Review of Simon Clarkson's Book - DayDreaming

IP is over the quota
IP is over the quota

I recently discovered that there are several positive thinking books available on the market, I have discovered one that interested me, Simon Clarkson has published 'DayDreaming'. This is a book aimed at the individual who is looking for success through a positive mental attitude and wants to take control of their lives.

It is a book that emphasises the power of positive thinking not dissimilar to The Secret in principle, but written by an Englishman in simple terms.

The book explains how Simon applies the power of positive thinking in all of his thoughts, actions to his everyday life. What Simon explains to his reader is that if something is important to us sufficiently so and we desire it, it can and will happen.

The world that we live in today is full of people who are negative and don't believe that they are either good enough or deserve it, whatever it is. What Simon writes is that the world is indeed there for is all to tap into, the important thing being, we need to develop our positive thinking techniques to concentrate on these issues.

Simon goes into detail of his own personal experiences in life, these are quite touching but, the important issue being it is the power of the human being. We all possess these powers but very few people apply them and this is a huge issue we all appear to have.

A great memory that I recall, is one that's when I was a young boy and I would balance on a high wall, my mother would invariably shout" be careful otherwise you may fall". And guess what invariably I'd fall. The point being once you have been told something your brain will think that it will happen and more often than not it does.

Apply the same thoughts to positive thinking techniques within our lives and you can transform your life. How simple can it all be, surely if we changed our thoughts, wouldn't life be a lot better for all mankind.

In conclusion what Simon Clarkson's book does, is to encourage us all to think positive, healthy good thoughts and you never know when you actually tune in, it will happen. If you were to carry out very simple research it would prove that most successful, prosperous individuals all have one thing in common: the same trait.

Dream it, feel it, touch it, smell it, even imagine playing a video in your mind and all these dreams will come true.

Book Review - 'Why Marriages Succeed or Fail And How To Make Yours Last' By Dr John Gottman

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

Dr. John Gottman says: 'If there is one lesson I have learned from my years of research it is that a lasting marriage results from a couple's ability to resolve the conflicts that are inevitable in any relationship'. The following book is not just a couples therapist's opinion but a compilation of the findings of the work of a relationship expert and scientist who researched his topic over the past 40 years.

Summary

In this book, Dr. John Gottman gives his readers the ability to find out more about their relationship through self-tests and evaluations. Beyond that this book also provides practical exercises, quizzes, tips, techniques and proven strategies to improve your relationship or marriage.

More in details

Based on his years of research with real-life couples, Dr. John Gottman first answers the question 'What makes marriage work?' By reading this book you will learn that there are significantly different marriage styles, which he calls 'The Good, The Bad and the Volatile' and that frequent arguing doesn't necessarily have to lead to divorce if other factors are in balance.

Dr. John Gottman is famous for 'The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse', the warning signs in every relationship tumbling towards martial disaster. Dr. Gottman argues that these pitfalls - criticism, defensiveness, contempt and stonewalling - can be observed in couples who are moving towards less and less satisfaction in their relationship.

This book is not just another set of opinions of a relationship therapist, instead this is the result of his work with thousands of couples over many years of empirical study. This research has enabled Dr. Gottman to predict which couples relationships will last with 94 percent accuracy where normal relationship experts are only able to predict this in 10 percent of their cases.

About the author

As mentioned above Dr. John Gottman has collected significant amounts of data researching couples in what he calls 'The Love Lab'. He has also written and co-authored 40 books and published 190 academic articles. He has appeared on television in shows like Good Morning America, Today, CBS Morning News and Oprah and published some of his work in various publications like The New York Times, Women's Day, Reader's Digest and Psychology Today, just to name a few.

Together with his wife, Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman, they founded the Gottman Relationship Institute; they schedule appointments for marathon therapy and lead relationship workshops.

Recommendation

This is a 'must read' if you are interested to improve your relationship and really, who doesn't? The best case would be if both, husband and wife, would read the book, but it is already very beneficial for one to read and introduce the concepts to the other.

Personally John Gottman's work forms the basis of my work with couple clients in my practice and his concepts work with great success.

Want to know more? Have a look at my blog.

Nathalie Himmelrich is the founder of 'Reach for the Sky Therapy' on Sydney's Northern Beaches and specialises in 'relationship related issues'. She is working with individuals and couples using techniques ranging from Counselling, Neuro Linguistic Programming to Journey Therapy. She supports clients in their personal growth in a supportive and professional environment.

Visit my website: http://www.reachforthesky.com.au/ or visit my blog: http://reachforthesky.wordpress.com/ and sign up for our newsletter today.

How the Brain Works in Making Decisions

IP is over the quota
IP is over the quota

Each of us continues to evolve as a person, not just because of our genetic make-up, but also because of the decisions we have made and will continue to make throughout life. Understanding how we make decisions and working at making better decisions is the theme of Jonah Lehrer's book, How We Decide.

In this book Jonah Lehrer summarizes the latest neuroscience research on what happens within a person's brain when making decisions. The author uses real-life stories and research studies to illustrate how the brain works when making decisions. For anyone intrigued with the science of what happens within the brain when decisions are made, this book is well-researched, informatively insightful and will be easily understood by those with a limited knowledge-base in the area of neuroscience.

Many decisions are made based on our emotions and feelings which are a result of cumulative life experiences. A person's emotional brain is able to quickly amass all information within the brain to give a person a gut feeling, an instinct, when solving some types of problems. The more experiences a person has had in particular areas, the more a person can depend on the emotional brain to make a decision. "...Intelligent institution is the result of deliberate practice."

Some situational problems require focused attention and analysis. Therefore, it is important to realize the type of decision that needs to be made and the thinking that may need to take place.

Many people are uncomfortable with uncertainty when making particular decisions and often times that uncertainty may lead to ignoring bits of information. At such times people often do not think through to analyze contradictory information. The brain desires to experience pleasant and pleasing emotions but that can easily lead to people minimizing or dismissing evidence that contradicts their beliefs.

As the author states, "We always need to be thinking about how we think. Sometimes we need to reason through our options and carefully analyze the possibilities. And sometimes we need to listen to our emotions. The secret is knowing when to use these different styles of thought." Focusing attention, analyzing and learning from the mistakes of what we experience leads to readjustments in thinking. We become better at something and also reap the benefit of becoming better decision makers. "...self-criticism is the secret to self-improvement."

The ability to use emotions and focused analysis in the right situations results in a person who continually thinks about how to think. That becomes the key to becoming better decision-making. As the author states, "This is the most astonishing thing about the human brain; it can always improve itself. Tomorrow, we can make better decisions." To understand how our brain makes decisions is to not only better understand ourselves, but it also enables us to better understand our fellow human beings.

How We Decide...an interesting and enlightening read.

How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer, who also wrote Proust Was a Neuroscientist.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company New York, New York, 2009, 302 pages.