Book Review I have always been a little wary of self help books yet I am avid reader and I had a long trip scheduled and no book to read. Fortunately my flatmate had a few books I hadn’t yet read, including Robin Sharma’s The Saint, Surfer and CEO (A remarkable story about living your heart’s desires) which I read while travelling around the Netherlands. The book was fairly interesting and had some advice that I found particularly relevant for someone who hadn’t read many self -help -help books before. I will not judge on the content, I will simply highlight the recommendations I found to be the most noteworthy and some of the tips Robin Sharma gave to put it in practice. This is not a complete review, only some of the advice I found to be important (for a complete review bett er check amazon or goodreads or other similar sites). 1—Meditate.
“When you get up in the morning find a serene place and sit in a comf ortable ortable position. Then close your eyes and start breathing deeply. To breathe properly is to li ve properly, and breathing slowly and deeply will calm you. you. It will move you out of of your head and into your your body, into your your heart.” 2—Do something for another person.
“I could make some time every week to volunteer or do some form of community service. I could really support the people I care about in achievi ng their dreams and living their highest truth in life, rather than worrying so much about what’s in it for me” 3—Appreciate the little things (and show gratitude).
“One of the things I do each day is bless m y food. Before each meal, I give silent and sincere thanks for the meal I’m about to enjoy: I thank the farmers who grew the produce, the fisherman who caught the fish, and the sellers at the market for making it all available. And I give thanks to the world for granting me the privilege of having food on my table in a world where millions upon millions of people don’t have enough to eat. This is a simpl e little technique, but it will create profound shifts in you. Trust me on this one.” “Jack, these tools I’m giving you might seem a bit odd. But the main thing is they work. Oh, there are two more ways to reall y build your personal gratitude muscles. One is to send love letters.”
“Right. The final tool to show gratitude is to give every person you meet a gift.” “That could get expensive,” I observed earnestly. “I don’t mean a formal gift,” Moe said. “It could be as simple as giving someone you meet a true smile. It might mean giving someone a hug or a sincere compliment in a world where we’ve forgotten the importance of genuine praise. You could bring someone a single, fresh flower from your garden or a hot muffin you just baked. Even listening to someone with complete attention and a wide-open heart is a gift that will touch people in places you can’t imagine.” 4—Your thoughts influence how you act (and find the best in each situation)
“First, because in every situation, there’s always some good— everything that happens to us represents an opportunity to grow and evolve into our best selves. Second, because this is the only way to live a peaceful and happy life. And third, because, as I’m te lling you, our thoughts are like magnets, attracting into our life people and instances that harmonize with them. Keep focusing on the negative and that’s what your life will be. Train yourself to concentrate on the good in any situation — and there always is if you look hard enough for it —and that’s what you’ll see more of in your reality.” In general, it’s a pretty decent book that will give you some practical tools disguised in the form of conversation. Some of them I wanted to implement anyway so reading it was a good source of motivation to implement them.
About Author
the author of 12 global best sellers and a former Litigation lawyer ,[1] leadership expert, and writer . Robin has Canadian nationality. Sharma's career included work for the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia as a judicial law clerk and employment with the Canadian government as a staff litigation attorney.[5] He is the author of 15 books including Who Will Cry When You Die, The Leader Who Had no Title and The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari , which has sold 5 million copies. Sharma is the founder of a business training firm called Sharma Leadership International Inc. located in Toronto, Canada. Robin S. Sharma is [3]
[4]
He has written several self-help books on personality development and leadership which have been published in more than 60 countries and translated to more than 70 languages.
In Robin’s own words, ‘ This book is a work of fiction. It’s a story about a man named Jack Valentine, whose path inlife was in many ways similar to my own’ and later in the paragraph he confirms that ‘…. they’re the lessons that have transformed me’ Jack Valentine a successful lawyer but having a f ailed family relation met an accident and reached the hospital bed (Somebody smell a monk?) there he meet Cal, who turned out to be his
father he didn’t seen earlier.(which he knows only after Cal’s death). The caring father guide his son to 3 noble people who are very successful in life and very good in advising people, Father Mike (The Saint), Moe Jackson (The Surfer) & Tess Welch (The CEO). The message is entirely delivered by talkathons first between Jack with Cal, then with the 3 advisers. The main question the book throw to us are : DID I LIVE WISELY? DID I LOVE WELL? DID I SERVE GREATLY? The 3 advisers help us to reflect on the questions where a lot and lot of good advises are filled in the conversation. - Ev e r y t h i n g h a p p e n s f o r a r e a s o n a n d t h e r e a r e n o a c c i d e n t s i n l i f e .
-Some balls, like the one that represent career, are made of rubber. If we drop them, they have the ability to bounce back. But some balls are made of glass- family is like that. If you drop that ball, it doesn’t come back. - Live like a pencil and you’ll have a fine life (with reference to concentration) -There is no chaos in the world, only order - Fo r m y l i f e t o c h a n g e , I m u s t c h a n g e . O n e o f t h e b e s t w a y s t o d o t h a t i s b y g e t t i n g t h e s i m p l e f ac t t h a t w e s e e t h e w o r l d n o t a s i t i s , b u t a s w e a r e .
-To become a success, it’s not really about doing more, it’s about being more. - A f t e r y o u d i e , t h e r e w i l l b e p l e n t y o f t i m e to be in a small box…so why live in one while you’re alive? -A person without self expression is a person without personal freedom. - Th e S e c r e t o f p a s s i o n i s p u r p o s e .
You can have plenty and plenty of inspirational quotes from the book for sure. The central theme of the book is love.
The work is based on the philosophy that entire universe moves in accordance with our wish, or there is no difference between the outer world and inner world. T h e h i g h e s t o b j e c t i v e o f a p e r s o n i s t o u n d e r s t a n d o n e s e l f a n d l i v e t h e l i f e full, leaving a legacy .
We can see a lot of Monk who sold his Ferrari in the book, where Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist surely influenced the author. Denise Waitley’s The Empires of the Mind also play an important influence where Who moves my cheese is limited in a single sentence for change. However, the style of writing it appears influenced by Richard Bach. However, one who search for specific references will find only small but obvious Connection. The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. Brahma, Vishnu, Siva….understanding the trio is difficult for the common man, where Robin Sharma attempts on this relation to convey a point. However, being a poor story teller Robin didn’t succeeded in his attempt and has to depend on the dialogues to deliver the message. The initial stage was interesting and till Jack meet the Saint, the book progressed in good speed and kept the interest, however, from there it become a preaching of sort. Monotonous. Robin also failed to characterize each adviser, nor manage to beautifully segregate the assignments. At the end, we go through the similar kind of dialogues and responses. Jack, Cal, Mike, Moe & Tess…all carry a similar character and all tells in similar stories. At least the character of Jack
should have been different, but he looks an intelligent student. Like a film without a villain, the story didn’t grow much. There are certain serious contradictions and few statement which looks not so correct to my believes and I seriously think that the author should have done the job taking a bit more time and patience where it looks like all done in a hurry. Even with all the minuses one may point out from the book, it is a treasure of advises and good words for a better living. In a way the book is close to Robin’s heart and people talk the best when they talk about themselves. For that matter I will say, c o n t e n t w i s e t h e b o o k i s b e t t e r t h a n T h e M o n k W h o S o l d H i s F e r r ar i , b u t i n d e s c r i p t i o n ( o r P r e s e n t a ti o n ) i t f a l ls s h o r t o f f
If you are a person who is looking for some kind of guidance in life, success and personality development the book will help you for sure. the m ark.
Read it, if it come across you…read it for the Saint, for the Surfer or for the CEO, Robin Sharma. (He has asked me to pass the message within 24 hours of f inish reading it…seriously, it is there in the book)
9
2008
Picked up this book by Robin Sharma, the same time I read ―The Alchemist―. The story is about Jack Valentine, and his search to learn how to live a happier, healthier and more beautiful life. The title of the book are the three guides that came to his life, to help Jack learn about the philosophy of life. There are 3 Final Questions in life:
―Have I lived wisely?‖ — how to conduct your life so that it’s lived in a noble and enlightened way. The importance of discovering the gifts on the inside of your life so you can live with immerse peace on the outside. ―Have I loved well? — how to love life itself and each of the moments that occur within it. ―Have I served greatly? — how to be a leader on the planet, not just in terms of career, but in terms of your life. As I go through the book again, I see quotes that really strike me. With the first teacher, a priest, he shares the following: The journey of life is about spotting our weaker areas and healing them so that we eventually find our best selves. …It (the journey of life) is not about improving oneself. It’s about remembering oneself Success is nothing more living your life according to your own truth and on your own terms. For your life to change, you must change. The place where your greatest fears live is also the place where your greatest growth is. Techniques
that
we
can
use
to
get
in
touch
with
ourselves:
– Write down what we discover so that we have the inner conversations with ourselves: Journaling – Take action each day to reveal the true you to the world – to close the Integrity Gap, to be authentic, be real, and by yourself. From the Surfer, an ex-advertiser who gave it all up and lives on the beach, the following strike me: For your life to be great, your faith must be bigger than your fears. In the corporate world, there’s too much doing and not enough being... Live in a state of calm surrender, going with what life has in store for you. Learn, do and then be...Moving from unconscious incompetence -> conscious competence -> unconscious competence Adversity is the diamon dust Heaven polishes its jewels with. Techniques
for
self
love,
self-care:
– Invest in self care activities such as getting a massage on a regular basis, taking time out to watch the
starts
twinkle,
– Feeding yourself with excellent food because you respect the temple that’s your body. – Reading only the best books and listening to lovely music that sends your spirit soaring. 5
self-care
practices:
– Shift from complexity to simplicity: leave space to enjoy the precious moments of life –
Daily
Journaling:
How
would
I
What
do
I
What
one
thing
Answer
live
this
have could
day to
I
in
do
writing if
be today
I
the knew
grateful to
help
Morning it
for make
was in
my
life
questions: my my
last? life?
extraordinary?
What
can
I
do
to
make
today
incredibly
fun?
How can I help someone today? -
A
daily
–
period
of
Communing
silent
retreat
with
nature
– Nuturing your body. It’s the place where your spirit lives, your home. Stay fit. ―Those who do not take time for exercise must eventually make time for illness‖ . Eating only the best foods available. From the CEO, I learnt: To have a better life, we must keep choosing how we are living…choosing our best thinking and our best actions. Choose how we live in every moment of our days. Life is really short. Now is the time to raise your standards about what it means to be a person, to show the world who you really are. If not now, when? Elite performance in career and in life is about personal accountability. Be there for the people in our life, genuinely care about people. Do the unexpected for them and give them some of yourself. Happiness and success are the unintended yet inevitable by-products of a life spent creating value for other human beings. Techniques/key notes: -
Have
thoughtful
conversations
with
people.
Get
good
at
conversations
– Be a value builder: Seek out ways to enrich others, improve the lot of thos who have the privilege of doing
business
with
them.
– The purpose of life isn’t to be happy. The wold would change if we began to become consumed, not with being happier, but with being more valuable. How can I be more?…Happiness is a by -product, and it comes to those who don’t seek it. 2 reasons to be in business: -
To
create
value
for
others
and
for
the
benefit
of
the
greater
good;
– To grow as a person. To actualize who we really are, and in doing so, make peace with ourselves. 5 steps on manifesting our heart’s desires: -
Articulate
a
vision.
Name
what
you
desire
in
your
life
– Develop your strategy. Break that vision down into a strategy to execute it under. Break into a weekby-week
strategy,
more
manageable.
– Setup a self contract: Personal accountability, The Law of Diminishing Intent holds that the more time that passes after you’ve set a goal, the less likely you are to breathe life into it and to make it happen. – –
Measurement. Celebrate
Self your
examination Proud
moments
– Execution The deepest of all human needs is the need to live for something more important than ourselves. Write about your legacy and what your life stand for.
There is much in the book that can be shared and learnt. The writing style is such that the author would reference to quotes, other books and using real-life stories and examples to invite readers to connect to the words and the ideas. Nothing new in the book, but it does make one re-think and connect better with the story. Good to read!
However, the wisdom above was not just about realizing our dreams, but how we want to live our lives happily, not only for ourselves, but also to other being so when we're on our deathbed, we can answers the Final Questions, as the book stated, with a peace of mind, which are: 1. Did I live wisely? 2. Did I love well? 3. Did I serve greatly?
Aside from being the kind of writer who jots down quotes, trickles ideas haphazardly onto beverage napkins and can journal in continual cursive for hand-cramp-inducing lengths, I am the kind of reader who, when engaged in a book/publication/text that grabs my attention and wraps me around the content, I find myself writing down as much as I read. A way with words and an ability to impact a readers’ experience with a book through inducing personal reflection moments throughout its pages pretty much creates flow with a page-turning, cannot be put down book. And let me tell you, Robin
Sharma had me flying through the pages of The Saint, The Surfer and The CEO like the book was on fire (plus m y favorite notebook is a little more ink heavy…).
The book is all about a journey. A very specific journey – one into self-discovery. The story of a man on a mission to learn from influential life-leaders takes the reader all over the world – from Italy to Hawaii to New York – and in each new city, a new teacher with a new lesson awaits him. His journey is about transformation – and the awareness of our human impact and how we truly do choose our own reality. Sprinkled in with luxurious looks at international cities are insightful offerings of looking at life’s occurrences through alternate perspectives. By no means is this set up to change ones’ way of being – but moreso to bring a shifted language to how we relate to
feelings, thoughts and opinions around our experience of our lives. For example, in commencing a conversation about broken hearts, the uber-romantic in me anticipated a correlation to relationships and self love. In looking at broken hearts the conversation turned to: ‘…the breaking
of our hearts that happens when we begin to realize that our dreams
have faded and our deepest longings have never been fulfi lled….when we see the current state of our worlds and the less than loving values that run it – and when we sell ourselves short and minimize our destinies.’
It’s relationships like this that are drawn throughout the book that make the concepts and
conversations so accessible, real and though provoking. I found myself looking to my personal practice and seeing where I am not expressed – and how that impacts my life experience and how others experience me. Namely – that I have been out of practice in connecting with new people. I am a connector – I love individual, human stories that you experience in meeting strangers (unmet friends, I say!). And, sometimes it takes some well placed reminders of what’s YOU, truly you, and how you want those things to sh ow
up in your life, to take the steps to recapture them.
The overall messaging is simple: live well, love well and serve well reconnect with your passions create what fulfillment looks like for you follow your bliss I am breaking the spine on ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’ also by Robin Sharma –
check him and his books (and more) on his website. His ability to create contemplation and weave ‘aha!’ moments into story lines is a real gift, to say the least! Enjoy!
