Product Description

Realize who you can be with this no-nonsense guide. Four fast, effective and practical steps should help you get the most you can out of all areas of your life. There is advice on how to identify and focus on your strengths to reach your full potential and how to set and achieve goals.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #514664 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-15
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

About the Author
Pam Richardson is founder of the UK College of Life Coaching which is at the forefront of setting a code of practice across the international life coaching profession. Pam was instrumental in organizing the first International Coaching Summit in 2002, attended by over 120 international delegates. Pam is an established International Speaker, Trainer and Businesswoman. She is a member of the Barclay Corporate Consulting and Management Team and is also on the Board of Advisors of Here's Health magazine.

Customer Reviews

Eyebrow raising reviews
I sit here staring in disbelief at my monitor. The plethora of positive reviews for this book is as staggering as it is disproportionate.

If you are a buyer considering purchasing this book on the basis of the average star rating,

What really takes the biscuit is that very few of the reviews actually give an insight into the book and actual pragmatic experiences that were gleaned from it. If all of this isn't enough to make you raise the proverbial eyebrow, then it's either down to my cynicism or your gullibility.

Here are my insights: this is a book which is fabulously glossy with a highly presentable sense of style and colour. But beyond that it's pretty much useless. I agree with another (one of few) reviewerS who said that it seems to principally consist of naff positive thinking techniques and pseudoscientific diagrams/planners.

I'm not questioning Pam Richardson's capabilities as a life coach; there's every possibility that life coaching is very effective on a vis-a-vis consultation basis. But knowing the kind of people who will consider purchasing a book such as this, I feel I cannot consent to a recommendation. I think it's fairly expensive considering the canonical books and other up-and-comers such as Bate, Heppell and Beauchamp are all going for cheaper (and provide a better read).

If you're in the whole life coach business, then this book will probably be useful as a manual. If you're in the whole LIFE business, this book will leave you feeling very flat.

Simple AND simplistic
I'm inclined to agree with the 'mince pie' lady about the disappointing lack of substance in this book. I bought it on a recommendation, but was left frustrated and strangely unfulfilled by its content.

Credit where it's due - the Goals section is excellent, encouraging us to streamline our daily lives, de-clutter, and focus on the tasks in hand. However, this chapter is the exception. The rest I found to be almost watery-thin, consisting mostly of the power of affirmations and positive thinking; I believe the author's goal is for the reader to walk around with a cheesey, hopelessly optimistic grin on their face. Whilst I don't doubt the potential significance of affirmations, I feel too much time was dedicated to such 'positive thinking' techniques.

Anybody who feels that they're somehow lagging in their lives knows that action and proactivity is the key ingredient to escape. I can't help but feel that Pam Richardson spends too long waffling over quick-fix thinking techniques which are as dispensable as they are superficial. Doubtless others will hail them as being essential building blocks in ones character, but I don't believe that saying "I will..." instead of "I might..." is particularly revolutionary or substantial! It's fairly cheap, and I don't think it digs deep inside your character.

This book is expensive at the price. You'd be much better off investing in 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People' by Stephen R. Covey, a book that genuinely encourages deep-rooted character change (and the chapter on proactivity is a sensational find). I will, however, give the book two stars for its 'action' chapter, but I really don't think it's worth the price alone!

Keep that Band Wagon rolling
I too am amazed at the amount of positive reviews this feeble offering attracted - I can only guess that that they are written by fellow life coaches after recieving a free copy.

I think the author must have run pretty fast to catch up with this band wagon, but to be honest she needn't have bothered, it offers nothing new nor does it present it's old and tired message in a new or useable way.

It's been a long while since anybody wrote anything new about Life Coaching and this book certainly doesn't add anything useful to the huge amount of material already out there. Just the predictable superficial and shallow cliche glossed over and tarted up.