion and compassion. Each principle is clearly explained with the creative consciousness power demonstrated as applied to some of the most common excuses.
The paradigm shift is the third part of the book. Building on Byron Katie’s “The Work” he has designed a series of seven questions that can be used to challenge thoughts and especially excuses. When thoughtfully asked these questions dissolve beliefs and fears while empowering choices. I think this series of questions may be even more powerful than those of The Work, because they allow the questioner to find a source of and identify choices for change.
Each part of this book is useful and together they provide a compelling process for clearing excuses and making permanent changes in the brain and mind. All the concepts and strategies are clearly illustrated and applied. This is a book to read, study, and use.
What I Liked in Excuses Begone
I liked this approach to behavior changes, as it is similar to what I use in life coaching. I am convinced that the mind is the key to everything from change to joy and that each of us has the power to use our mind to create anything and everything. I found much in this book to add to the ideas and strategies I share with other people and can use myself. Here are three examples of the principles I found most useful and applicable.
• Alignment. This principle says that life is an indication of our alignment with our “essential nature” and the source of our creation. Excuses and faulty thinking are indications of our misalignment. Realign and many of our problems and issues are gone. He says alignment is “awareness in action.” When we are aligned our focus is on what we want to create.
• Contemplation. All creation, positive or negative, begins with contemplation. What is in our experience and what surrounds us is due to our previous contemplation or thoughts and feelings. Fortunately contemplation now is the key to our future experiences through creative consciousness.
• Willingness. This word was an unusual way of describing what is often called commitment. Willingness is stronger and more powerful when followed. He provides four questions that support willingness zeroing in on taking full responsibility for the conditions of life, surrendering, holding our vision, and shedding all unwillingness. Answer the questions and the direction for willingness is found.
I also found the paradigm questions in the third part of the book to be very powerful as a process. Each question contains clear areas for consideration and the process is fast and effective. He encourages the reader to let the changes “fall into place” with a “mind that’s open to everything and attached to nothing.” Read the questions and the suggested areas of consideration and the application begins without plans, lists, and rules of instructions. Pretty nifty and pretty effective.
Notes for Application
• Nothing is permanent or inevitable. Even our genetics can be changed through our thoughts and creative consciousness.
• Excuses don’t move us forward they keep us from fully living in the now and the joy and love found there. The reliance on excuses is self-defeating and must be addressed if something different is wanted.
• “Always keep in mind that no single person, place, or thing can force you to believe or disbelieve anything. … Now you have the independence to choose what you believe. Your knowing is yours.”
Should You Read This Book?
Whether you are a Wayne Dyer fan or not, everyone can benefit from this book. If you need a direction, a different strategy, or the guidance to move forward, this book will definitely benefit you. For those who have read many of his books, this one maintains his philosophy but with updated and new applications, especially in terms of the process of change. I found the ideas and especially applications to be consistent with what I have learned in working with people in every area of life. I would highly recommend this book to my clients and to anyone who is ready to live the life they want, fully and joyfully.
©2009 Dr. Jane Miner - PERSONAL Solutions. For more information or support for your personal solutions contact me at jane@janeminer.com. May be reprinted with this attribution fully intact.