Actually, this is a two-books-in-one volume: an insightful explanation of how to increase personal as well as professional development, and, an uncommonly useful book on marketing. Rating either, I would give it Four Stars. Ranking the combination, I rate it higher. Abraham promises to provide "21 Ways You Can Out-Think, Out-Perform, and Out-Earn the Competition." He delivers on that promise. If fully understood and properly applied, the 21 "ways" (actually strategies) will help almost everyone to become a better person as well as to increase the value of what they produce; perhaps indirectly but significantly, their business associates as well as family members can also be among the beneficiaries.
Abraham organizes his material within 21 chapters. Correctly, he first addresses the need for a plan ("Where You're Headed -- an Overview of Your Journey") and then the need for the proper attitude to ensure the success of that plan ("You Can Become Unbeatable"). By the final chapter, he has prepared his reader to understand what he calls a "unique definition of success." Specifically, "something I call optimum personal, business, and career strategy. What's this mean? It means that you must refuse to get less out of an effort, less out of an opportunity, less out of a day, less out of a dollar, less out of a relationship, than the maximum that activity or action has the capacity to give. It means that you don't do things just to be doing them. That you insist on playing life to the fullest. But playing it based on your sense of value."...You [first] have to figure out who you are and what it is you want."
Obviously, Abraham cannot figure out who you are but the 21 "ways" he shares can help you to make that determination. He cannot tell you what it is you want but the same 21 "ways" can help you to make that determination, also. Who will derive the greatest benefit from this book? One candidate would be the recent graduate for whom this would be an especially valuable holiday gift. Also, your less-experienced business associates who seem to lack a sense of purpose and/or direction in their lives, jobs, and careers. Finally, just about anyone else for whom most of what Abraham suggests seems "obvious" but would benefit from the human equivalent of a vehicle's 60,000-mile check-up. Abraham knows a lot. He has street smarts. Also passion, conviction, and a remarkable amount of empathy.
Years ago, Woody Allen once suggested that 80% of success is "showing up." For many people, Abraham suggests the other 20%: Knowing who you are and then being that person...knowing what you want and then pursuing it with energy and integrity. His use of the "journey" metaphor is apt. All successful journeys begin with the right "map" and resources, applied with precision and determination. If you are both willing and eager to begin your own "journey", I highly recommend Abraham as a companion.