4 out of 4 stars
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Ignite Your Magnificence by Z Newell is an encouraging reminder that it is imperative to take regular inventory of our thoughts, emotions, and words to manifest what we desire. His goal is to help readers integrate their hearts with their minds to produce a life that is filled with passion and purpose.
This book begins with the author recounting a harrowing brush with death that landed him in the hospital unable to physically move or verbally respond. He was aware of all that was going on around him without the ability to interact or react. This occurrence led the way to a discovery that he has termed the Magnificent Quotient (MQ). During his long recovery process, he began to look at his existence from a different angle.
Using various personal anecdotes and citing works written by others, like Eckhart Tolle for example, he guides his audience on a journey to bring balance both internally and externally. Early on, he states that he prefers not to use the word 'self-help' to describe the process that he is suggesting you undertake. Instead, he would rather come from the perspective that all of us have extraordinary gifts already lying in wait on the inside of us. We don't need fixing, but we need to be able to tap into what is buried under false beliefs and wrong programming we might have received during our formative years. Once these faulty ideas are dealt with, and we have gently faced them instead of hiding from them, this practice teaches us how to acknowledge thoughts and make a conscious decision to either let them fester and wound us more or to discard them for better ways of thinking.
I liked the exercises that were given throughout the book to help dismantle erroneous thought processes. This isn't just a book to breeze through, but it requires thoughtful reflection as well as active participation to get to the root of what is causing a struggle in certain areas in your life. One example that the author gave was when he came home with an A-minus on a paper, and his mom asked him why he didn't get an A. I could relate to this experience because this happened almost word for word to me as well. The author was left with the impression that all of his hard work meant nothing and that he had to be a perfectionist. One suggestion he gives for uprooting this type of mental stronghold is to use a sense of humor to disarm its power over you. I thought that was a great idea because a person typically cannot have two opposite emotions at one time, and by laughing at something that isn't true, eventually, you will believe that it isn't.
Another aspect I appreciated was that certain sentences were set apart in bold lettering so that an idea could sink in. In addition, there were diagrams along the way depicting his explanations, so you get a good grasp on what is presented. This all contributes to a reader-friendly book.
Even with all of its wonderful components, I did find myself tiring of the phrase 'an aha moment.' Part of this may be that I have read a lot of other books in this genre, and this buzzword can be overused, in my opinion. For me, I would have liked to see a revelation of ideas described with other words because it got repetitive and lost its meaning for me.
I found only a few minor errors in the entire book mostly with missing commas. This in no way detracted from the quality of the writing, and this material seems to have been properly edited.
I am awarding this a 4 out of 4 stars with an accompanying message. For some who have had a lot of experience reading books about ridding oneself of past negative thoughts and emotions, this may be repetitive. However, there can be something good in reviewing what was once learned to see if it is being put into practice. Sometimes, we can learn from another person in a way we may not have been able to from someone else. I enjoyed this author's personal story, and he did put some new twists on what some might say are 'old ideas.' For those who do not like non-fiction books about improving oneself, then this is one you might want to skip.
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Ignite Your Magnificence
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