73 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
No Excuses - No Regrets, August 27, 2002
This review is from: How I Retired at 26! A Step-by-Step Guide to Accessing Your Freedom and Wealth at Any Age (Paperback)
Prepare to have your excuses for not being as successful as you want to be, totally taken away. In my opinion, this book is destined to become a classic! Asha Tyson did it. She went from a (to say the very least!) dysfunctional and often brutal upbringing, to homelessness, to enlightenment, to a life of joy . . . while still in her twenties!
This is not a "financial planning book" in the George Clason ("Richest Man In Babylon") sense of the word (although that is certainly very well worth reading as well, as the author mentions). Instead, it's more of a holistic, inside-out method of "curing" oneself first, and then allowing material wealth to manifest.
The recurring theme from the author is personal responsibility. She acknowledges that bad things do happen, others can cause you problems, and that life certainly is not fair (and she can personally attest to that), but she admonishes the reader not to let that stop them.
When the author speaks of "retirement" she's not necessarily talking about having to amass incredible sums of money, and she's definitely not talking about not working. She stresses the importance of having something to live and work for. She is simply talking about freedom; "freedom to design the lie you've always wanted as a gesture of gratitude for having a life at all." I love this quote on page 81: "I retired 'from' self-defeating thought forms that have long stopped working for many of us, and I retired 'to' the life of my dreams! . . . I retired by comprehensively pursuing happiness with my whole life . . . and it's just a bonus that it brings wealth."
I'm hesitant to offer specific pieces of advice from the author because, individually, you might be tempted to say, "Oh, I've heard that before." But, put together as part of her "inside-out" personal development system, it will make such a difference in your life that it's worth just buying into it and doing it.
She describes the following as the foundation of her message:
"By dumping emotional dead weight, unlearning self-defeating beliefs, and discovering your passion for life, you will position yourself for financial gain beyond what you hay have ever imagined. You 'can' live the life you have always wanted right now and always."
Just a few of her many gems:
"You never stop earning when you do what you love."
"Reinventing yourself is the core of your first investment."
"If your belief system has not molded the life you desire, how you think will need to change."
"You will need to decode your emotional DNA."
"It's your emotional DNA that determines our values, goals and beliefs. The question is, does your emotional coding help you make healthy choices that render favorable outcomes, or does it yield pain?"
"The average person cringes at the thought of hearing criticism, but it can be quite valuable if you stay focused on the big picture."
"To hold on to animosity is like you taking poison and hoping {the other person} will die."
On pages 110-112 she gives some advice on parenting that is probably the best I've ever read. It begins with the quote, "Someone once said, 'Children learn what they live.' It is my belief that 'children learn what YOU live'." And she provides some excellent examples that are profound!! I believe this example alone is worth the price of the book if you have children.
Again, personal responsibility is a key in this quote, dealing with a person who has borrowed money and has not yet paid it back: "The borrower should chase the lender until the debt is clear, not the other way around."
She even invents a word. To "de-excusilize" is to stop making excuses for why things don't work. It's to give up justifying and blaming. It means that you now are committed to finding reasons why you can make it happen and why you can deliver, as opposed to having excuses for why you can't.
Only at the end does the author go into any type of discussion of money-management and such. And for good reason; by the time you get to that part of the book, you've already changed your attitude about money and are already becoming rich on the inside. From there, manifesting material wealth will be easy.
My suggestion is to buy this book for anyone you care about; especially your children. It will touch the life of anyone who owns it, reads it, and listens to Ms. Tyson's advice.
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