The Shift: Taking Your Life from Ambition to Meaning

After watching the movie, The Shift, I read this book. It was simple and straight forward with a wonderful message. I enjoyed reading this book.

This book is different from most of his others which I have read. The Shift is written in a more deep, insightful tone as opposed to the chatty, colloquial one he generally uses. Ordinarily I find myself reading through his books fairly quickly but this one is taking me a much longer time.

Wayne Dyer walks his talk and every time he writes a new book I know it will apply to my life. His advice is sage and trustworthy and works everytime. The shift happened for me after a "fall" as Wayne describes it. I had a stroke and in my recovery I did everything I could to seek spiritial advice on how to recover, becuase medical wisdom said I would never recover. I lost my memory and most of my vision and six years later I'm working on my doctorate in technology. I am 64 years old and have never been healthier or happier and I owe a lot of that to the wisdom and many books I've been following Wayne as he writes them. I recommend this book to anyone that is tired of the physical world predicting your outcome and ready to create your own economics. God is greater than any problem. One of Wayne best books is "There is a Spiritual Solution for Every Problem and that is the truth. Don't wait until you experience a "fall" read every book you can get your hands on that he has written and your life will get better immediately. He tells it like it is.

Recently I received in the mail a free copy of "The Shift: Taking Your Life From Ambition to Meaning" by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer. I had responded to a Facebook query regarding individuals who were willing to review new books published by authors under the auspices of Hay House. As a metaphysical teacher and Law of Attraction disciple, I am a long-time fan of Louise Hay, and as such I am always interested in the works published through Hay House. I recommend this book highly to anyone who desires real change and transformation in their life. I especially recommend this book to anyone who is addicted to "doing." If your doing results in feelings other than peace, contentment and happiness, then you probably are experiencing some level of stress on the emotional, mental and physical level, and you probably are looking for a way to change that. This book can help you with that. I received this book at the perfect time in my own awakening and transformation. As of the end of February, I officially stepped into the "to" phase of transformation (the book is divided into four phases ~ "From," "Ambition," "To," and "Meaning" ~ and the feelings of clarity, peace, relief and optimism that I experienced while reading Dr. Dyer's words, are indescribable. Each of us comes from a place whose essence is pure "Being." Yet, we live in a world that over-values "doing" and under-values "being." This contrast can cause a lifetime of pain, struggle, and illness. Dr. Dyer's book characterizes this contrast through personal and anecdotal examples of relatable life situations. I was able to see myself in his words, to measure the choicepoints that I have experienced in my own life, and to measure my progress (to use a very "doing" term) in my own deliberate and conscious inner transformation. In my opinion and my experience, this book illustrates beautifully how to get back to our Authentic selves, and as a result, we can do, be and have a life experience of our dreams. I highly recommend this book. It is on my personal "Must Have" listed, and I have added it to my "Wisdom Tools" list on my web site ([...]).

The Shift is a companion book for the movie with the same title, both of which are self-sufficient. Nonetheless, I recommend reading the book before seeing the movie, as it will help you grasp much of the significance. The book doesn't give away the plot of the movie, though it refers to it once in awhile. Like the other 30-some books by Wayne Dyer, this one is filled with inspirational quotes from famous spiritual teachers and classical holy texts, personal stories, and parables. This one, however, is only 112 pages and can be read easily in a day or two. It can be read several times and you will still get something out of it. The original title of the book and movie was "From Ambition to Meaning," and interestingly, there are only four chapters, each with one of these words. The first chapter, "From," discusses the void where we came from and how in the womb, we are doing nothing but being lived by "all creating energy that seems to do nothing, and at the same time leaves nothing undone." Wayne cites quantum physics to validate the nothingness from whence we came. We are reminded that everything in the material world is truly like what it came from. Ergo, we are truly spiritual beings having a temporary human experience. And "our real self is the loving observer of our sensory experiences." He leads us to the conclusion that "nonbeing and love are synonymous." We are given tools on how to get back to the Nothingness, such as meditation, feeling the oneness, and surrender. We are even challenged to give away one item a day, anything we do not use on a daily basis! Before we realize that, however, nearly all of us get sucked into "Ambition," which is the title of chapter 2. Here we learn how our false self develops as we identify with the ego. This entails beliefs such as "Who I am is what I have, what I do, and what others think of me." This "somebody training" involves learning more lies such as "I am separate from everyone else, from what's missing in my life, and from God." In chapter 3 ("To") we make the U-turn back to our "fromness." There comes a time in everyone's life when they see that the inauthentic self is a lie. This doesn't mean the loss of ambition, but rather that our drive is now directed toward a life based on meaning and purpose. Some signs that we may be ready include: the ego's "mantra of more" becomes less attractive; we find ourselves doing less; we shun the spotlight to work in the shadows; we believe in unity more than separateness; we begin to realize we're connected to Spirit; we begin to trust the wisdom that created us. Next, Wayne tells us what to expect and gives a 7-point summary of our U-turn. He describes four qualities of the shift from ambition to meaning: surprising, vivid, benevolent and enduring. In the final chapter, "Meaning," Wayne tell us how he told his buddy Ram Dass many years ago, "All of my life I wanted to be somebody. Now I finally am somebody--but it isn't me." All the fame and wea