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Handbook to a Happier Life : A Simple Guide to Creating the Life You've Always Wanted
 
 
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Handbook to a Happier Life : A Simple Guide to Creating the Life You've Always Wanted [Paperback]

Jim Donovan (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)


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Paperback, January 1998 --  

Book Description

January 1998
A simple guide to creating the life you've always wanted, this powerful new self-help book contains practical information, and simple exercises to help you create the life of your dreams. The message is that this is your life. Live it to the fullest!


Editorial Reviews

Review

"Handbook To A Happier Life is great! It is brief, easy to read, practical and filled with useful exercises for making positive changes. This little book should be a part of everyone's self-help library." (Jack Canfield, Co-author, Chicken Soup for the Soul)

"..love your book.."(Jacqueline Miller, Co-author, Heart at Work)

"I could tell you that you should buy this book because it will organize and prioritize your life. Or, I could assure you it would help your business run more smoothly and you would be more successful, or, that you will rarely find so much common sense in such a small space. These are all true, but perhaps the basic reason you should read this book is, it will make you feel good." (Home Business Journal, Jan 98)

"You've captured what we all seek! Congratulations! I'm sharing Happier Life with my friends." (Ty Boyd, Author, Visions)

"I've read many self-help/self-improvement books but your Handbook To A Happier Life is simply the best. I can't wait to give a copy to my wife and children, as well as our Lady Remington Fashion Advisors and Managers worldwide." (John Kiple, President, Lady Remington)

"How often do you hear really good ideas time after time and fail to act on them? Then, that same idea comes to you one more time, and that time you act on it, and you wonder what took you so long. What was it about Donovan's life planning book that enabled me to do what I've failed at many other times? Perhaps, it's the read, think, and write format. Doing the exercises was easy after reading and thinking about the ideas. Thoughtful exercises come every few pages and ask you to write about what you want out of life. They are all about you and where you want to go." (Barbara Garro, Writer, Business Talk)

"Jim Donovan has taken all the complicated psycho-mumble about potential and created a simple, fun and complete handbook with exercises, goals and action plans, insights and understanding that will bring the happiness we each seek into our lives, right now! No one who is interested in discovering their perfection and how to realize it will want to miss this mini masterpiece." (Leading Edge Review)

"I have read and re-read your wonderful book of wisdom, seeing things differently each time. You've creatively woven the 26 letters of the alphabet together to produce a living document to guide one's life and I, for one, have greatly benefited from you thoughts and concepts." (Bonnie Ross-Parker, The Peoples Network)

"A delight! First rate, proven concepts, supported with your personal experiences and presented in bite-sized chunks that literally anyone can use." (Emmet Robinson, Author, How to Prosper in Business) -- Reviews

Just to set the record straight, the author informs us in the Introduction that, This is not a self improvement book. You are already perfect, right where you are, doing just what you are doing. You can, however, grow and develop further. " Whew, what a relief! We receive thousands of messages each day that let us know that we are not enough. The effect that has on even the most confident among us is cumulative and leads us in directions we would rather not go. -- Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher

Author Jim Donovan shares the ideas and concepts he used to pull himself up from the lowest point in his life to become a successful author and motivational speaker. Donovan "walked the walk" before he wrote this book and is living proof that the concepts work if you simply apply them. Simple, fun and easy to read, giving you ideas that have worked to help thousands of others turn their lives around.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 85 pages
  • Publisher: Bovan Publishing Group (January 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0965053407
  • ISBN-13: 978-0965053402
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,339,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"My Passion is to Help You Create the Life You Were Born to Live"

Jim Donovan is known as one of the most inspiring people in the personal development industry. Called "The original feel good guy," due to his ability to bring out the best in people, he openly shares his own personal struggles and challenges.

Jim delivers a message of hope and possibility to everyone he comes in contact with. Facing his own "demons" and overcoming impossible odds, he is able to see the potential in others even when they themselves cannot and his absolute refusal to accept limits, either in himself or others enables him to bring out the best in those who he encounters.

Several of Jim's books have been proclaimed self-help classics and have inspired people of all ages and from all walks of life. His seminars have motivated audiences from single parents trying to get off welfare to company managers and business owners who want to achieve greater results.

Beyond simple inspiration and motivation, Jim provides people with workable strategies that enable them to take charge of their own destiny and reach their full potential.

For almost two decades he has positively impacted the lives of more than a million people worldwide and continues to do so today.

Jim's driving principle is that "Within you is the power to change your life" and that we are, in fact, capable of creating the life we've always wanted.

If you want to read the whole, unvarnished story, read on . . .

Many years ago, after working for two major television networks, I started my own business. I was cool. I had the fancy cars, my own company, glamorous girlfriends and all the trappings of so-called "success."

The problem was I also had a lot of very unproductive habits and an out of control lifestyle. These habits combined with my success became "my ego run wild" and led me to spend 10 years on a downward spiral.

Being raised in New York City, I decided to move to Boston and, after a few years, moved to California, looking for a better life. While there, I lived in 11 apartments in four years, and finally wound-up back in New York City where, sinking as low as I could stand - I was living in what was one of the toughest areas in New York City - I finally reached out for help. I had hit my bottom. I surrendered the care of my life to a Higher Power, who I choose to call God.

During this time I had endured every imaginable indignation yet never saw myself as being responsible for creating them. At one point, I lived in a car. I slept in Battery Park, something I do not reccommend, and SRO's (single room occupancys) in Manhattan and the Bronx. These are places where you live in a small room and share a bathroom with several strangers. Quite interesting.

I believe it was the hand of God that pulled me from what would have surely been the end of my life and started me in an entirely new direction, one that would take me to heights I had never even dreamed of.

A little at a time my life got better. I went from collecting welfare and food stamps to earning a decent income and then, once again, started my own business. This time with a much better perspective on things.

For me to learn what really mattered in life, I had to first lose everything. Only then would I give up my denial and open my mind to a higher order of living.

During this time of rebuilding my life, I became a student of personal development and self-help, reading hundreds of books and listening to audios and, later on, attending seminars.

After doing this for several years, and seeing how, as a result, my life kept getting better and better, I started writing as a way to share with others some of what I was learning. My simple newsletter "Jim's Jems" grew and, over time, became the basis of my first book Handbook to a Happier Life.

I had found my purpose and my life's mission.

I continued writing and giving seminars to a vast variety of groups, delivering my simple message that,
"Within you is the power to change your life."

Today I have written several books which have been published in more than 20 countries and have created several personal development audio programs. I am a certified business coach and help people learn how to create quantum growth in their business by harnessing the powers of the law of attraction and other universal laws. I am privileged to speak to groups of people from every walk of life, sharing my message of hope and possibility.

Whether speaking for corporations, associations or non-profit agencies, I am passionate about helping people create the life that they were born to live.

I've delivered seminars and workshops for small businesses, chambers of commerce, hospital administrators, nurses, women-owned businesses, trade associations, school faculty, government employees, high school and college students, network marketing companies, and others.

Something I'm proud of is that, for over ten years, I have delivered my Yes You Can seminar to inmates at correctional centers and youth centers, in an effort to help those who are ready for change.

To say that I am blessed is a huge understatement. Today my life has meaning and purpose and I live what I can only call a "magical life."

What's important about all of this is, I know deep inside, that anyone can have a better life.

All it takes is a belief, a vision, and an action plan, and the "faith of mustard seed."

I am available to speak to business groups, associations, and government agencies. My books are available wherever books are sold and a complimentary subscription to my "Jim's Jems" newsletter, published since 1991, is available, along with a free gift, at www.JimDonovan.com


 

Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars One Very Happy Selection, February 1, 2001
By 
Michael Braunberger (Glendale, Arizona USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Handbook to a Happier Life : A Simple Guide to Creating the Life You've Always Wanted (Paperback)
In the course of many years, I have read many self-help books and attended many seminars. While all good, nothing has given me the sustained "bounce" that Donovan's book has.

Why? While nearly all similar such materials contain like truisms, this book has managed to get to the heart of the matter in a very interesting, logical, articulate, and effective way. One of the features I especially enjoy is that it is a "bite-sized" handbook--one easy to digest and use as a valuable reference later. Not too short with quippy one-liners and not so long so that one gets lost or tires before getting to the pivotal points.

I ordered several books on the topic and so far this is the absolute best. I can honestly say that some of the insights have helped make the last few weeks among the happiest of my life. May you also have abiding happiness in your life. God bless.

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Get Happy Now!, November 28, 2000
By 
Artist Barbara Garro (Barbara Garro at http://www.ElectricEnvisions.com in Saratoga Springs, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Handbook to a Happier Life : A Simple Guide to Creating the Life You've Always Wanted (Paperback)
This is a reader-friendly goal-setting and achieving book that motivates you to have the happy life you deserve. The book puts your life in a spotlight. What do you want? What stops you from getting it?

Then, and only then, does Donovan give you the ideas to break through your walls of resistance, inside and outside.

Along the way, you gain some valuable personal emotional intelligence to keep your psyche in balance.

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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Personal Development 101, November 17, 2005
Handbook to a Happier Life is Personal Development 101. For those who haven't already steeped themselves in self-help books and courses, Donovan offers an easy entry to the idea that you can indeed create your own happiness by following some simple steps - 62 to be exact. "Developing a Positive Attitude," "Willingness," and "Energy Pickup" are among the bite-sized personal growth nuggets Donovan offers to simply change our lives for the better.

Each of the 62 nuggets is a 2-3 page chapter of personal stories (his and others) along with his thoughts about the topic. By answering the questions he poses, we can take each concept to a deeper level. The wisdom he shares with us is timeless and his questions are often provocative. For example, he writes, "I've been amazed at how often I have seen the effectiveness of ...[having consistency of purpose]. Why, for instance, do people age differently? What keeps some people going strong, while others seem to have given up on life...? I am convinced the difference lies in having a purpose. We need a reason to get out of bed in the morning. We need something outside ourselves to keep us going."

Although any of the 62 nuggets could potentially be life changing if applied, reading them all in one serving could be overwhelming. My suggestion for getting the most out of this book is to take just a few minutes each morning to read a chapter and then apply what you've read throughout the normal course of that day. In a mere two months, there's a good chance you'd live up to the promise of this book -- a happier life!
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How many times have you said, "All I want is to be happy"? Read the first page
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