Self-Help, Health

Last year I discovered self-help guru Tony Robbins - a guy whom I like to describe as the *mind over matter* dude.

Many people no doubt scoff at Robbins, the *informercial* guy from the late 90s but I just read another of his books - Unlimited Power : The New Science Of Personal Achievement - and came across some fascinating heath/body stuff that I'd never read before.

Ever hear of *food combining"? I certainly hadn't.  It's a digestive theory that asserts certain foods (e.g. meat and potatoes) shouldn't be eaten at the same time because some necessitate a stomach acid for proper digestion....while some foods demand a stomach base (alkali?) for proper digestion.  For example, the American staple combo of meat and potatoes is to be avoided.

Why?  Because the acid and bases supposedly neutralize each other and make your body work harder to digest.....leading to bloating (ever felt that???) and other stomach issues (*out of your brains* farting!) In his book Robbins even said that eating a ton of incompatible sh*t food can even lead to a bad night's sleep if you eat late and your body is working overtime (several hours) to digest while you are sleeping.

I'm sure that those overweight doctors and the medical establishment have a study that debunks this....

BUT if anyone has stomach issues they'd be crazy not to experiment with separating their foods according to this *quack* theory.  I myself don't think I have but am willing to give it a whirl and see what happens.

There's also a snippet in the book about the lymph system, body cell waste products, and proper breathing.

Now I myself have been unable to stop shallow, mouth-breathing for quite a while now.  But Tony has a method that seems to be clicking with me.  Breathe in deeply, hold your breath for 4-times as long, and then breathe out slowly for twice as long as your inhaled.  When I do this....I can really feel the inhale get deep down into my stomach.

Okay we're still here on the beach (Ocean City, NJ)....and I just missed the sunrise writing this post. As my son would say, "WHAT AN EPIC FAIL!!!"

See also:

Moronic Respiration

Breathe-Right?

Another Help-Self Book

I just read The Charge: Activating the 10 Human Drives That Make You Feel Alive.

It was *okay*. I happened to get it directly from the author for $7 instead of the $16 it costs on Amazon now.

It's funny how at $7 I will definitely buy it, but would hesitate at $16. We all have our price points, I guess.

I had read his Millionaire Messenger previously - which was better and, really, sufficient as far as giving me the gist of his spiel. So I recommend reading that one first/instead.

Who is he?

He's a dorky little guy who's carved out quite a name/wage for himself in the high performance, personal coaching industry. Rich people pay him astronomical sums, e.g. 250k for a year of *coaching*, 50k to have him watch one guy speak,...

If this HJ can make it big, then so can we!

Running Out Of Self-Help Books!

Is that all you have to do, THINK?

In a sense, yes, Think & Grow Rich is about working *smart* rather than simply working hard.

I just finished it and my verdict...

I would say it is decent.

The background on it is that way back when, Andrew Carnegie (the steel magnate) commissioned this dude to spend 25 years studying *success*, er successful earthlings. And this book is allegedly the fruit of that laborious endeavor.

The more of these self-help, get-rich gurus I read....the more their theories blend together. In fact Tony Robbins, whom I just read, I feel rips substantially from this book which was published back in 1937.

To both of them, it's all about *mindset* - persistence, will power, self-control, etc.

I must note that there were two surprising parts to this book.

One, the author talks about sex a bunch. He asserts that highly sexed individuals are usually very successful - and they ought to be admired for their flirtatiousness rather than deprecated. (Throughout this subject....all I could think of was Bill Clinton.)

And the other section which was a little wacky was the part where Hill starts talking about, with considerable certainty(!), exactly what happens to people after they die.

In books like this I really look forward to great anecdotage and there was a bit (mostly Thomas Edison and Henry Ford), but not really that much considering all the alleged empiricism behind the text.

But that's not to say that Hill's suggestions on how to succeed in life don't constitute sound, if not profound advice. I will chew on his ideas and assess later on.

Anytime you hear people say *I've read that book 5 times* - as I did with this one - I think it can't hurt to check it out.

And, not for nuthin', but the book has actually sold over 60 million copies now.

Tony Robbins - Review

Alright it took longer than I thought, but I finally finished self-help guru Tony Robbins' book - Awaken The Giant Within.

It was definitely good and worthwhile reading.

While I didn't take any notes I can share, I did take away several key ideas from this book.

I would say that the subtitle of the book captures its essence - *How to take immediate control of your mental, emotional, physical, and financial destiny!*.

Tony breaks down the mental processes which Earthlings use to determine their feelings, actions, etc.

The main lesson/message is that each one of us is indeed capable of fully controlling how we are going to react to the poop that life tosses our way.

It's not just some cheesy *look on the brightside* tripe either.

So it you are into self-improvement and appreciate the transformative power introspection I'd recommend you give Robbins a look. I'm sure your local government library has his books.

See also - Up Sheep-Creek Without A Paddle.

Dollop Of Wisdom

Friday Night Self-Help

I always love playing with, and ruminating upon, Google's search suggestions!





































Wow! Bank of America comes right up in *legal targets*.

Not only that, they are also represented there as a *company*, a large *employer*, a *bank*, a *landlord* (via it's ginormous REO inventory!), AND a *credit card company*.

I'll bet their legal department hasn't suffered many (any?) cuts during this economic swoon!

Read The Popular Stuff, Too

This book was staring at me in my mother's basement for almost 20 years. Finally, I grabbed it some six months ago I guess because, well, not only am I a prolific reader these days, but also because I'm in a daily battle with *time management* thanks to the insourced parenting of two small children.

I started it right away but was reading the book coincidentally with the Bible. So it paled in comparison; it seemed not only trite, but also a rip straight from Christian teachings. As I read it I wondered about the echoes I was hearing - and whether or not the millions who read this book had the slightest clue. Sure enough, late in the book, author Stephen Covey does confess via a *personal note* his staunch belief in Christianity and the role it plays in *effective* living.

The book is about precisely what one would expect - getting a grip on your life's priorities, ordering them, and dealing with them on a forthright and systematic basis. For sure, a lot of it is commonsense to the thinkers and self-improvers already among us....nonetheless, there's almost no chance someone can read this book without some profit.

With 15 million copies sold it's one of these books that one just HAS TO read and cross off their list. It's just like How To Win Friends And Influence People in that regard.

About now I have to get to writing that *personal mission statement*....