Book Review: Power Thoughts Devotional by Joyce Meyer

Power Thoughts Devotional: 365 Daily Inspirations for Winning the Battle of the Mind
By Joyce Meyer
Publisher: Faith Words
Date:  October 22, 2013

About The Author
Joyce Meyer is one of the world's leading practical Bible teachers. A #1 New York Times bestselling author, her books have helped millions of people find hope and restoration.




Happy New Year!
I have taken a little break from blogging over the past two months. I appreciate all my readers and thank you for your encouragement and support. I am looking forward to a wonderful year of blogging in 2014.

An Inspirational Resource For The New Year
"Power Thoughts Devotional" is based on Joyce Meyer's New York Times bestseller, "Power Thoughts". This book provides 365 daily devotions to help eliminate negative thoughts and encourage power thoughts.

The devotions provide a Bible verse, a message and a brief power thought. These devotions are based on Joyce Meyer's teachings and are designed to change your thoughts and your life.

My Thoughts
I am very impressed with this devotional book. The devotions are very brief and can be read in a minute or two. It is amazing how the author presents such powerful content in just a few sentences.  You definitely get quality instead of quantity in this book.

The devotions always give you something to think about and to apply to your life. The "Power Thoughts" are only a few words and can be easily committed to memory. An example of a Power Thought is, "I will not live in fear".

Today is the first day of a new year. This book can make a difference in your life. I plan on starting today and using this book as my devotional book for the entire year of 2014. Take a few moments each day to renew your mind and receive guidance from the Word of God. Highly recommended!

My Rating: 5 Stars Out Of 5

FYI ~ I received a complimentary digital copy of this book to read and review from NetGalley.

Book Review: Never Feel Old Again by Raymond Francis

Never Feel Old Again: Aging Is a Mistake--Learn How to Avoid It (Never Be)

Author: Raymond Francis

Publisher: Health Communications, Inc.

Release Date: October 1, 2013





About The Author
Raymond Francis is an internationally recognized leader in the field of optimal-health maintenance. At the age of 76, Raymond Francis is president of Beyond Health International, a supplier of highly advanced health education and world class health-supporting products to the public.

Getting Old Is Not For Sissies!
Raymond Francis believes the body ages as a result of accumulated repair deficits, or a lack of maintenance. He says the passage of time alone does not explain what happens to our bodies. What we think of as "aging" is a man-made disease that is preventable and even reversible. The author believes everyone can live to a healthy old age and no one needs to become feeble and die in a nursing home.

Mr. Francis endorses the Beyond Health Model which employs the following six pathways; 

• The Nutrition Pathway
• The Toxin Pathway
• The Mental Pathway
• The Physical Pathway
• The Genetic Pathway
• The Medical Pathway

This book provides valuable advice on how to change old habits and start living a healthy lifestyle. The author believes you can live a strong, purposeful, active, drug-free and disease-free life well into your hundreds!

My Thoughts
This book offers an amazing amount of information. The author has done his research and is very passionate about natural healing and reversing the aging process.

I found the information in this book very interesting but I know it will be a real challenge for me to make the changes in my life that Mr. Frances recommends. The author acknowledges that "habits and addictions are real obstacles to any positive change in your life". However, I think any major lifestyle change begins with a series of small steps. I think the information in this book will inspire me to eat healthier foods, lose some weight and increase my physical activity.

This book will give you many things to think about. You might not agree with everything the author suggests, but I am pretty sure you will find many helpful tips that will improve your health and quality of life.

They say that "getting old is not for sissies!" This book will give you a new understanding of the aging process and provide information that will help you age with dignity and grace.

My Rating: 5 Stars Out Of 5

FYI ~ I received a digital preview copy of this book from NetGalley.

Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.

Book Review: Everything I Know About Success I Learned From Napoleon Hill by Don Green

Everything I Know About Success I Learned from Napoleon Hill: Essential Lessons for Using the Power of Positive Thinking

Author: Don M. Green

Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Date: March 2, 2013




About the Author
Don M. Green is executive director of the Napoleon Hill Foundation and president of the foundation board at the University of Virginia-Wise. He became CEO of Black Diamond Savings Bank at 41 and studied under personal development master W. Clement Stone.

Think and Grow Rich
"What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve."
In 1937, Napoleon Hill published his groundbreaking book "Think and Grow Rich". Today, this book continues to inspire and motivate millions of world-wide readers seeking success.

Don Green shares the lessons that he has learned about success and the power of positive thinking in this autobiographical book. Mr. Green discovered the book "Think and Grow Rich" when he was in his twenties. He details Napoleon Hill's influence on his own success, growing up in rural Virginia and going on to become a bank CEO at just 41 years old. The author has been a life-long lover of books on success, including biographies, and has gained a great deal of knowledge from these readings.

The contents of this book include the following chapters;

• The Formula
• Success
• Adversity and Failure
• Purpose and Belief
• Books
• Desire and Discipline
• Goals
• Habits and Perseverance
• Frugality and Self-Reliance
• Learning From Others
• Mentors
• Opportunities
• Visualization
• Thinking
• Your Personal Success Equation
• Perseverance and Passion
• Legacy

The principles of success do not change. When these principles are studied and applied, those who follow them can expect the same results that successful people have obtained.  But remember, you can't just think, dream, or wish for something to happen; you must take action!

My Thoughts
This book is a real gold mine of insight, inspiration and motivation. The author shares his own experiences and shares the life stories of many successful people who have influenced his career and his personal life.

As a former librarian, I am especially impressed with Mr. Green's love of reading. Biographies are true lessons in life from which the reader can glean life-changing ideas and examples. Mr. Green includes an entire chapter in this book about how reading hundreds of inspirational stories, self-help books and biographies has inspired him to great levels of success. I have always been drawn to biographies and I felt a special connection with the author and his love of true-life books.

"Everything I Know About Success I Learned From Napoleon Hill"  is much more than a guide to achieving monetary success. This is a guide for successful living that will benefit all ages. If you read this book and apply the principles to your life, you will be greatly rewarded. The lessons presented in this book are an educational course for living life to the fullest. Highly recommended!

My Rating: 5 Stars Out Of 5

FYI ~ I received a complimentary digital copy of this book to read and review from NetGalley.

I would love for you to FOLLOW this blog. You may use Google Friend Connect or the Networked Blog widget to show your support and encouragement.

Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.

Book Review: Life is Great! Revealing the 7 Secrets to a More Joyful You

Life is Great! Revealing the 7 Secrets to a More Joyful You!

By Rabbi Yitz Wyne

Xlibris Corporation, 2011

ISBN: 978-1-4568-6943-4

 

About the Author

Rabbi Yitz Wyne is the founder and spiritual leader of Young Israel Aish of Las Vegas. Rabbi Wyne's sense of purpose and fulfillment in life is inextricably connected to the sharing of the timeless Torah knowledge, values and spiritual beauty with the entire Las Vegas community.

Life is Better Than Good - It's Great!
Rabbi Wyne believes that living joyfully is very attainable. We just need the right combination of wisdom and skills in order to achieve a happier existence. The author uses wisdom from religious teachings, poignant folklore and real life examples to teach the importance of living a joyful life. The following seven secrets are highlighted in this book;

• Clarity or Death! Finding Your Bottom Line.
• Choosing Joy: Making It Your Driving Force.
• Seeing Is Being: Expanding Your Reality.
• Focusing on the Good: Training Your Mind's Eye.
• Becoming a True Optimist: Anticipating a Great Tomorrow.
• Got Gratitude? Appreciating What You Have.
• Living a Meaningful Life: Finding Your Greater Purpose.

The author is an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi and refers to the Torah, the Talmud, Kabbalah and other Jewish teachings in his writing. The principles in this book are universal and apply to all who desire to make positive changes in their lives.

My Thoughts
I found this book to be enlightening and inspiring. Rabbi Wyne's "seven secrets" are right on target for those seeking a more enriched life. The author provides practical suggestions and strategies that are easy to understand and implement.

Attitude is a small thing that makes a big difference. Rabbi Wyne believes that we have the ability to change the way we think about how we are living. Our circumstances might be difficult, but we can choose to have a joyful attitude and outlook. This book is about living life to the fullest.

Sometimes we just need a gentle (or not so gentle) reminder. Yes, life IS GREAT and we have so many reasons to rejoice. 

My Rating:  5 Stars Out of 5

FYI ~ I received a complimentary paperback copy of this book to read and review from the author's publicist.

Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below. 

Book Review: Empower Yourself!

Change your thoughts and change your life! This ebook gives you the practical tools, insight, and guidance you need to transform your life, and make your dreams and goals a reality.

Empower Yourself! Reclaim Your Purpose, Passion And Prosperity, by Carolyn Johnson-Lee, will encourage, inspire, and empower you to keep moving forward until your dreams come true. This ebook is available in digital format from Amazon and Smashwords.


About The Author
Carolyn Johnson-Lee has lived most of her adult life in Los Angeles, California. Her work as a hypnotherapist, empowerment coach, holistic counselor, motivational speaker, human rights and woman's rights advocate, community activist, and writer, reflect her passion to inspire others to create a better life, a better community, and a better world.

Contents
This is a quick read (approximately 6500 words) but a great deal of material is covered in a limited number of pages. The following chapters are covered in this book;

• Reclaim Your Power
• Reclaim Your Mind
• The Power Of Words
• Reclaim Your Passion
• Reclaim Your Purpose
• Reclaim Your Prosperity
• Living On Purpose
• Affirmations
• Suggested Readings

The author has done some extensive research on these topics and shares the most important concepts that she has learned from her studies. This little book really packs a powerful punch!


My Thoughts
I have had this book for about a week and I have read it three times! This book is so full of encouragment and inspiration that I want to read it over and over. There are specific suggestions for setting goals, managing fianances and spiritual growth. The end of the book includes a list of positive affirmations that will inspire positive thinking and good results. There is also a list of "Suggested Readings" that will provide more knowledge and inspiration.
Ms. Johnson-Lee has shared her "secrets" for living on purpose. It all comes back to your thoughts. Thoughts are things because thoughts produce things. Your thoughts control how you react to your circumstances. Is your mind full of "stinkin' thinkin'" or are you thinking powerful, positive thoughts? This book will inspire you to start thinking about your thoughts, words and actions. If you are ready to make some positive changes in your life, this book is for you!

Disclosure: I want to thank Ms. Johnson-Lee for sending me a complimentary digital copy of this book to read and review.
Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.

Book Review: The Power

The Power, by Rhonda Byrne, is a book about the power of love.  The author wrote The Secret in 2006 and it became a world-wide bestseller.  The author promises that this book will add immeasurabley to what you learned in The Secret.

My father suffered a heart attack and I was spending endless hours at the hospital.  One evening, I went to Walmart and I noticed this book on the shelf.  I was instantly drawn to it.  I spent the next couple of days reading this book as I sat in the hospital.  It was a very anxious time but this book helped me gain a different perspective.  The "power" in this book is the power of love.  Your life is made up of only two kinds of things...positive things and negative things.  This book explains how your attitude and way of thinking can make bad things seem better.

Most of the information in this book comes from the New Thought Movement  of the early 1900s.  These authors taught the principles of positive thinking and the law of attraction.  Ms. Byrne quotes many of these authors in this book but she also describes how these principles can be used in everyday life to produce positive results in your life. 

My favorite chapter in the book is "Keys To Power".  One of the topics in this chapter is the "key of gratitude."  Everytime I start feeling down, I think of things that I am thankful for.  I am soon feeling much better.  Ms. Byrne says, "No matter what negative situation you may find yourself in, you can always find something to be grateful for, and as you do, you harness the force of love that eliminates negativity."

Positive thinking does not always come easy to me.  I remember my mom telling me when I was a child, "All you ever do is grumble, gripe and complain."  Children tend to live up to spoken expectations so I tend to see the cup as half empty instead of half full.  I like this book because it reminds me that changing your mind can change your life.  I have a decision to make.

Attitude Adjustment

On Wall Street they tell the story of a man who lost a fortune in the 1929 crash; he was reduced to his last $5,000. Panicked by what he regarded as his ill fortune, he jumped from the roof of a very high building.
In that same year, a man who had never had any money beyond the barest necessities of life won $5,000 in a lottery. He was wildly elated, and regarded himself as the luckiest of men. And he was—because he thought he was.
Each man had the same amount of money. To one, it spelled such bitter misfortune that he gave up all hope of the future. To the other, it spelled good luck in capital letters.
Most of us won't go to such extremes as the man who leaped from the roof. Nevertheless, we make our own luck— good or bad—by our mental attitudes.  Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.

The Three Little Pigs

"Everyone can do more than he thinks he can."
Henry Ford

What you do with your life depends almost entirely on your self-concept.  No matter how unreal the premise on which your self-concept is based, it makes real things happen to you. You may say, "I can do this" and "I can't do that," simply because of remarks that others have made about you.  The chances are that you underestimate your own abilities.
Self-concepts might be compared to the houses built by the three little pigs. If a man builds up an image of himself that has no basis in reality, he's building his mental house of straw. A daydream about yourself that you don't follow up to make it come true can be blown down as easily as the house of straw.
Like the second little pig, you can build your mental house out of sticks, and it can also be blown down. If you build your self-concept on casual remarks made by others, you're building it out of sticks.
If you build your mental house out of bricks, who can knock it down? The wolves can come and howl at your door, but they will never knock down one single brick. Those bricks that build your self-concept can be academic or psychological tests showing exactly what you can do, personal experiences, or the encouragement of a loved one.  If you have had personal experience in succeeding at something, no matter how small or big, you can build the house of your self-esteem on what you have done in the past. No matter how many failures you have had, somewhere in the midst of them was something you did well, which others praised.
Build your life on what you have already done successfully.

The Mirror Technique

Have you ever tried the mirror technique? 
The mirror technique, according to Claude Bristol in The Magic Of Believing, has been used by many great orators, preachers, actors, and statesmen. This is the way you go about it:
Step 1: Visualize what you want. The first thing you have to do, as Claude Bristol explains, is to visualize what you want—see yourself, in your mind's eye, possessing it.
Step 2: Get in front of the mirror. Stand in front of the longest mirror you have, one in which you can see yourself from the waist up, at least.
Step 3: Stand erect. "Now breathe deeply," says Mr. Bristol, "three or four times until you feel a sense of power, strength, and determination. Next, look into the very depths of your eyes, tell yourself that you are going to get what you want - name it aloud so you can see your lips move and you can hear the words uttered."
Do this two or three times a day for at least three months.
Does this really work?  Let me hear from you!

Choose Success

Are you starting a new project or adventure?  How important is positive thinking in the final outcome of any endeavor?
Most successful people start each new task as if final failure were impossible. They think, live, and breathe success. Believing they have a right to it, they proceed toward their goal without hampering doubts.
Outstanding achievements cannot, however, be traced entirely to constructive methods of thinking. Mere expectation of success wouldn't be sufficient if you didn't implement positive thoughts with constructive, positive actions.
But all actions have to begin with thoughts. Successful enterprises begin with the thought that there can be only one final result, success. How does this technique work? Knowing that the final result will be success instead of failure, you release within yourself enough energy to carry almost any task to a successful conclusion. If there are specific facts to be gathered, you will gather them. If there are individuals to be won over to your idea, you will win them over. If you visualize failure instead of success, you simply won't have enough stamina to carry you through the basic jobs necessary to achieve any goal. So before you start anything, visualize yourself as successful in the long run.
Act as if success were the only possible outcome.

The Science Of Acting: A Book Review

Sam Kogan studied at the Moscow Institute of Theatre Arts under the direction of Professor Maria Knebel, who was a pupil of Stanislavski.  He established The Science of Acting, a complete stand-alone technique for drama and theatre studies.  When Mr. Kogan died in 2004, he left notes for a book detailing his life’s work. The project has recently been completed by his daughter Helen Kogan. The Science Of Acting, by Sam Kogan was published by Routledge in 2009.

I need to admit that I am not an actor or a student of theatre arts.  I did encourage and support my daughter when she participated in high school and junior college plays and musicals.  I started reading this book with the perception that I would learn acting techniques but I soon discovered that this book is also about how we think and act in everyday life.  

This book examines how our mind works and how we can use helpful thoughts to our advantage and eliminate thoughts that are holding us back.  It explains how we get in a ditch of rigid negative thinking.  This thinking occurs on the subconscious level so we don't understand why we are reacting the way we do.

Mr. Kogan uses theories on the relationship between neuroscience, psychology and acting to develop a technique for good acting and successful living.  The book is amazingly direct and easy to understand.  It is illustrated with simple drawings that help explain key concepts.  I also like the way key words are emphasized and defined.  There is an excellent glossary at the end of the book that provides a useful summary of all the key concepts in the book.

I highly recommend this book to all students and teachers of drama and theatre arts.  I also recommend this book to anyone who desires a better understanding of the thought process.  This is a life-changing piece of work!

The Peaks And Valleys Of Life

I am a great fan of Dr.Spencer Johnson's parables. I remember reading Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Lifeand learned to focus on what I gained instead of what I lost when things changed.

Dr. Johnson has written a new book about dealing with the peaks and valleys in life. Peaks and Valleys: Making Good And Bad Times Work For You--At Work And In Life is a story about a young man who lived unhappily in a valley. The young man struggled out of the valley and climbed a high peak. He met an old man on the peak and listened to his story. The old man offered some wise advise on dealing with the ups and downs of life.

Are you living on top of the world? Is everything going your way?

• Be humble and grateful.
• Do more of what got you there.
• Keep making things better.
• Do more for others.
• Save resources for your upcoming Valley.

Are you going through some tough times? Financial problems? Relationship problems? Health problems?

• Do the opposite of what put you in the valley.
• Get outside yourself; be of more service at work and more loving in life.
• Avoid comparisons.
• Uncover the good that is hidden in a bad time, and use it to your advantage.
• Imagine yourself enjoying a better future in such specific, believable detail, that you soon enjoy doing what takes you there.
• Relax, knowing that valleys end.

This book helped me put everything in the proper perspective. Peaks and Valleys are connected. The errors I make in the good times create tomorrow's bad times. The wise things I do in the bad times create tomorrow's good times.

This little book is just what the doctor ordered for the problems we are facing in today's world. This too shall pass.