Become Who You Were Born to Be: We All Have a Gift. . . . Have You Discovered Yours?

I enjoy reading motivational titles, and this is one that I enjoyed quite a bit... Become Who You Were Born to Be: We All Have a Gift. . . . Have You Discovered Yours? by Brian Souza. If you've read more than a couple of titles on life improvement, you will have seen much of what's in here. But the packaging and style is excellent, and readers new to the genre will benefit tremendously. Contents: Part 1 - Discover It: How This Book Can Change Your Life - My Story; Find the Fire Within; Are Your Life Patterns Holding You Hostage?; How to Give Meaning and Purpose to Your Life; Have You Been Listening to the Voice?; Discover the True You You Never Knew; What a Face-Lift Can't Hide; Discover Your Gift Part 2 - Develop It: What Really Separates Winners from Losers; The Secret of Top Achievers; The Unglamourous Side of Becoming a Celebrity; Are Your Dreams on Life Support?; Avoid the Goal-Setting Trap; Develop Your Gift Part 3 - Appreciate It: These Are Extraordinary Times; Has America Lost Its Way?; A Little Perspective; Avoid Premature Aging with One Word; Appreciate Your Gift Part 4 - Use It: Learning to Deal with Change; For Better or For Worse; Confronting Life's Struggles; How to Face Your Fears; How You Can Succeed by Failing; Get Your Groove Back; Use Your Gift Part 5 - Give It Away: Follow Your Compass; The Essence of Success; The Secret to Happiness, Joy, and Peace of Mind; Are We Here to Serve or to Be Served?; Give Your Gift Away Bibliography Souza looks at the "gift" process as a five step approach. First you discover your gift, then you work at developing it. Appreciating what you have to offer and actually using it comes next, followed by giving yourself away through the use of your gift. Each chapter deals with a discrete component of the process, and involves looking at the life story of someone who has excelled in that area. The chapter wraps up with an applicable quote, the person you should remember for inspiration, and questions to contemplate in relation to what you've just read. With a clear and engaging writing style, Souza pulls the reader in and the meat of the content becomes something that just makes sense. What I appreciated most about the style of his book was the biographies of the particular individuals. Granted, in all the examples the outcomes are what you'd expect with hard work and perseverance. But I didn't get the feeling that I was reading "revisionist history" that so often happens when you read the life stories of well-known individuals. Souza makes it clear that many "overnight sensations" and people who have everything had plenty of hard times where it would have been very easy to give up (and I'm sure many others have). Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Warner are but two of many that overcame stacked odds and still succeeded. Seeing how others have struggled helps put your own situation in perspective. This is one of those books that I'll be re-reading a number of times. No matter how many times

Yeah the ideas might be same that one might have read in so many other books, but then success principles are are not infinite. This book is very well written and presented. Each chapter is full of examples and life stories of successful people that lived the message. I highly recommend the book for its life changing messages and the way its conveyed.

Okay, give the one dissenter below some credit for his book bash. I can kind of see his point, especially with the title being what it is. The title is a little lofty, but hey, the author can't share his knowledge unless he sells books. And his knowledge - the stuff after the cheesy cover - is really, really good. David Ogilvy once said, "Great ideas tend to be simple ideas." And this book is not rocket science. It's a lot of insightful common sense, gleaned from many many interviews with a lot of really really successful people, then laid out for the reader in a digestible, useful way. Like the best self-help books (I think Rich Dad, Poor Dad is a good example), Brian simply provides you with a different and yet totally logical way to approach something that we're all so close to - in this case, what we do for a living. He helps you step back, clear your mind a bit, examine what it is you're doing, what you happen to enjoy doing, what you happen to be good at, and then approach it with a fresh perspective. The examples he gives and the people who illustrate his ideas are dead-on. Hell, listening to Lance Armstrong talk about all the sports he SUCKED at (and how badly he sucked at them) before he got into cycling, is reason enough to re-evaluate what you do for a living. This book is good, sound, fundamental advice that a person can actually read and then ACT ON. Granted, the world still needs ditch diggers and cornea-removers, but there's more than enough room for most of us to figure out what our ideal role in life is, and then do it. Give it to a college kid. Give it to a high school kid. Hell, give it to your uncle who's 45 and has been schlepping HP toner cartridges for 20 years. Buy it, read it, then give it away.

I can honestly say that I've dozens of self-improvement/self-help books over the years and BECOME WHO YOU WERE BORN TO BE IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS ABOVE THE REST! The author takes a refreshingly new and honest approach to helping people discover their gifts, purpose, and passion in life. This is probably the only self-improvement book that actually reads like a novel. I literally couldn't put it down and read it cover to cover in only 3 days! I highly recommend you see for yourself. You won't be dissappointed.

Unlike any book in its class, Become Who You Where Born To Be does something all the other books fail to do....it gives you a step-by-step process that guides you to finding your personal passion. The inspirational stories throughout the book reinforce the notion you can do anything you put your mind to. Sometimes our society forgets just how fortunate we are. After reading this book, you too may unlock a passion you never knew existed.