Official Review: Disconnect Your Oughta-Pilot

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Winter
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Official Review: Disconnect Your Oughta-Pilot

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[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Disconnect Your Oughta-Pilot" by DeBorah Beatty.]
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Disconnect Your Oughta-Pilot is a self-help book designed to show people how to follow their dreams and let go of the thoughts and feelings holding them back. Beatty starts by relating some of the experiences that lead her to make changes in her own life, and follow her dreams. She goes on to talk about learning to listen to your "original song." As part of this discussion, she uses the metaphor of a scratched record, where the melody is your song, and the scratches are the noises making it difficult to hear it. In addition to drawing from personal experience, Beatty uses business concepts and applies them to other parts of life. She entices the reader to identify and manage the thoughts that are holding them back, and to establish an overall healthy mindset. She also helps them identify their dreams and come up with a plan for pursuing them. The book is written for anyone wanting to take a new direction in life, with an occasional slant toward those with entrepreneurial ambitions.

There are some very useful concepts in the book that help incite people to think about their relationships with themselves and their interactions with others in a different way. The way this book pinpoints these and puts them in the context of a set of strategies designed to help people re-evaluate and take control their lives could be very valuable for someone looking and willing to make changes.

The many exercises proposed in the book are one of its greatest strengths. They offer the reader concrete ways to address the questions that must be answered in order to live a "created life," as the author puts it. They are tools designed to help people gain self-confidence, and build a strategy for obtaining their goals. They help people ask themselves the questions they need to ask, encourage positive thinking, and get organized so that they can be productive in grabbing their new lives by the horns.

It's also touching to hear about Beatty's personal experiences, and inspirational to see how she overcame them. Her writing is very personal. More than once, she offers to be available to her readers if they need someone to reach out to. The book is written in a conversational style. It is sprinkled with bits of humor, breaking the rhythm and making it pleasant to read.

On a more critical note, there were times I felt the focus of the book lacked clarity. The business focus is sometimes overpowering, and it becomes difficult to see how to apply the concepts for those not looking to become entrepreneurs. The writing, though fine overall, is sometimes a bit hard to follow. The book could use another read-through by a proofreader; there are a few scattered mistakes, but they are not too distracting. Sometimes, also, it felt that the author was pushing her workshops. It's certainly good to know that they are available for those who may want to participate in them, but the point was forced a bit too much. Still, the book stands alone perfectly fine.

I give this book 3 out of 4 stars. I really liked the hands on aspect of it, offered by the exercises. It's nice to have a book that gives you concrete ways to tackle these kinds of questions and their answers, instead of remaining theoretical. Overall, I recommend this book, which I think it has real potential to help people who are willing and ready to make changes in their lives, but need help finding the direction and focus they need to make them happen.

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