WOW: A Handbook for Living Paperback – March 16, 2010

A book written by and for elitists who like to call themselves stoic, while patting themselves in the back and treating everyone outside of their little circle like zombies in a post-apocalyptic scenario. If you saw news of Hollywood movie The Hunt, those are the people this book was written by and for, the elites who hate common people.

Very helpful in being happy and solving problems. Lots of pictures and text variations so it was an easy read.

WOW A Handbook for Living contains some very interesting exercises - 31 exercises.The book is very short on narrative. Which means that it is a very quick read. But the value or purpose of the book is not found in reading it. The value is in actually doing the exercises.With each exercise there is a brief explanation or instruction. The book does not go into a lot of reasoning behind the exercise or dwell on the underlying psychological concepts.It is not suggested that you try to do any specific number of exercises. The authors suggest that you "choose one exercise that stands out to you and actually do it." As you gain the benefits from doing one exercise, you can and should move on to the next. There is nothing that says that you must embrace and do all the exercises recommended. The more exercises you can incorporate into your life, the greater the benefit.Here are a couple of examples:Exercise 1. "What's working for you? a. Write down what's working for you right now on a sheet of paper. B. Start a conversation by asking someone, `What's working for you?" The purpose of this exercise is for you to become consciously aware of what is working for you. The more you are consciously aware of things in your life, the greater your control over them.Exercise 23. "Are you looking for the right answer? Try living for a month with the premise that there is no one and only right answer." The purpose of this exercise is to expand you awareness of the difference between the "right" answer and one that works. By focusing your awareness on looking for what works instead of the one "right" answer, you will improve your effectiveness in life.All the exercises are designed to raise you awareness of what is going on in life and things around you. You are free to pick and choose which exercises you wish to try. There is no right order, so skip around as you desire.Graphically the layout of the book is very interesting, varying type sizes, fonts and lots of black and white photographs.There are some potentially very valuable exercises in this book. However the value is directly related to the effort the reader will put into doing an exercise. You will gain little value by simply reading the book. Actually doing some of these exercises could have a profound impact on your life.

Normally I don't review self-help books, but I found this book especially unique and useful. Not your typical "how to live better" guide.The format is the first unique element. It's not written out in lengthy or wordy chapters, filled with anecdotal stories. Instead, the pages have alot of white space, with quotes, simple suggestions, and questions to reflect upon. Rather than telling you, the reader, what to do, it creates a process in which you find your own solutions. Meditation is key, and each section gives you points to ponder and apply.For example, when trying to solve a problem, one question is "What state of conditions do you want to create?" This way the suggestions and solutions are applicable to just about any circumstance. Interesting graphics, all in black and white, accent the ideas. Again, to use this book you will not be sitting down to read chapter after chapter. Ideally, you would use one section, consider the questions, then put it down and meditate on what course applies to you. Then it suggests you write down ideas to cement them in your mind.A few caveats: some of the suggestions and questions seem oversimplified at first, but really aren't to be dismissed. Many pages have sections to add your own notes and comments. Another thing I noticed was that many of the suggestions required the assistance of a friend or confidante in achieving. That may work for someone with a good support system, but I couldn't help but think there are some things that we may not want to divulge. After all, many of our stressors are deeply personal.I think this would be helpful to anyone, from a parent to a businessperson, as the thoughts are open ended and the solutions are not keyed towards any one answer. An especially good idea in it was to be a better listener, and listen to what others say, but even more to listen to what they don't say. Their silence can be revealing. It's unlikely that the ideas in this book will ever be out of date, because the simplicity of the text and ideas is universal.