After a sluggish start, this manual offers unlikely and refreshing motivational advice.
A capitalist explores New Age ideas in this self-help guide.
Purcell argues that spirituality and corporate success are not at odds with each other; in fact, the former can inform the latter. The author founded a software company and sold it, making him a millionaire: “I had set an intention to do something meaningful and manifest financial independence years before. And if you want to, you can do it too.” In addition to drawing on his own experiences, he describes paranormal concepts such as “pre-sentiment,” or “a metaphysical phenomenon in which humans have been shown to physiologically react to emotionally disturbing images up to six seconds before seeing them.” Throughout the book, Purcell urges readers to cultivate “openness” and “Universal Love,” both of which, he argues, are conducive to professional success. The manual includes anecdotes from a variety of millionaires, such as Oprah Winfrey and Elon Musk. The chapter entitled “The Space Between Thoughts” features the meditation rituals of Jerry Seinfeld, former NBA coach Phil Jackson, hedge fund leader Ray Dalio, and others. In addition to meditating, the author urges readers to write gratitude lists and practice scientific prayer, which he describes in detail in the volume’s final chapter. (“Scientific prayer is a structured process that systematically optimizes your vibrational signature and increases your resonance with the creative mind of the Universe.”) In a time when millionaire has become somewhat of a dirty word, Purcell’s book seems a bit brazen. But the author suggests that readers should question why they want wealth: “Even a person whose primary conscious desire is money—upon repeated and deeper probing—will eventually reveal an expectation that money will put them in a position where they are more likely to experience love.” Early chapters, which describe string theory and “higher laws,” tend to lag. But readers will certainly enjoy learning about the spiritual life of Steve Jobs, among others. The guide often feels like a backstage pass to the routines of great minds, where inspiration abounds.
After a sluggish start, this manual offers unlikely and refreshing motivational advice.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-77727-631-7
Page Count: 328
Publisher: Golden Middle Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
Readers unfamiliar with the anecdotal material Greene presents may find interesting avenues to pursue, but they should...
Greene (The 33 Strategies of War, 2007, etc.) believes that genius can be learned if we pay attention and reject social conformity.
The author suggests that our emergence as a species with stereoscopic, frontal vision and sophisticated hand-eye coordination gave us an advantage over earlier humans and primates because it allowed us to contemplate a situation and ponder alternatives for action. This, along with the advantages conferred by mirror neurons, which allow us to intuit what others may be thinking, contributed to our ability to learn, pass on inventions to future generations and improve our problem-solving ability. Throughout most of human history, we were hunter-gatherers, and our brains are engineered accordingly. The author has a jaundiced view of our modern technological society, which, he writes, encourages quick, rash judgments. We fail to spend the time needed to develop thorough mastery of a subject. Greene writes that every human is “born unique,” with specific potential that we can develop if we listen to our inner voice. He offers many interesting but tendentious examples to illustrate his theory, including Einstein, Darwin, Mozart and Temple Grandin. In the case of Darwin, Greene ignores the formative intellectual influences that shaped his thought, including the discovery of geological evolution with which he was familiar before his famous voyage. The author uses Grandin's struggle to overcome autistic social handicaps as a model for the necessity for everyone to create a deceptive social mask.
Readers unfamiliar with the anecdotal material Greene presents may find interesting avenues to pursue, but they should beware of the author's quirky, sometimes misleading brush-stroke characterizations.Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-670-02496-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2012
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