Customer Reviews

Are You Ready to Succeed?

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It will be fairly difficult for me to give an unbiased review of Are You Ready to Succeed, as the course on which it's based set me upon a path of growth and self-discovery and allowed me for first time to know true fulfillment. For this, I feel immense gratitude, incapable of expression with words. I'll divide this review into two parts: 1. The effect the wisdom and exercises within the book had on my life and 2. My feelings about the book itself.

Prior to taking Creativity and Personal Mastery, the course upon which the book is based, I was an obnoxious, mechanistic, sociopathic prince of capitalism. I viewed wealth as a means to exert dominance over others, as well as a vehicle to procure hedonic bliss. I found a happy home for this way of thinking in the world of investment banking, venture capital and startups. I drank, drugged, womanized, broke the law; I created a world in which those without a similar plunderer-type mentality were weak and destined to be dominated. At the beginning of the course, I had been fired twice, totally four cars, been arrested in five states and inflicted emotional harm on countless females. I didn't read; I thought introspection was for meek, those incapable of enjoying the finer things in life. In short, I was miserable - a gerbil on wheel of chemical and emotional highs, a slave to the influence of my fellow "pirate" peers. You could say I was ready for a change.

The course had several effects upon me. There are too many to list, so I will detail only four.

The first is the notion that the universe is benevolent, a partner in creating not only fulfilling personal endeavors, but a brighter future. The second is that I have an opportunity to be truly happy, i.e. fulfilled, not through striving and external action, but through removing that which is unreal and not me, thereby allowing my true nature to shine. The third is that HOW is not important, rather only the WHAT and the WHY, meaning I need not obsess over how desirable things such as fulfillment and impact come into my life, only a clear conception of what it is I want to achieve and why I want to achieve it. The last insight I was blessed with was, "If you build it, they will come", meaning that attention to my own personal mastery is the most important thing I can do in terms of creating the life and manifesting the impact I desire.

Since finishing the course, I have gone on to read several of the recommended texts, traveled to India to learn meditation, attended various personal growth related retreats, consulted with non-profits, helped people start companies, become a more effective writer and public speaker, begun creating healthy platonic and authentic romantic relationships, found fulfilling employment with a renewable energy company and am currently helping launch a non-profit. In addition to taking up meditation, I have stopped drinking, eating meat, eating sweets (and in doing so, lost 60 pounds), doing drugs, watching porn and have filled this gap with yoga, reading, writing, love-making, cooking and hiking.

Certainly the wisdom and exercises from the course (and book) did not do all of this, I did, but it was the seed crystal that allowed me to embark on a path of rapid transformation and achieve an infinitely more rewarding life. I owe Prof. Rao, the course, and by extension this book a tremendous debt of gratitude for which I am only beginning to repay.

I really enjoyed the book as well. It was a beautiful encapsulation of the course, touching on the major themes. Given the limited scope of the chosen media (in this case a book, as compared to a semester-long course) it is an excellent effort and if used as stated could produce extraordinary results for those who employ it. I say employ instead of read, because to merely read this book is not sufficient. As Prof. Rao says, the book should viewed more as a workbook, a guide for exercises. Viewing this book as anything else will produce only limited results. I echo the following recommendations: 1. Buy the book, 2. Convince 5 friends to also buy the book, 3. Spend 3 months reading the book, stopping to do each exercise for a week or so, 4. Hold weekly meetings to discuss the exercises with your group, 4. Keep a journal throughout the process.

Obliviously, the wisdom and exercises in this book had a marked affect on my life. I believe that if you are serious about reaching your true potential and enjoying unbounded success and fulfillment, this is the book for you.

I was "ready to succeed" but didn't have the tools. My ivy league schooling and decades in the school of hard knocks failed to give me what this book did: tools that INSTANTLY took me from where I was to where I wanted to be.

I went from stress to bliss, from taking for granted to immense appreciation, from nervous to confident, from unhealthy to in shape. Most of all, I went from from total confusion to my dream job.

I always wanted to be able to give speeches in public. There was only one problem-- my greatest fear was public speaking. In the book, Rao offers an exercise called "As-If's."

Three days afer stumling upon this exercise, I had to give a speech. I felt amazing. People complimented me left and right. To make a long story short, I'm now a corporate trainer and executive coach. I'm living my dream of traveling the globe speaking on topics I'm competely passionate about.

On every level, this book can and will change your life. I'm so grateful for the author's wisdom, I'll PERSONALLY offer a money-back guarantee for anyone who doesn't love this book!

There are so many wonderful "aha's!" in this enlightening book. These profound concepts, intricate stories and thoughtful exercises will change the way you look at life. Some were new to me and others were good reminders.

Here are a few of my favorites.

You can cultivate a Witness to help you objectively observe your life and break free of bad habits, replacing them with ones that serve your highest good.

Everyone acts in their own self interest. Understanding that at a deep level is liberating.

Surrender is a good thing. Once you give up the illusion of control and detach from the outcome, remarkable things transpire.

Srikumar Rao is a wise man with a big heart. He sees us at our best and supports us on our journey to succeed.

I don't understand some of the low reviews this book has received. I've been reading these type of books for 30 years and this one is at the absolute TOP of my list because it actually produced staggering results for me. It is a life changer. Indeed a lot of what is said is not new, but the way in which he puts these concepts together just resonates - with me, at least.

The chapter on gratitude is the single most powerful exercise anyone can do to change their life. I wouldn't have believed it if it did not actually happen to me. I wish I had a stronger way of saying it. It was scary in a disbelieving sort of way. If you are looking for something that will change your life, this is it. What happened to me is too long to relate in this review but you can have good things flooding into your life like a fire hose if you follow this exercise.

PS I would recommend the book over the audio. The author's voice sounds like Deepak Chopra and can distract from the message.

"Life is short. And uncertain. It is like a drop of water skittering around on a lotus leaf. You never know when it will drop off and disappear. So each day is too precious to waste. And each day that you are not radiantly alive and brimming with cheer is a day wasted"

Who wouldn't be interested in what this man has to say, right? You'd have to lack a pulse not to want - better, profoundly yearn for - the life affirming perspective and deep joy in being alive he describes.

But have you or I got the vision, guts and discipline to commit to what it's going to take? That's the central question this book poses on every glorious and uplifting page.

Like Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits", Rao proposes that meaningful change happens from the inside out: You'll recall Covey's first 3 habits are about "Personal Victory".

This book is more powerful because it doesn't deal with practices - "habits" - for cognitive behavioural change, like Covey. No, Rao challenges the fundamental fabric of our life experience: our very consciousness.

In one sound bite, the rallying cry of this book is: "live a conscious life".

I'm excited by this. As someone who has lived in a coma - mindlessly propelled by the "conveyor belt of life" - and has jumped off, this resonates very deeply with me.

But this isn't a quick fix. Rao invites you on a very tough spiritual journey that will last a life time.

Brutally simplified, he invites you to become conscious of your self-limiting, self-defeating models of the world, your judgmental critical dialogue, and to develop insight to shift these, partly using the meditative practice of mindfulness.

The outcome: "Gradually, you get to the point where you can control what you are consciously comfortable with letting into your mind. And that is how you start straightening out of your life"

But that's not the tough part. What comes next is far more challenging. What if you believed the Universe wasn't "a dumb, insentient mass" but "a conscious entity that is intimately intertwined with you and not separate from you. It wants to give you what you desire and you can influence it"

Wow! If that was your operating principle, just imagine how different would life be? How much more time and energy would you spend focusing on and manifesting what you want in life instead of worrying and complaining about what you don't want?

Most of the rest of book is dedicated to building the "Benevolent Universe" model. Rao coaches us on how to let go of guilt, blame, destructive habits and anxiety about what we can't control. This all uses up valuable energy and makes us feel powerless: far better to channel energy into constructive and resourceful practices that serve us.

Specifically he shows us how to use the "Law of Increase", the reality that "Whatever you are truly grateful for and appreciate will increase in your life" and how to manifest our deepest desires simply by being resolutely and single-mindedly focused on them with a deep conviction that they are already ours.

Freedom and happiness? We already have them: they're inside, not outside us.

Thinking we have to "acquire" something to be free or happy is misguided, according to Rao: "The talons of our addiction shred our minds and wreck repose... There is nothing you have to get in order to be happy"

Why go on this journey at all?

Because fundamental to our purpose is contribution: the unique gifts we're on the road to discovering and manifesting in the world will contribute to the greater good: literally make the world a better place.

"When you stop explicitly focusing on yourself, on what you want and don't have, and start focusing on how you can be of service to a larger community, then you set loose some very powerful forces"

The reward of accepting the challenge in this book is enlightenment: a deep understanding of your purpose in life and the insight to manifest it.

It will make a leader of you, if you let it.

A lot of the information in this book was not new to this reader. I have read a lot of it in many different books over the years. What is different here -- and very nice -- is that a lot of good information is presented in one book.

For someone starting out on their journey it saves a lot of time and hunting.

For someone looking to "put it all together", here it is.

The recommended reading list is nice and that list is broken down into sections.

I'm about as unspiritual as they come. I'm not religious, was a math/science engineer type, and pretty much pooh-pooh'd anything spiritual that came along. Fortunately, Prof. Rao's book starts from a non-spiritual place: the idea that we can choose how to interpret events, and some interpretations create a better life than others.

Srikumar isn't saying that "true" interpretations are better. In fact, he emphasizes that many beliefs aren't true, but can become self-fulfilling prophecies. If you believe the world is a cruel place, you'll build walls, distrust neighbors, and create a cruel world. If you believe the world is friendly, you'll welcome people and create harmonious environments. The reality is less important than our reactions.

Once he's established that it's our beliefs and mindsets that produce our world, he spends most of the book introducing ideas and approaches whose mindset will lead to a happier, more fulfilling life. The book culminates in an exercise of approaching the universe as benevolent and supportive. Adopting the beliefs Rao lays out--whether or not they're true--will, he claims, build a successful life.

I am a long way from adopting all of the book's beliefs and practices, but my progress so far has produced great results. I've stopped comparing myself to others and become more happy in my own life. I approach my relationships with more equanimity. And, as Srikumar claims, the universe seems to provide happy coincidences to help my life move along the way I want. I've finally become one of those people who always seems to find a parking space...

There are books that change your life, and if you are ready for them, they open unforeseen doors. Srikumar Rao has provided all of us with a gift far greater than keys to success...he's given us tools to tap inner resources, to sort through what we have been given in this world, and to move not only sucessfully, but proudly and happily through life. By transforming the way you view the world, this book allows you to also sculpt what the world has to give you in return. Although I did not take the course, by reading the book and completing the exercises, I am a more enriched person today. I stand firmly in saying that this book should be required reading for young and old alike, especially those entering a new field of work or endeavor. I have met 3 previous students of Rao's and am impressed with them all. Professor, you have my vote of confidence!

I took Professor Rao's course as a student and as an Assistant Teacher for the class. The professor has done a beautiful job in translating an experiential learning situation into book format. In doing so, he has actually delivered the content of the course, and MORE.

When taking the course, the presentation of the ideas/exercises were such that I could only talk obliquely about them to my family and friends. Now, with the publishing of Prof. Rao's book, one can have what feels like private sessions with him, and receive the same conceptual material for which I and other students paid thousands of dollars in tuition.

This book offers powerful tools for personal discovery. Tools, that in my experience, enable one to lead life on a much easier, vastly more enjoyable trajectory.

Sign me, very grateful!

I echo all the other reviewers' comments. This book is making a fundamental difference in my life. I wanted to share a very practical example of something that happened recently at work and how the book and Professor Rao's approach has helped me immensely.

One of my colleagues asked me to do a personnel feedback/review for him. I really fear these especially when the news is not great - when someone is struggling with the role. I don't want to hurt someone's feelings; I want to be the nice guy. I was tense when I sat down with this person. But I took a deep breath and remembered three exercises in the book that I had recently completed: "Mental Models," "Gratitude" and "Other-Centered Universe."

My mental model for these discussions is invariably dread -- dread because I'll feel bad after I deliver the news. But with a mental model like that, how could the discussions ever go well? What if I could try a different mental model...that this discussion is a great service, and by virtue of this discussion someone can find greater joy? And that I should be grateful to this person for having the courage and confidence in me to sit down with him. Finally, what if I could approach the discussion not from a "Me-Centered" universe -- what it would do to my psyche -- but rather, entirely from their universe...that this is a discussion so that they can find greater JOY at work and in life?

We had a phenomenal discussion. It was very open and honest. I asked how he was feeling. I asked what he felt he was doing well and what he was not. I shared some feedback from others. I shared my feelings. Words that would have created great anxiety within me as well as within the other person, words such as "struggling," "difficulty," "not great results" flowed effortlessly between us. The focus became what he did do great, exploring questions how he could do these great things in his current role, possibly by reframing his mental model of the job, or how he could pursue the great things in alternative roles. I wasn't there to answer the questions but rather to help facilitate the questions being asked. In fact, I didn't know the answers but offered to sit down and explore more, whenever and wherever he felt comfortable doing so...I was there to help.

This person said it was an incredibly insightful discussion. I came out of the discussion happy that the other person was closer to finding fulfillment. I also thought, "I can do these sorts of things!" The book's exercises were a tremendous help. Thank you, Professor Rao.