TRUTHLIES

A debut guide to help achieve success in life by discovering and living your personal truth.

“To thine own self be true,” Polonious famously advised in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. So too was the advice of Craig’s grandfather, his most influential mentor. Building on his grandfather’s wisdom, Craig offers a guide to finding one’s own truth using strategic mentors. After all, he writes, “one man’s truth may be another man’s lie,” something he calls “truthlies.” In Part I, Craig devotes a chapter to each of the five components that can “help you live your best life.” First, he defines “lifeline” as those personal beliefs which guide an individual through life, adding, “you will always do what you believe.” With that in mind, it’s essential to “find out what you believe.” The second key is “mental disposition,” or attitude. A positive attitude marked by gratitude and kindness leads to tranquility, Craig says. In Chapter 5, the author describes “passion action” as doing what one loves, and he suggests that individuals give themselves a “core score” by deciding whether their personal beliefs, attitude, and life-work are in alignment. If they are, one may then define how to live and pursue his or her version of a good life. In Part II, Craig offers practical applications of the truthlies approach, with common self-help platitudes: “start with your core purpose; the ideal is not real; and begin with the end in mind.” Much of this material may be familiar within the self-help genre—think Robert Schuller, Wayne Dyer, Stephen Covey, etc.—and the truthlies concept, like the word itself, seems somewhat forced, but there are still valuable lessons here worth hearing again. The text is well-written, a bright spot being Craig’s “seminars in a sentence”—e.g., “God first, others second, yourself last,” “It might be their personality, so don’t take it personally”—based on his belief that “you can live your life off a sentence.” Of course, that’s a truthlie readers will have to discover for themselves.

Well-worn advice repackaged for personal success.