Book Review

Book Review

I am currently reading Tony Robbins’ book: Awaken the Giant Within and I must write about it because it’s so phenomenal I can barely put it down!

I am only about halfway through with it, so I can’t really give it a full review. The reason for this is that this is really an interactive experience more than just a good read. There are thinking exercises to do and while they are fun and enlightening, they are also time-consuming. One could very well read the book in a day or two if one chose but then not reap the real benefits one gets from writing out the exercises and the personal thoughts that they evoke.

I am not only having a huge amount of fun with this book but it has actually taught me several coping techniques which have already benefited me in my day to day challenges.

An example of both is his chapter on the power of words, which ones we use and the fact that we only use a limited few available to us. He points out that words are used by us to describe our emotions and that we typically tend to intensify our negative emotions while diminishing our positive emotions. We can use our words to reverse those effects.

One of the exercises presented was to take three words you use on a regular basis to describe a negative emotion you feel. Here is what I wrote:

1.    Angry

2.   Frustrated

3.   Depressed

Next, he instructs us to replace those words with other words that have less intensity associated with them. Here were my substitutions:

1.    Angry...........irritated, peeved, not happy

2.   Frustrated......challenged, inconvenienced

3.   Depressed.....uninspired, can only go up from here!

However, I added a few more words because I have many negative words in my vocabulary that I use continuously without consciously being aware of the subtle damage being caused.

4.   oh shit..........poop

5.   pissed off.........whizzed

6.   exhausted........need to recharge, somewhat droopy

7.   overwhelmed....maxed out

As you read on, Tony goes through the same process with positive emotion words. We usually minimize the emotional impact in those words and he asks us to rev them up. Here are a few of mine:

1           1.    I’m doin’ okay.............Spectacular, Phenomenal, Jazzed

            2.   I’m great/good..............Dy-no-mite, Ecstatic

            3.   Motivated.......................Fully charged, Moving at warp speed, juiced

I think you get the picture!

Try to become aware of the words you use repeatedly in your day-to-day life and watch (or listen) to the emotional impact of those words. They not only affect you but also the people around you so the use of our words is more important than we realize.

Here is a humorous little story that Tony tells:

 “Chevrolet, mystified by the sluggish sales of its new Nova compact in Latin America, eventually discovered the Spanish translation of no va: ‘It doesn’t go.’”  lol  That would certainly do it!

Do me a favor and put three of your own regular use of words in the comment section and add replacement words that would be more empowering to your life! Let’s have a discussion!

Happy Monday!

Cindy Hurd