Unlimited: How to Build an Exceptional Life [Hardcover]

I am shocked by the fact that I actually loved this book! Shocked! Look at my other reviews and you'll see that I have in the past reviewed another one of Jillian's books ("Master your Metabolism") and I didn't love it. I wasn't going to even bother reading another one of Jillian's books, but I picked up a copy at the book store just out of curiosity. Imagine my surprise when half an hour later I was well in to the book and couldn't wait to read more. I bought the book and finished it in one day, it was that good!
You should note that most other reviews posted so far are from the people who received advanced copes and were thus "compelled" to be more favorable about reviewing it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not belittling the "advanced reviewer's" efforts. But I have seen it more than once where these types of reviews are not entirely objective. I haven't received an advanced copy and as I mentioned above, I'm not one of Jillian's rabid fans.
About the book - if I had to describe it in a couple of words, I would say it's a sort of "shrink-in-a-box". You know, like Jack-in-a-box, but with a side of psychology instead of fries. If I had to describe it in more than a few words I would say this:
Jillian had written a book about the most important part of any endeavor, whether it's weight loss, fulfilling career or finding love. The book is about the "Head stuff" as opposed to the "Body stuff". It addresses the things that keep us from reaching our full potential.
Anyone who had tried dieting or starting a new exercise program or getting a dream job knows on some level that the mindset with which you approach these things is more important than anything else. So many people set off on these "journeys" without having their head in the right place. That's why so many diets fail! But if you do your mental, psychological and emotional homework first, you are much more likely to succeed. Most diet books completely ignore the "Head stuff". And those that do address it, give you a bunch of platitudes about "believe and you shall achieve" and "if I can do it, so can you". I'll be honest with you, I hate it when people say that!
What Jillian does, that I haven't seen anyone else do, is tell you how exactly you are supposed to accomplish tricky things like finding out why you got fat in the first place and how are you supposed to go about fixing all the "Head stuff".
Don't get me wrong, there is still plenty of New-Age-y type of blubber like "we are the universe and the universe is us" type of stuff. But it is done in a very tongue-in-cheek way. She tells you ahead of time that you don't have to buy in to that stuff in order to take advantage of all the tools she gives you.
All-in-all I am thoroughly impressed and will buy a copy of this book for a few of my friends and family who I'm pretty sure will benefit from it. And believe you me, coming from a life-long skeptic who used to hate seeing Jillian "get in to people's faces" on TV, this is quite a recommendation! I am now finally getting why she does that "get-in-your-face" stuff. Kudos, Jillian! Nice work!

This book is fantastic. It's Jillian's first self help book but you would think she has been writing them for years. "Unlimited" isn't your ordinary live in the now, forget the past, smile, just be happy yada, yada, yada kind of self help book. Being happy, healthy and in control doesn't just happen overnight or gets delivered to you from a genie on a magic carpet. You have to take steps and do the work it takes to achieve the goals you want in your life which are provided in the book. There is no nonsense mumbo jumbo to read or words that you have to Google to figure out what the author is talking about and it's not sugar coated. I found this to be an easy read and didn't want to put it down. Jillian writes, "I can't promise you it's going to be easy... But what I can promise you is that I will cut out the crap and tell you what works. Come with me on this journey, and your life will change dramatically, for the better."

There are three steps in the book called Imagine, Believe and Achieve. My suggestion is to read the book from beginning to end and not just open a certain part of the book that might interest you more at first. Of course after you read it there will be many sections of the book you will probably want to go back to. You're going to read everything from identifying your passion, forgiving and accepting responsibility, strengthening your will power and taming emotions to getting organized. Jillian also shares personal stories about herself, family members, close friends and past Biggest Loser contestants. Reading their stories and what they did to overcome different obstacles throughout their lives is very inspiring. And I am pretty sure there will be at least one story you will relate to if not more.

You will also be doing a lot of internal work while reading the book. This work is a must. Throughout the book there are sections called "Working it out". You're definitely going to want to get a separate journal or a notebook as there will be writing to do. When working in these sections there is going to be a lot of self exploration done by way of visualization techniques, answering and thinking of questions about yourself and even others in your life past or present, replacing items in your environment that might be sabotaging you and releasing shame and guilt. Those are just a few of the many self exercises. You will be digging deep inside facing your demons in a way that you may never have before or never wanted to face while working them out and realizing things about yourself that you may never have imagined existed. That might scare some people but do not let it scare you. Its part of the process and you really need to have an open mind. As Jillian says in the book, "no one ever died from an open mind".

"Unlimited" is a book that will help you become aware of yourself on so many levels. It will help you to understand and use your power to make positive choices that will lead to making your dreams become a reality in every aspect of your life. It will help you shed light on unhealthy behaviors that may be holding you back and/or interfering with your potential to be the best version of yourself. I guarantee you will have many "wow" or "yep, that's me" moments while reading. I highly recommend this book to both men and women of all ages. We can choose to make changes at any time in our lives so do not use your age or any circumstance as an excuse to not read this book. If you think that you have it all figured out and your life is perfect, then buy this book for sure. You're most likely clueless. And if you are someone who thinks self help books are a crock or for crazy people, buy the book. Again, this is not an ordinary self help book. In my opinion it's not just "a book", it's a tool for life. So if you're ready to take control of your life and become the person that you envision and want to be, get this book!

I received an early copy of this book about a month ago. I have to admit that I really had no opinion of Jillian one way or the other. I knew a bit about the "tough trainer" persona that proceeds her, but other than that I had no predisposition to like or dislike this book either way. I am no stranger to self help books. I pretty much figured I had read it all. With that said, Unlimited is beautifully written, comprehensive, personal, intimate, and deeply motivating. I can see now why Jillian fanatics are so fanatical. She is honest, candid, and no vulnerable. The advice she offers is rock solid. What I like the most about the system behind the book is that she doesn't just give the reader a pep talk. She gives them practical tools and innovative skills to break out of their rut and transform. For anyone looking for a change or to better themselves in any facet I highly recommend Unlimited.

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