You Can Have What You Want: Proven Strategies for Inner and Outer Success

If you want a book you can pick up to find wonderful approaches and ideas to maximize all parts of your life this is it. The quotes engage you and the stories compel you to look at your work and your life. One of the many beautiful quotes hit me: " The central method of achieving a happier life is to train our mind in a daily practice that weakens negative attitudes and strengthens positive ones." Amazingly Mike shows us the way to do just what the Dalai Lama suggests. With his profound wisdom and easy-to-put-into-action guidance and advice this is a great read. For years I've loved the way that Mike shows us the way as he deconstructs great ideas in his daily and now weekly tips on the internet. His writing pulls me in and reveals new sides to ideas I thought I'd visited before. You can open his book to any section to learn anew. Each chapter is a stand alone guide to something very important in your life and finding your purpose. This book is a guide to self care and fulfillment. His matrix to guide you in what you want to do in your life gives you a way to catalog what you're doing in your life. Who ever thinks about random acts of kindness or drinking cappuccinos? Mike Neill has helped me to focus on what matters and keep track. As an executive coach I love to use his stories and guidance in an organizational context although I may transform the details.

I was lucky enough to buy this book a few months ago in England. WOW! Michael Neill writes in a very friendly, humorous style that I enjoyed so much that I bought copies for my closest friends. On my first time of reading 'You Can Have What You Want' I missed out the simple experiments Michael offers (in his own words you can try them or not, it's your choice) because I was enjoying the read. On the second time of reading (and 3rd, 4th..etc.)I did try the simple experiments and found them to be, well, easy, and very powerful. As Michael says, "It doesn't have to be no pain no gain. Rather, No pain NO PAIN! My life has changed for the better since reading this book and the best part about it for me is that it has been bloody easy:) Whether you buy this book now or in a few days time is your decision. The sooner you do get your hands on it, the sooner you can have what you want. Be Well and Enjoy!

I first read this book in the UK edition and it changed my life. I'm a hyper-rational, Harvard MBA who's built a life around planning, thought, and careful analysis. While it worked great for managing projects, my approach just hadn't produced a life I was enjoying. Michael balances psychology, spirit, and pragmatics. I usually avoid this kind of book as being unbearably fluffy, but Michael has a knack of taking a deeply pragmatic approach that makes his points quite tangible. The book covers a huge amount of territory, from attitudes and mindset to tactics, learning, and relationships. Some of his advice is fairly standard, but some is new, and all is presented in a conversational way that makes it possible for me to "get it" in a way I haven't, before. Pre-book, I was an executive coach, consultant, and ex-entrepreneur, doing all the "right things" to make my business fly. Great credentials, lots of experience, yada yada yada. But was I looking forward to my life each day? Nope. Not really. Much of what Michael says made me realize I've never questioned my own rules for living; he's great at challenging underlying beliefs. When he discusses self-esteem, for example, he points out that there's no reason to believe your opinion of yourself is even accurate. So why sweat it? (You may be right, you may be wrong, but it doesn't matter. Believe in yourself for no good reason, and you'll still have a happier life.) Goals? They should be immutable and a tool for utter focus, right? Sure, says Michael. And feel free to change them the moment they're no longer bringing you joy. Heresy to an uber-goal-directed-person like me. Planning, the raison d'etre for MBAs? Sure, think about the future, but don't overdo it. Have faith in following your heart, be willing to take action & work for what you want, and the Great Life will follow. I didn't believe it. But the hyper-rational approach wasn't getting me there, so the only rational thing was to give faith a try. I began shifting from doing what's "right," "responsible," and "sensible" to doing what's fun and joyful. In the next two months, I closed more business than in the prior year. Michael's approach helped me dig into my definition of success, and begin to reorient my life around what makes me happy, rather than just what brings me money. Post-book, I'm making major shifts that are taking me in completely unexpected directions that are all fun, enjoyable, and exciting. Michael's book is great. Give it a read.

This book will make your life better. More importantly the book supports my idea that it is your duty to be happy, happy people make for a better world. This book by self-help guru, Michael Neill, who earns his title and will give any reader a solid, clear method to pursue happiness. The book is provides a fun, new outlook on finding the way to your own definition of success and happiness. This is money well spent. I read it in one sitting. I am normally not an avid reader of self-help books. Michael Neill's book is, however, one that makes the saying "an unexamined life is not worth living" actually have some resonance. Frankly this book made me want to look at all parts of life and fugure out how I could feel better. It is short (brevity is more than the soul of wit) it is also a great way to have ideas clearly shown and for us, the readers, to digest Neill's clear vision of how the mind works. You Can Have What You Want delivers in tone (fun, often funny, very thoughtful) as well as an effective distillation of everything Neill has come to find true. The teachings of others are carefully examined for truth from his own unique perspective, his own experiences enlighten and most important there is actual WISDOM in this book instead of just facts and "book smarts." This is a vital, life changing book that will help the unhappy and the happy lead fuller lives.

Michael Neill has written what is destined to become a classic in the area of "self-help" literature. We all struggle with how to have what we want while doing whatever it is we're meant to do with our lives. You Can Have What You Want sets up a paradigm that is like magnetic north in helping you navigate your dreams and also has a whole series of sign posts which Michael calls the "Obstacle Course to Success" to help you get where you want to be. An easy read, you feel like you're having a conversation with Michael rather than reading a book. In addition, it's peppered with practical exercises that you can try out in your life immediately. It's fun, funny and chock-full of great ideas and wisdom. A solid 5-stars!