Get Out of Your Own Way: The 5 Keys to Surpassing Everyone's Expectations 
asked by samoan on November 19, 2006 10:14 AM
A Powerful Road Map for Surpassing Everyone’s Expectations
Break through your self-imposed limitations by learning how your own brain can be your biggest obstacle—or your greatest ally.
You’d expect your brain to be an always-reliable ally in your quest for a successful, satisfying life, but surprisingly the opposite is usually true. That’s because your brain is pretty much the same model your ancestors were using thousands of years ago when mere survival was everyone’s primary goal. It tells you now what it told them then: Play it safe. Avoid risk. Evade confrontation. Don’t venture outside the territory you already know. And never break the habits that have gotten you this far.
Coming at just the right time to help you deal with the growing demands of our pressure-packed, fast-changing world, Robert Cooper’s Get Out of Your Own Way helps you understand what’s going on in that head of yours. Once you know what really drives you, you can switch off the counterproductive parts of your brain, engage the helpful parts, and set out on the path to accomplishing what everyone else thinks you can’t. Based on more than two decades of worldwide research, Get Out of Your Own Way shows you the five keys for making the choices that let you engage and triumph over the realities of today’s world:
• Direction, not motion
• Focus, not time
• Capacity, not conformity
• Energy, not effort
• Impact, not intentions
Filled with wonderful stories—about everything from the note written by one of the author’s ancestors upon leaving Dublin for America in 1829 (“On the horizon is where hope lives . . . I am going there”) to the unlikely exploits of the world record–setting Jamaican bobsled team—this groundbreaking book confirms that the next frontier is not only ahead of you, it’s inside of you . . . and what everyone else thinks is impossible isn’t.
Also available as an eBook
Break through your self-imposed limitations by learning how your own brain can be your biggest obstacle—or your greatest ally.
You’d expect your brain to be an always-reliable ally in your quest for a successful, satisfying life, but surprisingly the opposite is usually true. That’s because your brain is pretty much the same model your ancestors were using thousands of years ago when mere survival was everyone’s primary goal. It tells you now what it told them then: Play it safe. Avoid risk. Evade confrontation. Don’t venture outside the territory you already know. And never break the habits that have gotten you this far.
Coming at just the right time to help you deal with the growing demands of our pressure-packed, fast-changing world, Robert Cooper’s Get Out of Your Own Way helps you understand what’s going on in that head of yours. Once you know what really drives you, you can switch off the counterproductive parts of your brain, engage the helpful parts, and set out on the path to accomplishing what everyone else thinks you can’t. Based on more than two decades of worldwide research, Get Out of Your Own Way shows you the five keys for making the choices that let you engage and triumph over the realities of today’s world:
• Direction, not motion
• Focus, not time
• Capacity, not conformity
• Energy, not effort
• Impact, not intentions
Filled with wonderful stories—about everything from the note written by one of the author’s ancestors upon leaving Dublin for America in 1829 (“On the horizon is where hope lives . . . I am going there”) to the unlikely exploits of the world record–setting Jamaican bobsled team—this groundbreaking book confirms that the next frontier is not only ahead of you, it’s inside of you . . . and what everyone else thinks is impossible isn’t.
Also available as an eBook
Reviews
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This book is a very powerful primer on how your brain works to support you . . . or not when left to run patterns it has already learned.
I enjoyed the very clear description of how your brain works and is organized and the layman terms and examples that make this material easily understood and interesting to the average reader.
Don't be fooled by some of the reviews, this book will transform you if you read it, think about it, and do the exercises. This is a book about thinking and doing . . . and about getting massive results by controlling brain.
I strongly recommned this book for anyone who has consumed dozens of self help books and is still looking for more and I recommend it even more wholeheartedly for those people just beginning the searh. This book is an opportunity to condition and train yourself appropriately the first time.
You'll love this book, I know I did.
Dave Lakhani
Author - Persuasion The Art of Getting What You Want and The Power of an Hour: Business and Life Mastery In One Hour A Week
I enjoyed the very clear description of how your brain works and is organized and the layman terms and examples that make this material easily understood and interesting to the average reader.
Don't be fooled by some of the reviews, this book will transform you if you read it, think about it, and do the exercises. This is a book about thinking and doing . . . and about getting massive results by controlling brain.
I strongly recommned this book for anyone who has consumed dozens of self help books and is still looking for more and I recommend it even more wholeheartedly for those people just beginning the searh. This book is an opportunity to condition and train yourself appropriately the first time.
You'll love this book, I know I did.
Dave Lakhani
Author - Persuasion The Art of Getting What You Want and The Power of an Hour: Business and Life Mastery In One Hour A Week
reviewed by ivan on November 22, 2006 8:10 PM
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Re-packaged, trite, typical self-helpy platitudes ("dream big"! "take risks!" etc.) with little-to-no practical advice. Only unique thing here is that he throws some vague neuro-science "facts" behind it -- but it's too vague and not well-explained enough to be taken seriously. Instead of living up to its potential and being a serious book about neuro/psychology, it's more like: "Your brain is hard-wired to do X, Y, and Z...now, dream big! Your brain also does A, B, and C. Take risks!".
Filled with lots of cliched stories (along the lines of "Chicken Soup for the Soul" -- sappy inspirational tales of overcoming the odds), and OVERLY filled with quotes (which makes it read like a college kid's research paper...so many footnotes!) that add little value. Seriously, do you really need to string together quotes from Sloan, Elie Wiesel, William Blake all within inches of each other...only to end up doling out some banal advice about the potential benefits of constructive criticism? Whoop-dee-doo. After that much build-up, at least give us something we haven't already heard a thousand times.
Only reason I'm not giving it only 1 star is that some of the brain-facts are mildly interesting in a "Huh, I didn't know that" kind of way...but learning those bits of neuro-trivia isn't worth the time, effort, nor price of the book.
This is the first time I've ever been so disappointed with a book that I've bothered to write a poor review on Amazon!
p.s. lots of his advice (e.g. set aside time to focus on one thing at a time) is given in the much more practical, dramatically less fluffy "Never Check E-mail in the Morning" -- almost identical take-aways, but there they are presented in a practical, easy to read way. That book won't give you fluff, but solid, applicable advice.
Filled with lots of cliched stories (along the lines of "Chicken Soup for the Soul" -- sappy inspirational tales of overcoming the odds), and OVERLY filled with quotes (which makes it read like a college kid's research paper...so many footnotes!) that add little value. Seriously, do you really need to string together quotes from Sloan, Elie Wiesel, William Blake all within inches of each other...only to end up doling out some banal advice about the potential benefits of constructive criticism? Whoop-dee-doo. After that much build-up, at least give us something we haven't already heard a thousand times.
Only reason I'm not giving it only 1 star is that some of the brain-facts are mildly interesting in a "Huh, I didn't know that" kind of way...but learning those bits of neuro-trivia isn't worth the time, effort, nor price of the book.
This is the first time I've ever been so disappointed with a book that I've bothered to write a poor review on Amazon!
p.s. lots of his advice (e.g. set aside time to focus on one thing at a time) is given in the much more practical, dramatically less fluffy "Never Check E-mail in the Morning" -- almost identical take-aways, but there they are presented in a practical, easy to read way. That book won't give you fluff, but solid, applicable advice.
reviewed by ragtop on November 25, 2006 3:37 PM
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I like the book. I have read almost as many self help books as Tony Robbins and most repeat things we know we should do in a little different way. The key to all of this is doing it. This book gives you new concepts along with ways to get you doing the things you need to do in order to get out of your own way.
reviewed by speaker on November 29, 2006 10:46 AM
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I bought this book after reading the reviews of other authors whose work I respect such as Jim Loehr. Unfortunately, this book did not deliver, as it is long on theory and short on application. For instance, the author repackages the concept of long term goals into "open space goals", but gives very little practical information on how to apply his theory. He devotes a chapter to "What's Automatic, Accelerates" in which he describes the importance of daily habits and rituals. Again, nothing new here. For a new performance paradigm, read John Eliot's "Overachievement" instead.
reviewed by guitarplayer on November 29, 2006 12:43 PM