Customer Reviews

Advice My Parents Gave Me: and Other Lessons I Learned from My Mistakes

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is like opening 409 fortune cookies and pulling out a few lines of insight into topics like money, love, success, forgiveness and gratitude... and it's less filling! It's concentrated enlightenment.

What a lucky guy to have parents with so much wisdom. Rodolfo's parents must be a combination of Lao-Tzu, Confucius and the Buddha. My parents never gave me information like this; they'd just slap me and say, "Stop that!"

When I started reading this book, I marked the numbered quotes/thoughts that I wanted to read every day. After a few pages, that list got so long I decided it would be better just to pick the book up every morning and read a few pages.

The thoughts cut through the fluff and get straight to the point. Plus, there are some very clever quotes I'd never read before like this one from Lawrence J. Peter: "If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else."

Great book to open up and read daily. It's nothing new, but things we all need to be reminded of as we are go through life's daily grind.

In this short (120 pages), Rodolfo Costa has compiled a list of advice, sayings, and adages that he's learned over the years and that has improved his life... Advice My Parents Gave Me: and Other Lessons I Learned from My Mistakes. The style of the book isn't such that you get an in-depth examination of any particular element, nor is this a method to follow to get from A to Z. They're short numbered "bullet points" (409 in all) that will hit you at different levels depending on where you're at during your particular journey in life.

The advice and wisdom is generally grouped into areas such as attitude, goals, patience/moving forward, and confidence. Some of the one-liners are very similar to ones you have heard before, like "Do not leave for tomorrow what you can do today." Others don't appear to be so close to Franklin-esque words, like "Do not be embarrassed to say, 'I don't know.' It is amazing how much you can learn just by admitting that." Both types of advice are worth understanding, contemplating, and making part of your mindset, but sometimes familiarity with certain words can cause you to just brush right over the writing without thinking.

I generally hate being told how I should read a book, but this is one of those titles that really does dictate a certain reading style. You can sit down and read the whole thing in less than an hour. Odds are that you'll get little impact that way, though. Taking a page or two a day would be much more effective so you can let the words work their way into your mind and make changes in the way you think and act.

If you get the chance to read Advice My Parents Gave Me, it's worth doing so. Finding two or three gems that talk to you can make all the difference in the world.

Disclosure:

Obtained From: Author

Payment: Free

Were the casual reader to browse the shelves of books in the self help section of either brick and mortar bookstores or online resources such as Amazon.com, this little book would like go unnoticed. The cover is plain, not eye catching in design or in reaching out to the viewer, and would likely be passed over as yet another 'one man's guide to happiness'. And what a mistake that would be! ADVICE MY PARENTS GAVE ME AND OTHER LESSONS I LEARNED FROM MY MISTAKES may not grab the attention readily, but pause and open this little straight forward caring guide, read the tender Introduction by author Rodolfo Costa in which he relates his childhood in Peru and journey to the US at age nineteen to find his place in the world in the USA, and then follow the simple but poignant format of his delivery, and chances are this book will become one of those sources of inspiration to keep by the bedside for years to come. Though he does not dwell on the bumps in the road that brought to the point of wanting to share his discovery of living a successful and fulfilling life, Costa suggests that his journey has not been easy: this lack of whining dialogue about how unfair life has been until he reached a point of enlightenment makes this book even more unique.

What Rodolfo Costa has done is think through all of the steps and missteps we face as we design our own existence. He pauses now and then for some quotes by other writers that magnify the next door of acceptance through which he invites us to step. But it is the simple structure of the book - 409 thoughts in 112 pages - that is so appealing. Some readers may decide to take only a few pages a day to read: the book could easily afford this approach. But for this reader, taking the time to read the entire book in one sitting gives the aura of what Rodolfo Costa is all about - a tender, caring, loving man who genuinely seeks to help the reader find the happiest, most fulling life possible. 'Do not wait any longer. Take charge of your life. Set your mind to start now. Forget about the past - it is gone. Do not worry about the future - it is not here yet. Create the desire to change your current circumstances. Nobody is going to do it for you.'

Once under the very basic but sure guidance of Costa's reasons for wanting to write this book, it then becomes easy to take a few of his ideas at a time, finding that despite the fact that many of the ideas are not original with Costa, the manner in which he describes them, challenges us, and offers a supportive spirit is very real, very now. Looking for inner peace and for a way to find your dreams? Rodolfo Costa is a beneficent guide. Don't pass by the bland cover of this book. It is a treasure. Grady Harp, January 10

"Be an optimist. Learn to see and appreciate what life offers you. Concentrate on the positive and beautiful things in your life." ~ pg. 6

We all have an image of what it means to be successful. Your idea may include a bigger house or a better job. But how do you make these dreams come true? Is it really as simple as thinking positively and taking action? In "Advice My Parents Gave Me and Other Lessons Learned from My Mistakes" Rodolfo Costa explores all the ways we can make our life great.

"Someone's opinion of you does not have to become your reality." ~ Les Brown

This book has tons of original thoughts and also contains pages of quotes that I'd never read before. While you are reading this excellent book you may find yourself reevaluating your life. What is holding you back? This book has many answers.

I like that Rodolfo Costa organized his thoughts in meaningful chapters. There is a theme to each section. There are thoughts on how to maintain good relationships, how to parent effectively, how to forgive and how to be healthy.

This book is really about being happier and living a more fulfilling life. Within the pages there is so much positive encouragement that is so needed in our society today. I sometimes feel that I have to fight the world to be positive so this book was a much needed respite.

Highly Recommended to help you keep your New Year's resolutions!

~The Rebecca Review

I found Advice My Parents Gave Me: and Other Lessons I Learned from My Mistakes to be a great book. I keep it in my handbag and refer to it daily.

Full of quotes, quips and sayings, Advice My Parents Gave Me: and Other Lessons I Learned from My Mistakes is humorous, serious and thought provoking, all while being easy and quick to read.

From ancient proverbs to contemporary phrases there is one for all occasions.

Many of the sayings are to motivate one with the right attitude to go after their dreams in a realistic way.

I find myself quoting this wonderful book many times throughout the day and have my favorites that I repeat more often than not.

In my own personal life I have used the advice in Advice My Parents Gave Me: and Other Lessons I Learned from My Mistakes to enrich my life and take responsibility for the decisions that have led me to where I am today.

This is my kind of book. It's to the point, easy to digest, thought provoking, and filled with gems of wisdom. Rodolfo Costa gives us 409 nuggets of advice, encouragement and inspiration. For example, #157 states, "Do not empower your negative thoughts by giving them 'legs' so they can run around your mind, creating worries, frustrations, and anxiety in your life." I will never give my negative thoughts 'legs' again. I love that image. This is a wonderful little book that I will keep on my night table for a long time.

The mistake I made with this book was attempting to read it straight through.

The introduction reminded me of a motivational speaker. Not bad, so much, just...you can hear that swelling tone of voice, and get a mental image of someone jabbing their finger in the air or at the crowd with that microphone headset strapped on. It actually made me chuckle a little.

The tips/advice are great! But not read straight through. When you read straight through, they get very redundant. Each one is a newly worded cliche. And since people get tired of cliche's, I think that was a brilliant way to go about it. But unfortunately, a lot of them are repeated, with just slightly different wording. There are 400+ 'lessons', but I think in actuality there are really maybe 200-300.

But it's not a bad book. This is actually the kind of book I like having around. These are perfect for Daily Affirmations. It's the kind of book you put on a coffee table (if you have one, which I don't) and pick up every day and open to a random page. The blips are very inspirational, and they would give you a wonderful jolt of energy to start your day.

I am always interested in self help books, especially if they are personal, based on life experience. In Advice My Parents Gave Me, the Author has really hit the jackpot. I was pleasantly surprised with this book. It is written in small, numbered tips the Author learned from his parents or from life. It tells the story along the way of a guy who learns from the world he lives in, he doesn't just live in it. He has broken it down into tips and several excellent quotes thrown in. It can be read in one setting or like I did, read it as you will and you can pick it up and put it down and start again. Great read and worthwhile for you to purchase.

Advice My Parents Gave Me: and Other Lessons

I Learned from My Mistakes

Author: Rodolfo Costa

Publisher: AuthorHouse

ISBN: 978-1-4490-2552-6

This is a truly entertaining, delightful and thought provoking collection of 409 quotes, lessons, thoughts, words of advice and encouragement. The author gleaned these from his own life experiences and a far-ranging variety of sources.

Reading this book will offer a venue into looking at your own life experiences, past mistakes, family history and future aspirations. By taking the time to read this book, page by page or section at a time, you can find the determination, motivation and understanding you need to move forward in your life.

I think this book would be a wonderful tool for personal reflection and future reference; to take from your bookshelf like an old and caring friend when you need encouragement, a boost of determination, or just a thought-provoking meditation to help you remind yourself what is truly important in your life. I plan to keep it in mind as an excellent gift for an upcoming graduate or a friend pondering a change of circumstance in their own life.

This book is a handy little volume that includes hundreds of tips for living a happier and more fulfilled life. It's particularly suited for people new to the personal growth subject area, and who prefer inspirational reminders that are "short and sweet," as opposed to paragraphs full of content. While there is a bit of repetition in the book, this is quite typical in the self-help category because the act of changing one's self for the better requires continual reinforcement of the new concepts, as our brains are literally hardwired to the old ways.

One thing I would have liked to have known more about is the author's own life experiences that led him to develop the passion he clearly has for assisting others in improving their lives. Perhaps in his next book he'll open up and share some of what motivated him to consciously choose the path of self-discovery. If he had done that within the context of this work I surely would have been inspired to rate it even higher. As it stands, I rate this book 3.5 stars because it really does have a lot of valuable wisdom packed into its 116 pages.