Product Description

In this highly-accessible self-help book, Big Issue founder John Bird explains his seven simple rules that could help you change your life. Whether you want to get a new job, quit smoking, give up drinking or go back to college, "How to Change Your Life in 7 Steps" explains how you can take what you've been given and turn it into something you'll be proud of, rather than spend your life wishing for everything you haven't got. For 99 per cent of us life doesn't come knocking on the door; you have to go out and get it. But the trouble with aiming for the stars is that you're likely to end up in the gutter. John Bird has learnt through his work with the homeless that if you start by putting just 3 per cent of your energy towards your final goal rather than a gutter-hitting 99 per cent you will eventually make the changes you are looking for. John's six other rules are as straightforward as this first one, 'Start With 3 per cent. He writes with passion about the dangers of thinking like a victim and of not telling the truth; he shares with us the importance of thinking for yourself and never putting others down, and he encourages us not to define our successes by the failures of others and to recognise our own achievements. Written in his unique no-nonsense style, this is a book about 'cutting through the bullshit and making the most of what you have.'

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9640 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

TES
"An inspiration..but it's practical too."

From the Publisher
How to Change Your Life in 7 Steps will be published as part of the World Book Day adult literacy initiative 2007

About the Author
John Bird was born just after the Second World War to a London Irish family in slum-ridden Notting Hill. Homeless at five, he went on to spend three years in an orphanage before, at the age of ten, embarking on a spree of shoplifting, house breaking, vandalism and arson. Periods in jail were followed in his twenties by the birth of three of his children and his metamorphosis into a successful businessman. At the age of 45, using his own life and professional experience, he founded the Big Issue and over the last fifteen years has overseen its development into an International movement which stretches from Tokyo to Totnes.

Customer Reviews

A superb read
This is a great read, small in size (as you would expect from Quick Reads) and quite brutally honest. Written by Big Issue founder John Bird, this is someone who definitely knows a thing or two about changing one's life. Although perhaps not comprehensive and may not totally change your life, it is an excellent starter for people who need inspiration.

Simple and Direct
I like the Author's key message that it is better to "act small" when striving to achieve goals. He describes this as 'doing the next 3%'. This 'bottom-up' approach (for example filling in a draft application form for a new job) seems to offer a more realsitic assessment of where you currently are and promotes enthusiasm to act rather than sitting around worrying about the big picture. I have an issue with Self - Help books that are 'top-down' in their approach (for example stating where you will be in life in 5 years time) because, for me at least, this sort of thinking tends to overwhelm me and is not flexible in the real world.

On the negative side, I feel that the book doesn't offer 'steps' as such, like you might expect in a system. The ideas seem very much common sense thoughts that could just as easily be presented as random essays / thoughts. I also feel that the phrasing is often negative and somehow critical - don't do this, don't do that etc. wich does not come across positively in my view.

It's good value for the money but I don't think you need to own a copy to get the key message.

Thank you, an inspirational book
I enjoyed this small book, which is one of the quick read series, of self help books on sale. I found it to be very inspirational. The author writes about the changes you can make to turn your life around, starting with a 3% improvement. How you can handle various hurdles, that you might come across in life, by changing your attitude, an example being, to stop thinking like a victim. John Bird, explains how putting yourself around people who want to improve themselves is a good thing. Realising that life does not owe you something and by stopping lying to yourself and others, can actually set you free, is one of his messages.

A good example being the `it a broken egg? or an omelette?' paragraph, this is the part of the book where John tells how he believes, that if you knock people and complain about things, it will not get you very far towards your goals. Stop complaining about what doesn't work he writes, do something rather than blow hot air at everybody else, look at yourself before you judge others.
`Think for yourself, does your mind belong to you?' a question he asks you to think about.
There are many real life stories in this book. For instance how Richard Branson, started off small, and went on to build an empire. John explains that Branson, didn't start out by thinking `I'm going to build an empire,` and tells how Branson started out selling magazines in a basement and now today, he has his own empire.
The attitude he believes in is `start by thinking small, and build big mind improvements.'

This book has clear open print making it very easy to read. As the bright cover suggests, a positive attitude such as 'the future is bright, you can climb the ladder of success` is a belief of the thinking, that the book is trying to pass onto the reader.

The author, John Bird is well qualified, through his very own life experiences to write about how to turn your life around.
In 2004 the public voted John Bird one of London's living legends and he was the founder of the Big Issue magazine which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year.

If you want to explore ways of making improvements in you way of approaching life then I can recommend this book.