THE WINNER'S EDGE

by Denis Waitley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 3, 1980

One of those pitilessly cheerful treatises on the exact nature of winning--or ""that critical attitude for success."" Like most authorities on the subject (he lectures, consults, and researches on ""healthy human behavior""), Waitley tries to break the whole thing down into categories that sound profoundly different from one another: self-honesty, self-esteem, self-image, positive self-expectancy, and self-dimension. But the semantic distinctions are nonsense; what it boils down to is seeing and accepting yourself as you really are, then changing the negative elements (e.g., lack of self-esteem) to more positive ones. This in turn involves such probing questions as ""How many sunrises and sunsets have you watched this month?""; and such self-evaluation techniques as standing naked in front of a mirror with a paper bag over your head (eyeholes cut out) so you can see what your body really looks like without being distracted by your familiar face. There's nothing wrong, of course, with positive thinking; Dale Carnegie and his numerous successors have certainly made a dent in the American consciousness by advising attention to personal appearance and self-approval, just as Waitley does. But when positive thinking is concealed in so much baloney, it turns into tiresome yak.

Pub Date: Sept. 3, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Times Books

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1980

Categories: NONFICTION