For the sole purpose of making this review worth something as a stand-alone essay, I'll assume that you, the reader, like meThe courage of a dying man
For the sole purpose of making this review worth something as a stand-alone essay, I'll assume that you, the reader, like me, are one of the few people who didn't know what TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE was all about.
Twenty years before the actual events of the book, Mitch Albom had the privilege of struggling through a university sociology course under the tutelage of a special and very talented teacher, Morrie Schwartz. Despite progressing well beyond a mere student/professor relationship into a deep friendship, despite bestowing on Morrie the endearment "Coach", and despite his promise to stay in close contact after graduation, Morrie, like so many other self-centered graduates, went his own way in the world. He lost track of someone who had been very special to him and it was only a television news interview that let him know his past friend was now dying of ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease.
TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE depicts the 14 Tuesday afternoon visits that Albom made to his dying mentor and relates the substance of the conversations that they had about the vicissitudes of life and death before Morrie's death at the unrelenting hands of the implacable neurological disease that stole his mobility and even his very ability to breathe.
I wanted to like TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE ... I really did! But, while I was moved and often deeply touched as I read it, I also knew that there was something nagging at me that left me unsatisfied with the book! It took me quite a while before I figured out what it was.
Insofar as Morrie's ability to deal with his own ill health and his inevitable death was concerned, I was profoundly moved and singularly impressed. His ability to look at the silver lining of every cloud, to constantly perceive every glass as half full instead of half empty, to always find a reason to celebrate the entirety of his life as opposed to decrying the pain and the miserably small amount of time left to him was truly inspiring.
But I found Albom's ability to pass along the nuggets of wisdom in a fashion that would allow a reader to apply them to their own life looking forward (a life, that is, not looking down the barrel of a shotgun of death sawed-off virtually to the shoulder) was distinctly lacking. Platitudes and aphorisms were plentiful but I found them maudlin and distinctly lacking in meaning or method that could be applied. "Be at peace with yourself" ... well, yes, of course, but HOW does one do that? He would tell us that "love" is the answer! Well, for goodness sake, the Beatles told me that over 40 years ago! Well, you get the idea!
So, how do we find this particular glass half full? Let's say I thoroughly enjoyed the story of Morrie's pluck and courage in the face of his own slow death but found little to constructively apply to my own life.
How to turn success into even more success and fulfillment!
Jennifer White's book is not for wimps and losers.
A self-help book written by one of the fiHow to turn success into even more success and fulfillment!
Jennifer White's book is not for wimps and losers.
A self-help book written by one of the finest success coaches in the country, WORK LESS, MAKE MORE is an innovative tool to help self-driven, highly motivated individuals who are probably already successful do more and do better - to pull themselves out of a stalled rut, perhaps; to work more effectively; to make a quantum leap to a higher level of success; and clearly, to make a substantially higher level of income while working at a physically less demanding level.
Jennifer White's focus is on results and the premise, while difficult to envision, is achievable for those who are willing to make a paradigm shift in their outlook on what constitutes success, to undergo a sea change in their relationships with their family, their friends, their customers and their constituents.
This book is NOT for those that are unwilling to subject themselves to an intense level of scrutiny and, for a significant period of time, to pull themselves a long way out of previous comfort zones and to instill in themselves new habits.
My personal opinion is that this book is most likely to be successful for those individuals that are to a significant extent self-employed, self-driven, highly motivated and worrying with the realization that their career needs a lift. For those that qualify and are willing to change, Jennifer White's prescription will help you to become more deeply fulfilled and earn substantially higher financial rewards without driving yourself to an ulcer, without insulating yourself from your family and friends and without contemplating an early grave.