Personal development is an adventure. In order for us to grow to become the persons we are meant to be we must spend a significant amount of time in self-reflection. I have found that an important part of my journey has been learning about new ideas from others and deciding if and how to incorporate them into my own person. I am an avid reader, so many of these ideas come to me through various books. Some of these books are self-help, or personal development books. Some are novels. Some are academic texts and papers in the areas of psychology. On this page I will share my thoughts on many of the books and papers I read, and welcome your feedback as well. Enjoy!

Book Review: 7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence

7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence is my favorite book on NLP so far. Given the dozens of books I have read on the topic, I consider this to be a real accomplishment!

What I like most about this book is that it is not simply a rehash of NLP techniques learned in the standard NLP Practitioner courses offered worldwide. While Merlebvede, Bridoux and Vandamme cover all of the basic principles and techniques of NLP in depth, they take a step further and apply them to developing Emotional Intelligence.

It did not take me long to realize that the authors of 7 Steps are not only well qualified as teachers and practitioners of NLP, but as helping professionals as well. Each has a background in therapy and cognitive science, which explains the depth of explanation of the concepts included in the book.

Despite the depth of knowledge each of these professionals has, they still manage to keep the writing simple and non-technical, relating the concepts of NLP and Emotional Intelligence in a way that the average reader can easily understand.

This is not only a book that I will reference again and again as a hypnotherapist and trainee therapist; it is also a book that I intend to make required reading for the core curriculum of my upcoming LifeSkills training series.

I cannot recommend 7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence highly enough. Get it today and read it cover to cover over the next couple of weeks. You will be glad you did.!

Book Review: Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life

There are a lot of books on communication out there.  This is not surprising given the role communication plays in our lives.  Think about it:  whether it’s verbal or nonverbal, what could we possibly accomplish without effective communication? Our species owes our ability to organize, to learn, even to survive on our ability to convey our thoughts, ideas and facts.  Our ability to communicate with each other is why we are at the top of the food chain.

Nonviolent Communications: Language of Life is one of the best books on communication I have read.  For many readers it may seem to start out in the clouds, with all of the talk about feelings, compassion and empathy, but stick with it and the reasons for this emphasis become clear in a dynamic method of communication that works. Read more..

Simple•ology: The Simple Science of Getting What You Want – Book Review

Mark Joyner is a great teacher. There is no doubt about it. He writes in a very simple (almost simplistic) sort of way that may leave many readers wondering “what is the point?” But at the end of the chapter, if you hang in there through his personal rhetoric, political views, and fictitious examples, the point ultimately becomes clear and all that preceded it suddenly makes sense.

The question is not so much whether or not Mark is a good teacher, but more so about the validity of what he is teaching. Simple•ology is the first and only book I have read by Mark, and I have to admit for much of it I really struggled to remain engaged. This is not to say that there are not some valid lessons in Simple•ology. There are.

For instance, Mark spends a fair amount of time discussing how our thoughts, beliefs, language and experiences combine to form our model of the world. I have researched and written on these topics extensively in this blog and elsewhere, and I for the most part agree with Mark’s ideas.

Mark eventually, after writing several chapters on topics such as neural networking, focus and trances, links the creation of these models as representations of our own realities, to the notion of belief and behavioral flexibility. His “Utilitarian Model Flexibility” concept is undeniably powerful. In essence, Mark suggests that by accepting that your model of the world, which represents your reality, is not a true representation of reality, you may maintain the flexibility to change the model. In doing so, you retain flexibility of behavior and can better achieve your goals “at that precise time.” Read more..