Become Who You Were Born to Be: We All Have a Gift. . . . Have You Discovered Yours? [Hardcover]

Brian Souza (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2007

Do you ever feel burned out, beat up, or just plain bored, wondering, “Is this all there is?” Do you ever feel trapped in a stressful job that leaves you unhappy and unsatisfied? Do you ever question if you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing—if you’re fulfilling your life’s purpose? If so, you are not alone.

Like millions of Americans, Brian Souza found himself in this precarious position a few years back. Despite attending dozens of motivational seminars and devouring the best the self-help industry had to offer, Souza was left wanting more. The turning point came when he finally realized it wasn’t artificial motivation he was after; he was really searching for a legitimate reason to be motivated. Thousands of hours of research and countless interviews later, Souza finally uncovered the secrets he was looking for all along:

Just as musicians must make music, poets must write, and artists must paint, we all have a unique gift designed for a specific vocation that will bring both meaning and purpose to our lives. True joy and happiness will continue to elude us until we use that gift to become who we were born to be.

Become Who You Were Born to Be is a blueprint for discovering your unique gift and using it to realize your personal and professional potential. Souza’s program for achieving success in all areas of life reveals:

• Four steps to discovering your gift, uncovering your passion, and unlocking your purpose
• How to overcome fears and deal with change
• How to work passion into your profession
• Why a midlife crisis should be celebrated
• How to stop stressing and start living
• How to diagnose and fix flawed life patterns
• The untold secrets of top achievers

To illustrate his life-changing philosophy, Souza relates true stories of everyday people and world-famous celebrities—including Lance Armstrong, Amy Tan, Sylvester Stallone, Garth Brooks, and Oprah Winfrey—who became heroes by overcoming adversity and squeezing every ounce of opportunity from their gifts.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Americans are going through a crisis of identity these days, writes Souza, founder of Paragon Holdings LLC, which teaches personal and organizational success worldwide. Clinical depression rates are skyrocketing, he says. And while our living standards have improved in the past century, we have lost our sense of purpose. Souza has his finger on the discontentment epidemic facing many working professionals, since he used to be in the same boat—by age 27 he was a high-powered executive with a six-figure salary, but he finally realized he hated his job and wasn't satisfied with the external trappings of wealth. By finding his own sense of purpose in helping people discover theirs, he found his path. In each chapter, Souza draws lessons from the lives of successful people, some famous, who found their passion early, such as Lance Armstrong, Richard Branson and Oprah Winfrey. But it's the psychological astuteness with which he analyzes the fearful life patterns many Americans fall into that makes this book most valuable. In his view, so-called identity crises are natural and ongoing: we are supposed to change, try new experiences and evolve at every stage of our lives. "There are no shortcuts to success," Souza says, arguing for persistence, hard work and the ability to deal with failure. Not in the least preachy, Souza pushes readers to commit to a goal and follow through. Happiness, he says, is the goal, "but it never comes directly. It comes only as a by-product of living in truth and committing ourselves with everything we've got to discovering our gift and sharing it with the world." Readers looking for inspiration and moral support in following their dreams will find it here. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"...Brian Souza has cracked the code with BECOME WHO YOU WERE BORN TO BE." -- REV. THEODORE M. HESBURGH, President Emeritus, University of Notre Dame

"...I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't be helped by applying its wisdom to their private life or business." -- DR. ROBERT H. SCHULLER, Founding Pastor, Crystal Cathedral Ministries

"...It is not only a blueprint for succeeding at work; it's a blueprint for succeeding at life." -- DR. STEPHEN R. COVEY, Author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The 8th Habit

"BECOME WHO YOU WERE BORN TO BE by Brian Souza is a beautiful book... Don't miss it!" -- DR. KEN BLANCHARD, Author of The One-Minute Manager and The Secret

"OUTSTANDING! If there is one book every man, woman, and child should read (this) is definitely it!" -- JACKIE JOYNER KERSEE, Olympic Gold Medalist

"This is a surprisingly well done book that has helped me tremendously, and could help you too." -- Jack Covert, CEO of 800-CEO-READ --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Crown Archetype (April 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307346625
• ISBN-13: 978-0307346629
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 1.1 x 9.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #502,992 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not good. Read why, April 10, 2007

By 

Gaetan Lion - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Become Who You Were Born to Be: We All Have a Gift. . . . Have You Discovered Yours? (Hardcover)

There are hundreds of Self-Help books out there. Some are useful. This is not one of them. The book is structured around five supposedly sequential parts: Part I Discover it [your gift], Part II Develop it, etc... But, there is little substance to it. The book is nearly 300 pages long, but each page tells the same thing: find out what you want to do, and do it. It shares tens of biographical examples that have the same pattern: An individual overcame the odds of a miserable childhood to become most successful in life through determination. The profiled characters include Lance Armstrong, Abraham Lincoln, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mother Theresa, and Mahatma Gandhi. That's inspirational but not informational.

I judge a self-help book by its usefulness. Does the author convey practical insights beyond the self-evident? Is the advice original? (Or, has it been stated many times before). Has this book changed my perspective, attitude, and knowledge? The response is no.

Let me recommend other books instead. Unlike Souza who keeps you guessing, Marcus Buckingham allows you to readily identify your talents in "Now Discover Your Strength." While Souza keeps you dreaming, Stephen Covey tells you concretely how to give your life purpose in "The Seven Habits of Effective People."

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lame Title...GREAT Book!, May 17, 2005

By 

T. Parker (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Become Who You Were Born to Be: We All Have a Gift... Have You Discovered Yours? (Hardcover)

Okay, give the one dissenter below some credit for his book bash. I can kind of see his point, especially with the title being what it is. The title is a little lofty, but hey, the author can't share his knowledge unless he sells books. And his knowledge - the stuff after the cheesy cover - is really, really good. David Ogilvy once said, "Great ideas tend to be simple ideas." And this book is not rocket science. It's a lot of insightful common sense, gleaned from many many interviews with a lot of really really successful people, then laid out for the reader in a digestible, useful way. Like the best self-help books (I think Rich Dad, Poor Dad is a good example), Brian simply provides you with a different and yet totally logical way to approach something that we're all so close to - in this case, what we do for a living. He helps you step back, clear your mind a bit, examine what it is you're doing, what you happen to enjoy doing, what you happen to be good at, and then approach it with a fresh perspective. The examples he gives and the people who illustrate his ideas are dead-on. Hell, listening to Lance Armstrong talk about all the sports he SUCKED at (and how badly he sucked at them) before he got into cycling, is reason enough to re-evaluate what you do for a living. This book is good, sound, fundamental advice that a person can actually read and then ACT ON. Granted, the world still needs ditch diggers and cornea-removers, but there's more than enough room for most of us to figure out what our ideal role in life is, and then do it. Give it to a college kid. Give it to a high school kid. Hell, give it to your uncle who's 45 and has been schlepping HP toner cartridges for 20 years. Buy it, read it, then give it away.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Motivation at its highest level, April 15, 2005

By 

Jason (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Become Who You Were Born to Be: We All Have a Gift... Have You Discovered Yours? (Hardcover)

Unlike any book in its class, Become Who You Where Born To Be does something all the other books fail to do....it gives you a step-by-step process that guides you to finding your personal passion. The inspirational stories throughout the book reinforce the notion you can do anything you put your mind to. Sometimes our society forgets just how fortunate we are. After reading this book, you too may unlock a passion you never knew existed.