- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Hyperion (Jan 7 1999)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0786865482
- ISBN-13: 978-0786865482
- Product Dimensions: 24.2 x 16.1 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 499 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (269 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #305,741 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Some people spend their lives reacting to what life hands them, while others craft life to fit their goals. Author Phillip C. McGraw, who is a psychologist but describes himself as a strategist, is determined to make sure that his readers are the creators of their lives, not created by their lives. By accepting that you are personally accountable for every element of your life, McGraw says, you can erase the negative "epidemic behaviors" (found in all of American society: denial, false assumptions, inertia, deceptive masking) in your life and reach your goals.
Written in a tough-love, sometimes cantankerous tone, this self-help book is not for those looking to explore their inner child or visualize away negative energy. No, this is pull-yourself-up-by-the- bootstraps advice from someone who's done just that. McGraw opens with a scene describing how he helped Oprah Winfrey survive--and win--the 1998 "Mad Cow" lawsuit in Texas, when she was having difficulty coping with the reality of what was happening to her. He helped her face the facts about the lawsuit, after which she was better able to participate in crafting a strategy to win it.
McGraw first forces you to take a good hard look at who you are by dissecting your personality. It may be painful to realize that you fall into the "Porcupine" or "Perfecto" or any of the other personality types McGraw delineates, but here it's true that there's no gain without pain, because (Life Law No. 4) "You Can't Change What You Don't Acknowledge." He then describes in depth all 10 "Life Laws"--the rules by which the world plays--that he learned the hard way. Laws such as "You Either Get It, or You Don't," "Life Is Managed; It Is Not Cured," and "You Have to Name It to Claim It" make up the bulk of the book and McGraw's realist philosophy.
If you learn and abide by the Life Laws and go on to create a Life Strategy, McGraw claims you will not only know yourself better and eliminate negative behaviors, you will also know how to reach any goal you set for yourself. --Stefanie Durbin
From Publishers Weekly
After advising Oprah Winfrey in her successful defense against accusations of slander by the beef industry, McGraw, a behavior specialist and trial expert, now makes appearances on Oprah's program as a member of her "Change Your Life TV Team," joining such other luminaries of self-help as Suze Orman, John Gray and Iyanla Vanzant. While McGraw's presentation may play well on the small screen, it suffers on the page from lack of focus, awkward writing and a relentlessly hectoring tone. At the outset, McGraw browbeats his readers: "You are either winning or losing in your life, plain and simple. You live in a competitive world." His strategy for winning is built around 10 "Life Laws," which include the following: "You Either Get It or You Don't"; "You Can't Change What You Don't Acknowledge"; and "There Is No Reality; Only Perception." He also gives 16 homework assignments: the first, to list the five things in your life you have failed to acknowledge to yourself; the second, to write "The Story I'll Tell Myself If I Don't Create Meaningful and Lasting Change After Reading and Studying This Book." McGraw does a good job of identifying many self-defeating behaviors, but it will be up to readers to determine for themselves the efficacy of his methods of changing them. 500,000 first printing; major ad/promo.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Now I know we're unlikely to read about your problems and challenges in the New York Times, or see you tonight on CNN-at least I hope that's true. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Now I know we're unlikely to read about your problems and challenges in the New York Times, or see you tonight on CNN-at least I hope that's true. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must-Read!,
By
This review is from: Life Strategies (Hardcover)
Phillip C. McGraw, Ph.D., better known to Oprah Winfrey fans as Dr. Phil, has popped out a refreshingly in-your-face contribution to the self-help genre that doesn't beat around the bush. You will not be asked to commune with your inner child or vent your anger and pain. Instead, Life Strategies is a prescription for action, complete with stories, including about Oprah. Each chapter contains at least one writing assignment, designed to stimulate honest inquiry and to challenge even your most basic assumptions. These culminate in a meticulously detailed set of instructions for creating your life strategy. Organized self-starters will love the lists and matrices, but even readers who don't plunge into the assignments will gain fresh insights into their behavior. We from getAbstract prescribe this bouncy book to anyone seeking a step-by-step plan for self-assessment and realistic life change. Cynics need not apply.
3.0 out of 5 stars
The book was ok, but how do i get tickets to his show!?,
By GERD Mum to Sophie "Jen" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Life Strategies: Doing What Works Doing What Matters (Paperback)
Although I'm a huge fan of Oprah and Dr. Phil, having purchased this book, I can safely say, tough love only works when Dr. Phil is present. I read the book, did all the exercies and still found myself absolutely depressed. It wasn't until I started therapy that I could safely put Dr. Phil's advice into my own perspective. It's not that Dr. Phil isn't a good writer, or that his exercises don't help, it's just hard to make a true impact from the written word. Worth a read, but my advice, save the bucks and see a counselor instead.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not what I thought,
By apples2apples (OhiO) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Life Strategies: Doing What Works Doing What Matters (Paperback)
This book had a lot more bio on Dr. Phil than I wanted. It also seemed to skirt the issues in each chapter, instead of getting down to real nitty gritty advice. I expected more, and was disappointed. I really like Dr. Phil, with his "down to earth" "tell it like it is" advice, but this book fell short.
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