Customer Reviews

9 Things You Simply Must Do

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Cloud does a good job on how to have a successful life. First, you must find what you would like to do as a career. Second, deal with problems by fixing it or eliminating it. Third, create a well thought out plan step by step all the way to reaching successs. Also think about options and see if they will hurt you or help you in the future. Fourth, be proactive, be a person of action. Fifth, be dilligent and industrious by doing something and make progress, no matter how small the progress is. Sixth, Be sure to fix what you hate in a positive way. Seventh, do not seek justice for yourself, seek rather to give mercy and forgive. Eighth, study and grow in humility. Ninth, realize that you cannot please everyone.

I'm a big fan of Dr. Cloud's books, but I don't think this one is as good as his others. I don't have a moral problem with Christians observing principles that bring success, as long as those principles are biblical; Cloud is soundly grounded in scripture, even if his applications are occasionally a bit unconventional. His observations of the 9 things you must do to succeed are not entirely without interest, but I found myself skimming after about half way through. This book seems more like a quickly-written secular "how to succeed in life" book than like the profound guides to biblical personal growth I've come to expect from this author.

Easy-to-read content with clear, pertinent examples of each of the '9 things' we must do to experience personal and professional success. Very common sense stuff. The presentation is like concentrated orange juice: it's weighty content that most of us have heard about in a watered down manner, or we KNOW it's true, but it's in the BACK of our minds, not in the forefront. Cloud brings these significant issues to the FOREFRONT of our minds, and he makes them memorable so that they will be imprinted on our minds, if we choose to adopt them. I have a friend who can't quickly get through the book b/c the truth is hard to embrace, sometimes. This material can be VERY CHALLENGING to adopt and apply in our lives, but, I'm living a much more peaceful and fulfilling life by just applying what I've learned so far, and I'm only about 80% through the book.... It's only when we challenge ourselves that true growth takes place. Growth never comes easily.

Dr. Henry Cloud is a clinical psychologist, radio program host, business coach, successful businessman, and author of several best selling books on self-help and spiritual matters. In this book, Nine Things you Must Simply Do To Succeed in Love and Life, Cloud draws upon his experience working with highly successful people to identify nine principles that contribute to the successes these individuals experience. Cloud refers to successful people with the term "déjà vu" because these nine characteristics show up in one way or another and brings him a since of "I've seen this before somewhere."
The nine characteristics that Dr. Cloud has identified as essential in creating a life of success are summed up as follows:

1. Dig it up: Pay attention to the hidden things of the heart and deal with them appropriately. This could refer to treasures which need to be cared for, such as desires, talents, and goals, or it could refer to trash which are things that should be dealt with rather than burying.
2. Pull the tooth: Get rid of those things that bring you down and stump your growth. This could be manifested as habits, attitudes, relationships, or behaviors that do not serve you or your life purpose. Déjà vu people discard these as quickly as possible.
3. Play the movie: Make it a habit to consider the future as a result of all your actions. Be aware of possible consequences to everything you do or do not do.
4. Do something: Déjà vu people are action oriented rather than waiting for something to happen or to sit about and complain. They take full responsibility for their lives.
5. Act like an ant: Always be moving toward your goal even if it is one grain of sand at a time. Do not look at goals as the whole, but as do-able steps.
6. Hate well: Hate is a natural part of being a human, however, déjà vu people know how to objectify their hate and use it to heal and correct rather than to destroy and break down.
7. Don't play fair: Do not live a life of tit for tat. Do not repay evil for evil. Instead, live by the golden rule and seek to bring about the higher order rather than giving back what is deserved.
8. Be humble: Strive to see feedback as a gift and do not take it offensively. Never feel that you are better than you are or better than anyone else. Déjà vu people are teachable.
9. Upset the right people: Do not be confined to making decisions based on how it will affect people around you. Be concerned about their feelings but do not allow it to add weight to your decision to do what is best.
Nine Things You Must Simply Do to be Successful in Love and Life is a "how to" manual on living a victorious life. Dr. Cloud encourages healthy doses of love and wisdom to guide our interactions with others as well as with ourselves.

It is a great book, easy to read (even for ESL me). Concept is simple and the principles are surprisingly true even though it didn't seem that way when you just read the "principle" at par on the chapter outlines. I highly recommend this book. It also has christian values in it.

I have read a lot of motivational books over the years and expected this one to be full of the same type of advice, warmed-over. I was really surprised by how good the book is. I even gave a copy as a Christmas gift to a friend who has a degree in counseling. And in my Toastmasters club, I gave a speech about this book, and one listener recommended it to her book club, and now they're reading it. The book is written in a way that grabs your attention. It's full of ideas on how to gain control of your life and how to handle relationships in a better way.

These seem so simple when you here them but when you apply them they are so profound. This is a must read for anyone who wants to learn how successful people live life. The one thing I like is he doesn't define success as money but a life well lived.

This is religious in nature.

You really have to read this book to find out the 9 things that leadership consultant and psychologist Henry Cloud thinks are important to being successful in life - in all dimensions, not just financially, which is how we usually interpret the word "success." Cloud explores the characteristics, pokes at them, supports them in the psalms and gospels, links them with each other, and most helpfully, makes them personally applicable for readers. One annoying quibble for me was his labeling them "déjà vu" characteristics, meaning they became familiar to him because he saw them in many successful, positive people. But déjà vu is subjective; what's familiar to me because I've seen it before is not déjà vu to you. That said, his 9 things are sound guides and well worth your reflection. Based on Cloud's sometimes quirky descriptors, the 9 things are: 1) Real life comes from deep within, not from without. The work you want to do and the creations you want to bring to life are within you; dig in and find them. Be internally driven, not externally pulled. 2) The negative in your life, big and small - get rid of it. 3) Look at the potential consequences of what you are going to do, script and "play the movie," he calls it, and base your decisions on what the future consequences may be. 4) Do something, take responsibility, life responsibility. Make the center of control within you. Wherever possible, in things big and small, try to make the situation better. 5) Look at ants, carrying one grain of sand at a time. Take small steps. Judge yourself not according to your goals but according to the steps you take to achieve the goal. 6) Hate well; good hating protects us, the good values we cherish, and the good in the world just as our immune system protects against poisons. Hate in a constructive way that solves problems instead of creating them. 7) Give more than you get. Don't "play fair." Don't keep account books; demanding fee for service, good for good, ill for ill will destroy relationships. 8) Be humble. Accept failure when it happens. Humility is not needing to be more than you are. 9) Upset the right people. You can't please all of the people all of the time. / Because reading a list doesn't do this analysis justice, read the book.

The title is quite off-putting (what do you mean I MUST?), but the content is wonderful. Dr. Cloud's style is relational, drawing you in immediately. The best thing of all is actually using the nine principles and seeing an immediate difference! I recommend this title to nearly everyone!

Henry Cloud provided tools in this book that can be applied to every facet of life. He attacks things from a spiritual level and the tools can be used immediately. I highly, highly recomment this book to every one.