Customer Reviews

Making a Life, Making a Living®: Reclaiming Your Purpose and Passion in Business and in Life

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

First of all, I would like to compliment the writers of the 32 or so reviews I read of this book before I wrote mine. It was very interesting to read such a wide variety of mostly thoughtful reviews, mostly positive and a few negative. Honestly, I found the negative reviews more akin to some of my own thoughts, simply because I cannot agree with the "everything works out if you just have a positive attitude" slant of this book. I know of people who have refused to sell their ideals to the system, have tried to "follow their bliss," and have not succeeded, and I attribute this as much to the dog-eat-dog mentality of the business world as to their "negativity."

If you are a "mover and a shaker" who wants to find a meaningful way to channel your talents and energies, then I would highly recommend this book to you as inspiration. As other reviewers stated, the book does not delineate specific paths for finding meaning in your work. The author clearly assumes that the reader either has his/her own ideas on what work would be rewarding, and wrote the book to inspire the reader to "go for it" through many fine examples of both men and women who in some cases endured a lot of ups and downs to create the work environment they could love, and to their credit, an equitable work place for their employees. The stories in the book of people who sacrificed profit for employee benefits are very heartening, as are the stories of

people who sacrificed income for "spiritual" satisfaction in their work. And for those who do want help in finding such a path, the author has a web site and organization that might be useful, though it does appear that his service is limited to business leaders, not ordinary workers like most of us!

As others have written, I found myself very put off by the constant mention of what I will call the "H" word, Harvard. The author overuses it, along with the mention of other big name schools, as if he cannot give up the superiority of those institutions and those who attend them. If he had moderated his repetition of cases related to "big-name" schools, along with the glee over the "success" of the people depicted, I would have found the book much more likeable.

To write a book such as this an author would clearly have to question some of what constitutes "success" in the world, yet Mr. Albion neither questions nor seems to have a problem with some of the ridiculous excesses of capitalism, i.e., the compulsion to be "successful," along with the manic busy-ness of so many people, which somehow automatically equates to self-importance and self-worth. Over and over again the people depicted in the book are workaholics who probably have no time to question any of what I consider to be (at least partially) some of the fallacious underpinings of capitalism and busy-ness. However, to each is own, I get worth from questioning, and others derive it from being busy all the time.

I agree with the reviewers who found the quotes by famous, successful people, which are offset in bold on practically every page of the book, to be "too much" and distracting, yet what I found expedient was to ignore them as much as possible the first time I read the book, and then while skimming the book a second time concentrate on them. I found this quite rewarding and I even made a list of many pithy quotes I liked, and I appreciate the research the author did to compile such a useful list. Indeed these often inspiring quotes are as if a book within a book, and best of all, almost all of the people quoted themselves went against the tide to create their own meaning and "success" in life.

I found this book to be very condescending in the way that it was written. I listened to the audio cassettes and stopped listening after the first cassette because I felt like I was being talked down to because I had not given up everything in life to go live in a eskimo community or in Africa figthing AIDS in some tribe that lives in the Nigeria.

I completely agree that the path to true happiness is not merely achieving success through becoming rich and famous, but I found it very interesting the examples that he chose for his success stories. For example, in his story of Judy and her business the "White Dog", he portrayed her as being so happy and having achieved such great success through her activism with regards to social issues, but just passed over the fact that she had two unsuccessful marriages and could keep her personal relationships successful.

I feel that the sense of the book is that you have to be involved in these major earth saving causes to find true happiness and I don't agree with that. I believe that you can find true happiness within the walls of your own home just as easily. I also believe that through small and simple things like being kind to others and volunteering in your community that great things are brought about.

I am glad the the author was able to come to some conclusions about how to find happiness in his own life but I felt that the book was very preachy in its approach.

If this book touched others' lives for the better, I think that the author was successful, but it didn't touch mine. In fact, it got on my nerves so much that I had to quit listening to it and felt the desire to write a review to let others know of the condescending airs that it portrays.

Dr. Mark Albion has written a "life-changing" book. That term, though generally inappropriate, is more than appropriate here. He provides anyone who is not ecstatic with their work (job, career) or their life the wisdom to make the changes they desire and live a life of joy, contribution, and significance. "Dr. Mark" does this through a combination of his own wisdom (and he definitely qualifies, having achieved a bounty of success at a very young age, realizing he was still not living his desired meaningful life, and then actually "doing" what he teaches in the book) and the wisdom of a cast of "life-successes" you will relate to and, some of them, even love.

As great as the book is, and as compelling as the individual stories and lessons are, the final chapter is a classic ending. It's actually a surprise twist (I won't ruin it by telling you what it is). Although a couple of hints were given early in the chapter, when it finally hit me, I had to go back to the beginning of the chapter just so that I could re-read it with full knowledge. I believe the story will make you a bit "misty-eyed," and make you think about and re-assess some of the more important relationships in your life.

One other nice surprise - this one regarding the general nature of the book - was in what was not included; I was a bit concerned that this book would be just a bit "anti free-enterprise." I'm a big believer that free-enterprise (capitalism) is, by it's very nature, the most charitable economic system there is. Would this book try to disprove that? Not at all. Dr. Mark and his wisdom-filled friends merely point out that if what you are doing stirs your passion, allows you to make a positive difference in the lives of others, and makes you feel good about yourself, then you really can have it all. You find yourself "Making A Life, Making A Living!"

I bought this book based on it's title. Unfortunately, it fails to meet the expectations. I'm sorry I paid for it in hardback.

What I liked about this book. Lots of interesting an inspiring quotes. So many infact, that this book might be improved by removing the remaining content, and turning this into a quote a day calendar. It's too much of a good thing, and often the quotes are included for no apparent reason.

To be fair, the stories are interesting, but the writing is not compelling. I could not identify with the author or the people who chose to write about, because they all seemed so priveledged.

Furthermore, although the author is supposedly trying to illustrate the ethical and humanistic evolution of the people he describes, he validates their experiences with the same values system. Money, status, prestige. He never transcends this.

Despite all this, there's something essential in this book, that makes me want to read it again, make some notes, and then give the book away. There is a certain noble spirit of possibility.

If I were the editor of this book, I would ask the author to remove over half the quotes, since less is more. I would also suggest that he reduce the number of stories, since by the end, the way he tells the stories is formula. In fact, I think that the strongest part of the book is "Judy Wick's Ministry," and perhaps this book could have used her as a single example.

I would suggest two other books, to people attracted to this book by the title. One is Zen and the art of making a living and the other is Think and Grow Rich

...The author's introduction to the whole book was a long-winded story about his own coming of age wherein he describes how his mother's bout with cancer prompted him to quit his job as a Harvard professor, give up the self-centered pursuit of "fame, power, and money" and adopt a life of "service." While his mother is evidently a real heroine, Albion himself seems to be getting a lot of mileage out of HER tragedy and triumph. It is the worst kind of narcissism to distort her story into his story.

And narcissism is at the heart of this entire book, so deeply rooted in this author's psyche that it distorts everything he says about himself and overshadows the worthy people he profiles.

He said he was a professor for 20 years (and not just a professor, but a "wunderkind" at "Harvard") and that he left Harvard in 1988. The truth is that the 20 years includes his years as an undergraduate and graduate student, which means he was a professor for no more than 12 years. Moreover, if he really left this world of prestige behind, then why does he continue to hawk himself as a wunderkind Harvard professor? Obviously, his ego cannot let it go, even after 14 years!

He said he gave up "fame, power, and money" for a life of "service" (whatever that means). Yet he brags about being a millionaire entrepreneur before his big "crisis". So did he give up his millions like Gandhi would have done? No. Gee, must be tough to "serve" others for ten years or so when you've got a couple million in the bank. And when the money starts to run out, you just write a book about how great you are and up your consulting fees.

Yes, he seems to have come full-circle in that his profile boasts that he "commands $6,000 a day" for his consulting to "Fortune 500" corporations. I've read hundreds of profiles of consultants and authors who earn that much and more as management gurus, yet none has ever bragged about the fees in public. Sounds like he hasn't changed all that much.

He claims to have co-founded Students for Responsible Business. But that organization claims to have been founded by hundreds of (you guessed it) students. Not this guy. He was probably just one of those self-proclaimed leaders preaching to the students to "do what I say, not what I do."

He says that BusinessWeek proclaimed him the "savior of B-school souls" in recognition of this "service" to the world and his many prior acknowledgments (you remember, Reagan, Theresa, world leaders). In fact, the article in question had a caption under Albion's photo that read: "The Self-Proclaimed Savior of B-School Souls." Now that's a very different meaning, obviously sarcastic. And it's also remarkably telling, as it seems the professional skeptics at BusinessWeek saw through this guy's bull the first time they met him.

Then there's the newsletter, which Albion claims is read my "over a million executives in 87 countries". Really? That's an awfully high number. I'm not even convinced there are a million "executives" who read English in this world, let alone those who actually read his newsletter. Then there's the professional reviewer who said the newsletter has "50,000 readers", a number he probably got from Albion. So it's not all "executives" and it's really only 5% of the number Albion uses in his profile.

By now, I'm wondering if his book really was a New York Times Bestseller. I searched on the NYT archives for the title and author for any mention in the Books section of the paper and came up with nothing. I also pulled up a dozen or so best-seller lists from the year this book was published and saw no mention of it. It's not conclusive, but my doubts are justified by all the other exagerations.

I could go on, but it's really just more of the same depressing evidence of a collosal ego-maniac proclaiming himself the great savior of the soul of business, all the while clinging in a most pathetic way to any indicator of his self-worth, no matter how old, how gauche, or how fabricated it might be.

You want some REAL career advice? Tell the TRUTH! If you can pull that off, consistently, over many years, in the face of charlatans like Albion, you'll be the REAL success story.

I was a subscriber on Albion's e-mail list some years ago. I bought this book expecting more depth than what the list had. I was looking for a book that would really show how people make hard choices and focus their lives in alternative paths.

I was disappointed and actually could not even finish the book.

It lacked depth. Albion could have probed its subjects, could have tried to question them. Instead, he chose to almost worships them.

Life is full of difficult choices. I personally have looked for books that open my eyes to new ways of looking at things, for in that I may find "my truth". This book tries to sell us "one truth" almost as a one-size-fits-all solution. I don't buy that.

For a book of this type, with life-stories examples, I suggest Po Bronson's "What should I do with my life". I think is more authentic and more dettached in its analyses.

Socrates taught that "The unexamined life is not worth living." Mark Albion's fabulous book, Making a Life, Making a Living, brings to heart the message that the unlived life may not be worth examining. This book is an inspirational and instructive tool that inspires the reader to create a life according to the reader's values and dreams. This book empowers the reader to both "do good" and "do well" -- to make a difference in the world and earn a living at the same time. If you want to have a more balanced life consistent with your inner voice, you have to read this book."

Dr. Mark gives new meaning to the word status. The people whose lives he writes about, in his fun to read book, wear their "success" in their hearts, not on their backs. With quotes from those as diverse as Mother Teresa and Paula Poundstone,this inspirational book is actually a "page turner".I admit to skipping over some of the quotations if they got in the way of my finding out "what happened next". Dr. Mark sounds like someone with whom it would be fun to have dinner.More chatty than preachy.

If you are like Dr. Albion (a talented Harvard Business School professor -- well educated, rich, connected), then this book offers you a formula for dealing with mid-life crises. If you're common folk, you will have to stretch to pick up the nuggets from this book. Plusses: some wonderful insights and quotes in this book. Minuses: inconsistent.

Mark Albion's book provides very useful, down-to-earth stories on how people can simultaneously follow their inner compass and accomplish good deeds, and live comfortably financially. Nothing was guaranteed for those who finally broke through and reached their goals. They only had their vision and sense of values to guide them, and of course high levels of commitment and tenaciousness. Albion is really telling the story in today's terms that has been common to all successful people, but he tells it compellingly, and in vivid terms that modern, busy people can relate to. It's a must read.