Art of Achievement: Mastering the 7 C's of Success in Business and Life [Hardcover]

Tom Morris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2002

Throughout the ages, plenty of people have written and spoken about success and excellence. But leave it to contemporary philosopher and popular business speaker Tom Morris to gather the best of it into a universal tool kit for achieving nearly any goal.From a clear CONCEPTION of what we want, to a stubborn CONSISTENCY in pursuing our vision, to a CAPACITY to enjoy the process, The Art of Achievement outlines a simple framework that will lead readers down a road of excellence. Peppered with quotes from great thinkers and successful people, such as Plato, Aristotle, Einstein, and Churchill, The Art of Achievement helps readers map out new paths to better health, greater efficiency, and deeper satisfaction. Tom Morris's previous business titles, If Aristotle Ran General Motors and True Success, have each sold 18,000 hardcovers and more than 50,000 paperbacks.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tom Morris has become one of the most active business speakers in America with clients that include General Motors, Merrill Lynch, IBM, the U.S. Air Force, MBNA Bank, and International Paper. He has published 12 books, including If Aristotle Ran General Motors, True Success, and Philosophy for Dummies. A former professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, he is now Chairman of the Morris Institute for Human Values in Wilmington, N.C.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0740722018
• ISBN-13: 978-0740722011
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #212,893 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #80 in Books > Business & Investing > Business Life > Etiquette

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wise, Very Wise --- Best Tom Morris Book So Far, June 9, 2002

By 

Greg Feirman (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Art of Achievement: Mastering the 7 C's of Success in Business and Life (Hardcover)

Tom Morris's "The Art of Achievement: Mastering the 7 Cs of Success in Business and Life" is a superb book. The book is very concise, about 195 pages including the Preface and Introduction, but it is absolutely brimming with insights into what it takes to achieve big goals and, more generally, fulfillment in life as a whole.

The book is structured around 7 conditions that Morris sees as helpful to the achievement of any goal one might set for himself. These 7 conditions are a Clear Conception, Confidence, Concentrated Effort, Consistency, Commitment, Character and the Capacity to Enjoy the process. Each part of the book fleshes out exactly what each of these conditions entails. Here are some of my favorite quotes. From the section on a Clear Conception, "Our choices are always broader than our past. The best adventures in life need to be chosen, not from a predetermined menu based on what we've done already, but rather out of our deepest sense of who we are and how we can contribute to the world" (pg 31). On Confidence, a quote from La Rochefoucauld, "There is a form of eminence that does not depend on fate; it is an air that sets us apart and seems to portend great things; it is the value that we unconsciously attach to ourselves; it is the quality that wins us the deference of others; more than birth, position, or ability, it gives us ascendance" (pg 41). On Character, "Aristotle stressed that human beings are always in a state of becoming. What we are becoming is determined largely by what we are doing day after day" (pg 152). And a few pages later, from Iris Murdoch, "But if we consider what the work of attention is like, how continously it goes on, and how imperceptibly it builds up structures of value round about us, we shall not be surprised that at crucial moments of choice most of the business of choosing is already past...... The moral life, on this view, is something that goes on continually...." (pg 154). On the Capacity to Enjoy the process, "Love is always connected to learning. All of us can look back on the times in our lives where we have had the most intense enjoyment and see that they were times of great learning - learning a new sport, a new job, learning about a new person, or learning new things about a person already clsoe to us. Love and learning go together" (pg 166).

This is a truly profound meditation on how the world works and what it takes to achieve true sucess in any endeavor. It's the kind of book I will come back to when I have questions about what I need to do to achieve a goal I have set for myself. ... Read this book!...

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best "how-to" book I've read on achievement, July 25, 2005

By 

Dittohd - See all my reviews

This review is from: Art of Achievement: Mastering the 7 C's of Success in Business and Life (Hardcover)

This is a really great book on the building blocks and requirements for attaining fulfilling achievement. I think one of the best parts of this book for me was the author's classification of achievement as an art. This softened the definition of achievement for me and liberated the concept from my perception as a cold, money-producing necessity to something beautiful, fulfilling, exciting and worthy of creation. Everyone is different, of course, and how we do things is always different from how others do things, even when we seemingly are doing the same thing. We all put our personalities into everything we do. That combined with our ability to choose how we use our unique, God-given abilities to create achievement art that will help both ourselves and others, makes fulfilling achievement very worth creating.

Tom Morris, according to the book, was a very popular philosophy professor at the University of Notre Dame. I don't doubt it. He breaks the art of achievement into seven c's and fully explains them all. He explains his thoughts, backs them up with further explanations, discusses them, tells of real-life examples, and further peppers the pages with quotes from past philosophers that support his assertions and conclusions. One thing he doesn't do is preach to you what he feels he knows is right and then expect you to automatically take his word for it as many persons do. I hate it when I run into that type of attitude. Tom Morris' tone is friendly and in addition to teaching, he convinces you throughout.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is stuck in a rut and feels that they're not achieving to their full potential, for whatever reason. He covers so much territory within each of his seven c's and in each of their supporting discussions that I think there is a lot in here for just about anyone in this predicament.

My only warning about this book: His politically correct college experience is no doubt responsible for the need he apparently felt to be conspicuously inclusive of both sexes in his examples throughout the book. He switches back and forth from the use of "he" and "him" to "she" and "her" in his examples and each time he did I found it very distracting from the discussion. Very annoying, but this is just a heads-up. Otherwise, the book is top notch and if you buy it, I'm betting you'll be glad you did.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Success Book At Last!, February 13, 2003

By 

Kerry Colling "K" (New York ,United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Art of Achievement: Mastering the 7 C's of Success in Business and Life (Hardcover)

I am sorely disappointed that many of the major bookstores are not carrying The Art of Achievement.

It should be proudly displayed on the New Book stand in all its glory!

I've read other "success" oriented books and I can honestly say that Tom Morris latest book carries a depth far surpassing the majority. Although the subtitle "Mastering the 7 Cs of Success in Business and Life" may sound typical and perhaps a bit trite the vast amount of wisdom, insight, spirit and inspiration within these pages brings one to a point of realization, comfort and hope other pop books on success simply cannot touch!

If you have not been able to win friends and influence people. If your cheese has been moved and eaten up. If your prayer of Jabez is left unanswered it's time you to learn how to master the 7 c's of success!

-Kerry