Be Unreasonable: The Unconventional Way to Extraordinary Business Results

I am a fast reader, and I can zip through the average business book on a plane trip. You know . . .yadda, yadda, yadda, think outside the box . . .yadda, yadda, yadda, be proactive . . . "Be Unreasonable" is NOT your average business book. I found myself stopping every few pages to absorb the powerful concepts presented, think about what they mean to me, and generate ideas that will transform my business. This is real-world information, and Paul Lemberg shows us how real businesses have used being unreasonable to overcome obstacles and achieve remarkable success. It is hard to pick one part of the book that is "best," but if I had to choose one chapter it would be the one on Unreasonable Thinking. Every page had me thinking of new ideas and changing the way I look at things. Stop reading this review right now, and order your copy of "Be Unreasonable." And do not put it on the shelf with all those other books that you haven't gotten around to reading yet. Set aside some time every day to read a part of the book, then reflect on what being unreasonable can do for you. It will change your business, and your life. And the next time someone tells you that you are being unreasonable, simply say, "Thank you!" Cathy Stucker, IdeaLady.com

This isn't one of those reviews that raves, "I couldn't put this book down!" I had to put it down. This wasn't a book I could devour in one sitting ... for one basic reason ... Paul Lemberg's "Be Unreasonable" made me think too much to simply plow through. It took me half the summer to fully consume the book. I made the decision to only read Be Unreasonable on the weekend, on quiet, uncrowded beaches, with the crashing surf serving as both white noise and reflection point. Sans distractions: No phone. No email. No sirens. No office. No barking dogs. As I finished each tasty chunk, I found myself putting the book down to gaze out at the ocean, thinking about the unreasonable entrepreneurs and situations I've known and experienced over the years. This book flipped a lot of switches for me. And here I thought they were all just a little bit crazy. Being unreasonable is more than just thinking out of the box. For the unreasonable entrepreneur, the box does not exist. Be Unreasonable has allowed me to look at my current and future ventures with new light and wind in my sails. It's not just okay to be unreasonable. It's required.

In his new book, Be Unreasonable, Paul Lemberg offers new ways to think about your business. His suggestions are wrapped around the same core values espoused in the The Secret and The Law of Attraction. He urges you to think about business in a way that most business people would never see. This will give you quite an advantage over most of your competitors. I have dog-eared many sections; the Merlin Method (seeing the end at the beginning), the Strategy of Probability and the Strategy of Possibility and highlighted many memorable phrases: - We feel most comfortable when, unknowingly, we are in the most danger. - Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. - Guerrilla fighters always win! Using the check lists and quizzes, you can quickly see how narrow and limiting your thinking has become and you can learn how to change that pesky little problems. Be Unreasonable is smart advice.

I was immediately drawn to this book by its unconventional title. "Be Unreasonable" is a business book written with the perspective that being reasonable has lost its initial meaning and now it means nothing more than selling out to an average way of life. The book is divided into six sections, with a step by step explanation of the unreasonable way of life. Paul Lemberg makes a very strong point for the unreasonable approach and I found myself agreeing with him more with every page that I turned. One of the few common denominators of very successful people is their ability to think big (unreasonably) and their dogged determination to bring their dreams into fruition. Mr. Lemberg puts it this way: "Imagine decisions forged in the depths of your clearest vision without being diluted by what you or anyone else thinks you are supposed to do". The book kicks off with a strong bang with An Unreasonable Manifesto, after reading this chapter I knew that I would enjoy the rest. Lemberg writes clearly and uses a lot of good sources to support his position. Paul Lemberg is a very powerful thinker and he has written one of the most inspiring and compelling books in recent years. He has certainly made me rethink a lot of my assumptions and positions. Being reasonable now seems uninspiring and dull. This book has challenged me to think bigger; to BE UNREASONABLE.

I just devoured Paul Lemberg's Be Unreasonable: The Unconventional Way to Extraordinary Business Results. I read Lemberg's Faster Than the Speed of Change last year and loved it, so I've had this one on pre-order for weeks. I find that most business books can be condensed into 4-8 pages, perfect for Soundview summaries. Not this one. This book - written as six main chapters broken into many short sections, has gold on almost every page. Much of this is (un-) common sense, but there is much that is surprising, often delighting. There's a whole theme about spending money to make money, a great bit on how to use sacrifice to your advantage, a chapter on pricing, especially raising prices, and my favorite section - The Art of Unreasonable Requests. I started using this immediately and I'm already having people say "yes" to things that I couldn't have gotten yesterday. Lemberg calls it "More Cycles and Bigger Bites." In keeping with Be Unreasonable's thinking about ROI: I've already earned back way more than the cost of my time invested in this one. Great read, great ideas, great book! And very, very actionable. I like that.