The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die [Paperback]

John B. Izzo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2008

What are the secrets to finding happiness? Why do some people live well and die happy? John Izzo asked thousands of people to identify the wisest person they knew. "The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die" shares what he learned from over 200 people aged 60-106 whom others said had found the meaning in life. From town barbers to Holocaust survivors, from aboriginal chiefs to CEO's, these people had over 18,000 years of life experience. With warmth and wit, this book shares the "Five Secrets" to a happy and purpose-filled life which Izzo distilled from listening to these stories. Dr. Izzo also shows the reader how to put these secrets into practice in our lives. This book will make you laugh, bring you to tears, and inspire you to discover what matters long before you die. Based on a highly acclaimed TV series appearing on public television, this book takes the reader on a heart-warming and profound journey to find lasting happiness.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From the pushy title on down, corporate speaker Izzo (president of The Izzo Group) offers lots of insistent but uninspiring advice for an audience presumably unfamiliar with the real value behind clichés like "be true to your self," "leave no regrets" and "live the moment." Based on interviews with the 235 wisest individuals Izzo could find (culled from some 15,000 nominees), advice boils down to commonsense sayings and platitudes ("every day is a gift"), illustrated by short anecdotes and personal insights. Those new to the self-help genre will find tried and true advice, but little to motivate a real life change.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Publisher

Praise for Five Secrets

"This book is rich with anecdotes and insights that broaden your perspective on life and deepen your commitment to live your very best."
--Brian Tracy, author of Maximum Achievement, Eat That Frog! and Flight Plan

"John Izzo is a masterful storyteller. He educates us by weaving a fascinating mosaic of stories that make his point. Let this book be your mentor!"
--Beverly Kaye, Founder and CEO, Career Systems International and co-author of Love It Don't Leave It: 26 Ways to Get What You Want at Work and Love `Em or Lose `Em: Getting Good People to Stay

"Instead of wishing at the end of life `If I only knew then what I know now' you can know it now! This book has incredible wisdom from people who have real perspective."
--Marshall Goldsmith, author of What Got You Here Won't Get You There

"John has written a book that takes the obvious and turns it into the essence. When you have finished reading The Five Secrets you will find yourself with a new point of view about the rest of your life. And you will love it!
--Joel Barker, futurist

"John Izzo has revealed key fundamental truths from our elders, which he has presented in a way that is absorbing and often moving. This is not just another simple meaning-of-life book; it is a carefully researched and edited exploration of a road map to fulfillment for an era that needs it more than ever. The author infuses personal meaning into each chapter, and we feel as though we are going on a personal journey with him. The journey is joyful, heartfelt, often tearful, moving, but always presented with meaning and purpose."
--Janet E. Lapp, PhD, psychologist, author, and host of the CBS series Keep Well

"Have you ever wanted to sit down with someone who is really wise and ask him or her some fundamental questions about life? How about sitting down with more than 200 wise people? That's what John Izzo did and he offers truths here that you can't afford to ignore. Prepare to be surprised, provoked, encouraged--and changed forever. You will want to keep this book as a constant companion. It is a gentle reminder that it is never too late to live the truths that lead to wisdom, grace, and deep happiness."
--Dr. Kent M. Keith, CEO, The Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, and author of Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments

"The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die is a magically engaging book: lyrical, poetic, and perceptive. Through deeply moving stories from wise elders, John Izzo masterfully unravels the mystery of what it means to live a full and meaningful life. This book is a joy to read, and it will be an even greater joy to live the profound yet simple lessons revealed in this remarkable book."
--Jim Kouzes, coauthor of The Leadership Challenge and A Leader's Legacy

"I was deeply moved as I savored the wisdom found in The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die. This book brings to light much of the lost wisdom of our elders, providing practical ways to live with greater meaning and focus. John Izzo, who courageously puts the word `die' in the title, offers us profound and simple wisdom for living, for getting to the heart of what it means to be more fully human."
--David Irvine, author of Becoming Real: Journey to Authenticity and The Authentic Leader

"The things we think we know are usually the things we most need to be helped to remember. This book prompts us to refocus on the principles on which we build the well-lived life."
--Max Wyman, author of The Defiant Imagination

"If you read only one book this year, please make it The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die. Dr. Izzo has done a monumental service for all of us in synthesizing fundamental keys to living a happy and meaningful life. This is extraordinary wisdom literature."
--Larry C. Spears, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow, The Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 178 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576754758
• ISBN-13: 978-1576754757
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #49 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Negotiating

More About the Author

John Izzo is one of North America's most prominent voices on finding more purpose in life and work. His website is http://www.drjohnizzo.com . John is a regular contributor to CSRWire.com .
John has devoted the past 25 years of his life and career to facilitating deeper conversations about values, work, life, leadership and success. He has worked with thousands of leaders, professionals and front-line colleagues to foster workplaces of excellence, purpose, learning and renewal. His clients have ranged from high tech to high touch, hotels to hospitals, and from government agencies to entrepreneurial start-ups. Drawing on his early work in ministry and thousands of programs on creating "Spirited Workplaces," Izzo challenges people to strive to live their values, connect with each other and to humbly balance achievement with fulfillment. Izzo is the author of several books, including the bestselling Awakening Corporate Soul. He has served on the faculties of The University of California -San Diego, and Kent State University.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the purpose is wisdom, January 9, 2008

By 

Heather Froeschl (Callaway, Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die (Paperback)

Looking to our elders for guidance is a time honored and wise practice that unfortunately is not played out often enough. John Izzo encourages us to go back to that tradition in his book "The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die." Seeking the secrets to happiness, it makes sense to look to those who have lived it.

John interviewed over 200 people, all over the age of 60 and some up into their hundreds, who had been identified by their own friends and family as "the one person they knew who had found happiness and meaning." These people were asked such questions as: "What has brought you the greatest sense of meaning and purpose in life?" and "What is the greatest fear at the end of life?" They were asked to finish the sentence: "I wish I had..." These elders came from all walks of life and acted many roles; some were authors, professors, or business owners, others were a nurse, psychologist, biologist, and a barber. Amazingly, or expectedly, their answers were quite similar. Therein are the five secrets.

The first, and only one I will divulge, is "Be True to Your Self." Of course this can mean different things to each person who reads the words, but author John Izzo guides readers to the purpose behind them. His guidance leads one to ask in this chapter, "Am I following my heart?" "Is my life focused on the things that really matter to me?" and "Am I being the person I want to be in this world?" Answering these questions will lead a person to be true to themselves. Izzo demonstrates the secret by sharing stories from his interviewees. They share by example, much as elders have done since the dawn of humanity. This brings the secret to life for us, and then Izzo gives us homework. He gives us questions to ask ourselves each day or week, that bring the secret home and to the front of the mind. Practice, practice, practice. And so on, with each of the five secrets.

This book is a gem. It is an obvious quest to go to our wise members of society and seek answers to life's questions, but many of us no longer do it. "The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die" does it for us, and hopefully will prompt us to do it ourselves with our own elders. The stories here are all about living wisely, living in the moment; some are funny, while others are poignant. All should be thought-provoking. The consistency of the lessons makes for an easy to understand and digest plan. Taking one secret at a time to work on may be best for some people, pausing in the consumption of the book to work on that particular goal. Other may devour the entire book in one sitting and go back to reflect more carefully as they consider each message. The end result is surely one that will be self fulfilling and inspired. While the title may cause one to stop for a second, for good reason and cause, the content and purpose is wisdom.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Leave with no regrets...", January 19, 2008

By 

D. Kanigan (CT, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die (Paperback)

John Izzo interviewed 200+ people over the age 60 who were described by many others as happy and wise people. Through in-depth interviews, he learns the five secrets of life:

1. Why do some people find meaning & die happy
2. Why I talked to the town barber (and 200 other people over 60) about life
3. The first secret: be true to your self
4. The second secret: leave no regrets
5. The third secret: become love
6. The fourth secret: live the moment
7. The fifth secret: give more than you take
8. When you know you have to go (putting secrets into practice)
9. Preparing to die well: happy people are not afraid to die
10.A final lesson: it's never too late to live the secrets
Epilogue: How this book changed me

The author writes in conversational tone and supported his secrets with colorful anecdotes and personal reflections. For example, in the second secret (leave no regrets) Izzo states that in "his experience from the last 30 years, validated in these interviews, death is not what we fear the most. When we have lived life fully and done what we hoped to do, we can accept death with grace. What we fear most is not having lived to the fullest extent possible, to come to the end of our life with our final words being `I wish I had.'...to leave no regrets we must live with courage, moving toward what we want rather than away from what we fear."

While the 5 secrets aren't a surprise to many, there are many powerful insights in this book that leave you thinking. And while it's one thing to know the secrets, it's an entirely different (and more difficult) matter to put them into action.

If you enjoyed this book, pick up John's Izzo other gem - Second Innocence.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Day to Die, April 22, 2008

By 

Sandy Carlson "SandyCarlson" (Connecticut, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die (Paperback)

What are the secrets to finding happiness and living wisely? This second line of the first chapter captures the purpose of Dr. John Izzo's new book The Five Serects You Must Discover Before You Die (2008 Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.). The book is an urgent plea to the reader to embrace life--in ever encounter, every experience, every emotion every single day.

Izzo proposes we do that by accepting that life is limited to an unknown amount of time for each of us but that within this limited time we have unlimited opportunities to choose to find meaning by living a purposeful life and thereby find happiness.

He interviewed several hundred older people--"wise elders"--based on the recommendations of persons who recognized them as sources of wisdom. In this way, Izzo turns to ordinary folks who have lived full lives for the wisdom necessary to do the same. If other great teachers of our time and previous times have said it before, so be it. Now we receive the wisdom from the local barber, the Holocaust survivor, the grandma on the porch rocker.....All of Izzo's sources are over 60 because, the author said, this is the age at which most people tend to reflect on life. They're done having and getting; they are looking back on all that they have done.

This diverse group offered insights that came down to these five points:

1. Be true to yourself by living with intention. Know your heart's desire and seek it.

2. Live with no regrets. Regrets, Izzo said, are most persons' biggest fear--not dying itself. So mend fences, make peace, and move your life into a place of peace. The best way to live without regret, Izzo says, is to take chances, pursue those dreams, and accept the failure that might be your way. Rather than be crushed by failure, learn from it.

3. Become love. Love is not an emotion but a choice, a way of being that involves seeing ourselves and others with kindness and compassion. That love creates the opportunities to follow your bliss, heal hurts in yourself and others, and to find peace despite challenges and hardships.

4. Live in the moment. Right here right. That's all.

5. Give more than you take. Izzo explores that wonderful idea of finding yourself and then losing yourself. Once you identify your heart's desire and live your life pursuing it, the chance of accumulating any regrets is reduced. Once you become love, kindness itself becomes part of your purpose, and each moment offers all the joy of a lifetime. This creates an abundance of resources in the forms of love, trust, hope, joy, kindness, compassion. Draw from this deep well and give it away. Leave the campsite better than you found it, as one wise elder put it.

And then, as the saying goes, you will wake each day knowing it is a good day to die.
Posted by SandyCarlson at 6:51 AM 0 comments