Customer Reviews

The Resiliency Advantage: Master Change, Thrive Under Pressure, and Bounce Back from Setbacks

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Self-rate yourself on a scale from 1 (meaning little agreement) to 5 (meaning strongly agree) on the following ten items:

(1) In a crisis or chaotic situation, I calm myself and focus on taking useful actions.
(2) I'm usually optimistic, seeing difficulties as temporary and believe things will eventually turn out well.
(3) I can tolerate high levels of uncertainty and ambiguity.
(4) I'm good at bouncing back from difficulties and quickly adapt to new developments.
(5) I'm self-confident and have a healthy concept of who I am.
(6) I prefer to work without a written job description since I'm more effective when I'm free to do what I think is best in each situation.
(7) I trust my intuition and "read" people well.
(8) I'm a good listener and have good empathy skills.
(9) I've been made stronger and better by difficult experiences.
(10) I've converted misfortune into good luck and even found benefits in bad experiences.

A low score of (under 25) means your resiliency skills are weak and you would greatly benefit from this amazing, easy-to-read, psychobabble-free book by Dr. Al Siebert, a clinical psychologist and Director of "The Resiliency Center". (`Resiliency' means (i) coping well with ongoing negative change (ii) sustaining good health and energy under constant pressure (iii) bouncing back from setbacks and adversities (iv) changing to a new way of living and working when an old way no longer works (v) and doing all this without acting in harmful ways.)
A middle score of (25 to 45) means your resiliency skills are adequate but probably can be greatly enhanced by using this book.
A high score of (over 45) means you have good resiliency skills and this book will validate many things you are doing right.

This book in a nutshell presents five resiliency "levels" or skills (level four is divided into 4 sub-levels while level 5 is divided into 3 sub-levels) so, in effect, the reader is presented with ten essential resiliency skills that Siebert has distilled from "the emerging new science of resiliency psychology." This book, besides other important things, shows you how to:

(1) Sustain strong, healthy energy in non-stop pressure and change
(2) Bounce back quickly from setbacks
(3) Gain strength from adversities
(4) Convert misfortune into good fortune
(5) Overcome tendencies to feel like a victim, and stay detached from victim reactions of others
(6) Overcome the three main resiliency barriers.

Who is this book written for? Siebert explains: "The resiliency guidelines in this book focus mainly on resiliency in the workplace, but they apply broadly to all aspects of life." (Actually, I think Siebert is being too restrictive in saying that these principles "focus mainly on resiliency in the workplace." Personally, I think these principles are essential to know so as to effectively play the game of life.)

What will this book NOT tell you? It "will not tell you what to do or how to act or think...Resilient people are those who decide that somehow, some way, they will do the very best they can to survive, cope, and make things turn out well." This book helps you develop your own unique way of being resilient by being both self-reliant and socially responsible.

As a physically disabled person, my personal favorite chapter was entitled "Mastering Extreme Resiliency Challenges." Included here are true stories from 9/11 survivors. I feel Siebert outdoes himself in this penultimate chapter.

Finally, this book has some key features. Important definitions, exercises, and other important and essential information are isolated from the main narrative as inserts so as to highlight key ideas. Each chapter is broken up into sections with anecdotes, examples, and true stories instead of having one long narrative. At the end of each chapter are insightful "Resiliency Development Activities" that help you utilize and think about the information from each chapter.

In conclusion, this is truly a helpful and unique book. Discover for yourself why this book was named the winner of the 2006 Independent Publisher Book Awards in the "Self Help" category at BookExpo America (the largest book publishing event in the United States) and why it was endorsed by the past president of the American Psychological Association!!

(first published 2005; preface; 13 chapters; main narrative 200 pages; notes; index; acknowledgements; about the author)

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Dr. Al Siebert has been a pioneer in helping people move through difficult life circumstances to master adversity and grow stronger from their challenges. In alignment with the great Abraham Maslow, he has taken the road less traveled in psychology by studying what makes people strong rather than focusing on their weaknesses.

I was blessed to find Dr. Siebert's earlier book, "The Survivor Personality" at a time when I felt very victimized by the circumstances of my life. This was one of the most inspiring books I read. It helped open my eyes to perceive my challenges in a new way, so that I could move forward in my life journey emerging from my problems with greater well-being.

Dr. Siebert's new book, "The Resiliency Advantage," contains down to earth, practical information that can help anyone overcome setbacks and sudden changes that a person experiences as threatening to their well-being. Without the usual jargon of "psychobabble" or "feel-good" superficial advice that I find impractical or unsustainable, this book will help you see your world through a new lens of resilience, one of the primary concepts in emotional intelligence.

Dr. Siebert uses wonderful stories to illustrate these ideas and guaranteed to open anyone's heart.

My favorite parts of the book are the practical exercises that encourage viewing our challenges from a place of strength and as a path of growth. Investing in this book is worth gold if you would like to move your life out of a suvival mode and into one of thriving and getting better every day. I highly reccommend this book to everyone seeking to make sense of any challenge, both personal and the challenges we face in our world today.

This book is all that it says it is, a veritable how-to in handling today's pressure and challenges, and doing it in a way that enhances your life while enabling you to dissolve much of the stress that tends to cripple. It is a book for the "right now" of life, specific suggestions for specific situations, lots of stories, ideas, even "resiliency development activites"at the close of each chapter. What peaked my attention, though, were the chapters from nine on, covering things like "Integrating Your Paradoxical Abilities," "Allowing Everything to Work Well - The Synergy Talent," "Strengthening Your Talent for Serendipity," "Mastering Extreme Resiliency Challenges," and "Our Transformational Breakthrough." Here Dr. Siebert is addressing, among others, those people who have had a near-death experience or a similar type of impactual transformation of consciousness. And what he has to offer is most incredible, real help for those who may need it or who can use a friendly nudge in the process of integrating such experiences. Recommended reading. --From Dr PMH Atwater [...]

After a challenging year in which I have dealt with injury, financial devastation, and diabolical bureaucracy, it was great to be reminded, once again, that the reason I have thrived is largely because I exhibit 100% of the personality traits of a 'survivor'! The exercises included in this book are brilliant and I have recommended the book to many people, including my rehabilitation physician - who has thoroughly enjoyed my approach to everything but is still trying to figure me out! Should be required reading for all high school students and for anyone who is serious about tapping into real human potential. Thanks Al !

Dr. Al Siebert has done an excellent job in capturing the true essence of motivating the reader to embrace their unquie ability to learn how to be resilient. Resiliency Advantage is a great step by step program in becoming resilient. There are exercises offered throughout the book that are simple, practical, and easy to apply.

I appreciated the flow of the material and Seibert's ability to engage, validate, encourage, and motivate the reader-- all in one book.

The Resiliency Advantage is a terrific guide in becoming our best, mastering change, thriving under pressure, and bouncing back from setbacks.

Dr. Al Siebert is an expert observer of the behaviors, attitudes and thoughts that comprise the resilient personality. He distills them into a self-awareness that leads to both inner and outer strengths. No other professional has approached the area of resiliency with such in-depth knowledge. The book is a pleasure to read with its many stories of resilient individuals.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Resiliency is vital to individuals and organizations. There is no better resiliency author than Dr. Al Siebert. In The Resiliency Advantage he makes powerful concepts seem like good, practical sense and he shows how to become stronger with useful guidelines and inspiring stories.

The State of Oregon was in crisis mode when we made Siebert's resiliency information available to state workers. As a result, we became confident that we could handle whatever challenges we had to face. It is great to see the wider world now able to hear the message that we can handle life's challenges with resiliency. Everyone -- wherever they live, whatever they do, whatever their struggles -- can grow stronger by learning from The Resiliency Advantage.

This book has been reviewed in detail enough. I can only add my own personal experience. Seibert wrote a simple concise book that pulls no punches and provides an effective plan to help change one's mindset from that of a depressed anxious victim to that of a person who dosen't let things control how they feel without putting up a heck of a fight first.

As an employee assistance consultant, I am pleased to utilize the work of Dr. Siebert in assisting employees to be more resilient in their roles at work. The workplace is more complex these days with multi demands and fewer resources, requiring people to have the ability to be smarter about their own self care. Dr. Siebert's "The Resiliency Advantage" walks you through the many ways to handle these demands in a practical, good common-sense manner. People respond to this information and make it work for themselves. Truly a book worth recommending to anyone looking for inner strength.

This book is very useful for everyone. After all, each of us meets with many challenges everyday.