by Steve Newman

Created on: October 28, 2009

Over the years I've read quite a few so called 'self help' books, especially when I was still trying to climb the slippery career ladder: a climb I thought required I read, and memorise, sections of certain books on management - most notably those by the late Peter Drucker - and then regurgitating the stuff at job interviews. And it seemed to work, no doubt because those doing the interviews had also read Drucker, Carnegie, and the rest. In retrospect it all seems so shallow and meaningless.

When I came across Brian Larcher's new book, The Greatest Personal Success Tips in the World, I was intrigued and not a little sceptical, until I read part of the introduction:

" Self improvement does not come easily for most of us. Successes are made, not born.

" The first step is to accept yourself as you are. To like and yes, even love yourself as you are. Then accept how you became who you are now so that you can set the past aside and take a fresh 'baggage free' look at your strengths and abilities. Then take a relaxed look at where your life is now, where you would like to be, and what you need to be, know and achieve to gain these goals for yourself. This might require a little time alone and apart from the rush of daily life - but it is well worth it."

Now, that 'baggage free' thing is also at the heart of many Christian awareness courses, which suggest - correctly - that we, as people, as budding Christians, cannot move forward to an acceptance of ourselves, and of God's love, without getting rid of the 'baggage'.

Brian writes:

" Start with small things and practise to build the habit of achievement and within a short time you could be achieving amazing results. For some of us this takes longer than for others. It often depends on the level of our limiting barriers or past experiences of failure, past difficulties, disappointments or limitations, but effectively ignoring and making incremental gains in the successful use of this technique more and more positive results will ensue."

What Brian Larcher is doing in this well written little book, is take us back to the greatest of all 'self help' books, The Bible, and, as the Psalmists and the writers of the Book of Common Prayer did, distil larger thoughts and philosophies into smaller pieces, which can then be used as a kind of list to help us find our way in an increasingly cloudy and difficult world. It is what the American poet Walt Whitman did during one of the most explosive periods US history.

The Greatest Personal Success Tips in the World, is a book that tells us to stop and think, to re-evaluate ourselves and our lives, and that by becoming stronger - more aware - the lives of others can also be changed, who, by their own awareness, can enrich us.

This book is not, at heart, about 'self', but about society and the common good, about coming together and not about breaking apart. It is a book built around Christian ethics, and for that it has my whole hearted support.

It is also quite small and fits comfortably into a pocket.

'The Greatest Personal Success Tips in the World' ( ISBN 978-1-905151-71-4) is published by The Greatest in the World Ltd.

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