The Luminous Life – How to Shine Like The Sun!, by Peter Rosen, was written by someone well-respected in the New Age community.  When someone told me about Mr. Rosen’s concepts, they sounded truly delightful.  I ordered this book without hesitation.

I just wish it were better written. To be blunt, every time I pick up this book, I read one or two pages and I’m too bored to continue.

I’m sure the author saying wonderful things.  I’m just not sure what they are, and the thread of the story keeps getting lost in the writing.

Here’s an example.  It’s a stand-alone section of the book.

“The truly rich open the doors of their hearts as easily as pushing a button for the elevator.  Their hearts will take you as high as you’re willing to go.”

I love the imagery of the elevator button.  That sentence reveals someone with great concepts to share.

But then there’s that second sentence.  I read it and re-read it, and my mind stalls. I’m still not sure if he meant that your heart will take you as high as you want to go, or if he’s talking about someone else — someone truly rich — doing that for you.

The latter seems unlikely, but — in this passage, as in the rest of the book — I just can’t seem to grasp what the author intended to say.

The Luminous Life is very dialogue intensive.  For me, the writing style is tedious and almost hypnotic.  I feel like I’m reading a screenplay; frankly, I’d rather see it acted out.

I’m sure there are people who tune into Mr. Rosen’s writing style. The one (and only, as I’m writing this) review of this book at Amazon.com describes it as “one of the best adventure stories that I have read. Exciting enough to keep you reading (I could not put it down) as well as touch your heart along the way.”  That reviewer gave this book 5 stars.

It’s like I have a totally different book here.  I cannot figure this out.

I see a mix of Law of Attraction concepts in a story written as non-fiction but — like books including The Celestine Prophecy and Mutant Message Down Under — I doubt that it’s supposed to be taken at face value.

Based on my friend’s recommendation and the glimmers I see in this book, I’ll probably try something else by this author.  Maybe I’ll enjoy it more.

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StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup’s Now, Discover Your Strengths, by Tom Rath, is an unusual book.

When you buy the book, you’re actually buying the slip of paper hidden in the sealed packet at the back of the book.

The text of the book repeats what you’ll see at the Strengths Finder website… after you use the secret code to take the test and find your top five strengths.

Initially, I was disappointed.  The test had several of the usual questions where I say, “Well, this is getting down to semantics.  Both answers mean pretty much the same thing.”

That frustrates me.

Likewise, when I received my list of strengths, most of them were ho-hum. I already knew that I’m someone who starts cool projects and generates fresh, innovative ideas.  In Strengths Finder terms, I’m an Activator.

I also knew that I’m relatively empathic, intellectual (hello, I’m in Mensa), and a futurist, always looking ahead.

I didn’t need a book and an online test to tell me that.

However, my second-highest strength is Strategic. I’m good at estimating outcomes, and planning the best routes to get past or around potential obstacles.  I’m the person who tells others the shortest route from Point A to Point B.

And, too often, I get caught up in the impetus of my own Activator ideas, and don’t give myself permission to pause and adjust my strategies for discoveries (good and not-so-good) along the path.

That discovery was worth the price of the book, and a lot more.

I hate to say that I needed to give myself permission to pause and make better plans… but I think I did.

Seeing that this is my second most-important strength, well, that gave me an entirely fresh way of looking at how I organize (or don’t organize) my own projects and my time.

(I’m good at telling others how to be better organized.  However, unless I’m just this side of “meltdown mode,” I tend to be less scrupulous about my own planning and organizing.)

After taking the test and learning from this book, I realized how much time, energy & other resources I’m wasting by not planning as much as I could.

I’ve been relying on my intellect, empathic (“gut feeling”) ideas, and expected outcomes, instead.  They’re good, but not as good as my second-best strength: Viewing my goals and projects strategically, from exactly where I am at that point, and planning accordingly.

For the record: My strengths are Activator, Strategic, Intellection, Empathy, Futurist, in that order.

So, although my initial reaction wasn’t enthusiastic, I’m now a major cheerleader for this book.  I rarely rate any book over four stars, but this one gets a 4.5.  It earned it, for helping me reorganize my priorities and give my real strengths — all of them — a chance to shine.

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