Customer Reviews

The Identity Code: The 8 Essential Questions for Finding Your Purpose and Place in the World

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In this elegantly concise book, the author details how identity is "the source of your uniqueness and potential. Exercise and express it and it will grow ever deeper and more powerful in its impact on your life and the lives of others."

Psychologist Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) noted that self actualization is the intrinsic growth of what is already in people, "or more accurately, of what the organism is."

Using his experience in corporate brand consulting, Larry Ackerman details key aspects of how our identity can be explored and made more true and authentic, leading to not only greater self actualization, but our ability to `do right' by other people. Your identity, he notes "is the living lens through which you can safely engage the world, make informed decisions, and thereby fashion a life that you, and others, can trust."

One of the most central questions or aspects is that of "gift" - our purpose or passion. He notes that many people may find it hard to accept that everyone can find and express a purpose: "The idea that each of us is born with a particular gift that informs what we might do with our lives scares people. The thought that you may actually have something akin to a purpose can be unnerving."

Our identity, he declares, is "fixed, transcending time and place, while its manifestations are constantly changing." With helpful exercises that accompany the clear explanations of the eight "essential questions," we can better understand how unique we are, and make a more powerful and positive impact with our lives.

This is a book that, however you feel about "self help" literature, will get you thinking. Ackerman's process for distancing yourself to get a fresh perspective on your life is fascenating. His concept of identity is insightful-- as are the rules that he sets out. Ackerman not only outlines crucial questions for evaluating your potential, he includes, at the end of each chapter, a set of practical exercises for accomplishing the task. Whether you embark on the journey Ackerman recommends or simply find this book a source of introspection, it is a volume well worth reading.

This is not just a book to read. DO THE EXERCISES! I have never been so powerfully drawn to do the work in any other book. THEY ARE UNIQUE. The cascade of ah-ha!s lead to definitive, doable, exciting, bliss-following action.

I am not some light-weight seeker but a young, successful retiree who's experimented and dabbled for years in solutions to existential issues. At core though, I am a guy who wants to DO something with all his heart and draw upon my real strengths. You know, "follow my bliss." This book helped me finally pin down exactly what my bliss is.

I would further recommend getting the book either new or 'clean' used. You will want to make notes and underline in your copy.

If you're ready for some honest, patient introspection that results in a plan, this is the book for you.

To me discovering my Identity was invaluable. It gave me an entirely new perspective on the challenges I have faced throughout my life and the reason why I found myself in the same types of situations again and again.

To discover yourself is to be at peace with yourself. You deeply understand who you are and what you truly want. No longer tied to the struggle of trying to make yourself be someone you are not, you are free.

I happened to read "The Identity Code" at a point in my life and career where I had been on a search for a while. As a young professional, I was unsure what to do and where to go. Mr. Ackerman's book helped me to see my situation in a new light, as well as figuring out my core strengths and interests. It eventually gave me a new and focused direction in my professional life.

To me there is a definite before and after reading "The Identity Code". And I would strongly recommend this book to anyone - young or old - who has any desire to grow personally, as well as professionally. To those of you who are skeptical about self development books guaranteeing you with empty promises; do not let this marketable title fool you. Larry Ackerman does a great job in delivering some inspirational insights and tools in a universal form, which empowers the reader to take a walk down the road of self-discovery.

The Identity Code is a book dedicated to dispelling a common myth. This myth is the concept that each of us can become anything we want to be. It is based on a belief in personal freedom and a cultural philosophy that we have unlimited choices and thereby can go in any direction we desire.

Author Larry Ackerman believes this myth is the cause for much frustration and unhappiness in the world. Instead, he believes that "the secret to uncovering who you are, and your purpose, is built into you in the form of a code - the identity code." You discover your identity code through a process of identity mapping and this helps you to plan out your life and purpose. You will then understand what kind of work is right for you, how to build more effective relationships and which hobbies and personal interests will have the greatest meaning. The identity code is wired into each of us and is similar to our biological genetic code. It can provide us a map to show us how we are supposed to live in order to reach maximum fulfillment.

To help the reader crack the code Ackerman systematically presents eight questions and as these questions are answered the reader's identity becomes clearer. Each of these questions are related to a specific law of identity. One can then begin to take a journey, one question at a time, to explore their identity first on the inside, then to the outside and finally into the world.

The Identity Code begins with an opening chapter on the purpose of the book and background of discovering the Laws of Identity and the identity code. The next eight sections each discuss one of the eight essential questions to guide the reader toward self-discovery. Each question begins with a story, explores a promise and pathway related to the question and concludes with a series of personal identity exercises. The final chapter offers a framework that introduces the five stages of the arc of identity.

The Identity Code is an interesting and fascinating read. If you enjoy self-reflection and deep personal analysis you will find much to appreciate in this book. However, the reflection can be difficult to grasp and to get the most benefit from this book will require creating a journal and many hours of focus. The concepts presented would make an excellent all day workshop, but reading them in a book can be a challenge.

This book is a gift to all "free thinkers" who want more clarity in their own identity. It provides you with the knowledge to appreciate everything this world has to offer and allows you to find your true purpose in it. This has become my "bible". I carry it every where I go and promote it whenever the situation presents itself. Don't miss this one!!!!

If you want to: Get your bearings; Discover your true identity (which may surprise you); Discover your message to the world; Live out your message day by day; Find out who your real friends are; Change yourself and your world a day at a time: THEN READ THIS BOOK. You will find no book or self-help program better than this!

What does it mean to "know" oneself? The outside world is vast enough, but at least we have some tools with which to grasp it. In the even more mysterious cosmos of our own being, how do we go about seeing ourselves? And what is the meaning of what we are about to discover?

In Larry Ackerman's first book, Identity is Destiny, he explained his discovery of the Laws of Identity, the apparently universal natural laws that describe the inherent uniqueness and value that is present in every human life. In discovering those Laws, Ackerman offered a vision of the potential in every human being for self-knowledge, fitting into the world, and being able to contribute and receive richly. To understand the Laws of Identity is to understand how to create a fulfilling life.

The discovery of one's own identity is not easy work. In this new book, The Identity Code, Ackerman offers a system of self-discovery that can help anyone reach the truth of who they are and what they are driven to contribute to the world. As the author of the first letter here on Amazon about this book suggests, once you have discovered your identity, you will know what to do next with your life, and what not to do. That means that discovering your identity is what you will want to do first in your life, as soon as your are able, because everything else will then fall into place.

In his kind acknowledgement within the book, Ackerman cites me as a "fiery champion for identity." This is absolutely true. As a consultant who helps leaders understand and develop their intellectual property, I am guided by Ackerman's work in everything I do, and my clients are richer and wiser for it.

I am going against the current here with this review, for I was disappointed with the book.

Mind you there is interesting stuff in it too, for example one of the first myths author Larry Ackermann exposes is that "you cannot be whatever you want."

I never quite bought into the "Laws of Identity". The first one being "An Individual's ability to live depends first upon defining one's self as separate from all others." Sorry, that is not my experience. I tried to keep an open mind, but a lot just did not ring true for me.

There are references to God throughout the book (like "...God-given talents..." on the bottom of page 64.) What about those people who do not believe in a God, especially one of the Judeo-Christian tradition? I found the style a bit dogmatic as well.

The book design is not conducive to reading - perhaps filler to extend the page count? There are gray boxed quotes that seem to be scattered about randomly; they never really tied into whatever I was reading at the moment. Easy enough to ignore though.

I was going to finish it, but dropped it after a couple of chapters, I have read similar subjects and perhaps that is why it failed to hold my interest. I suspect it would be good for someone who is just beginning to examine their lives.