4 out of 4 stars
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If Life Stinks, Get Your Head Out Of Your But’s: A No-Nonsense Guide to Happiness and Success by Mark L. Wdowiak is a self-help book that focuses on success and how that is different for everyone. The book is broken up into three different sections: Crawling, Walking, and Running. Each section must be understood before you can go to the next one. As I read the book, I learned what mindset I needed for each section. In Crawling, I accepted responsibility for myself. In Walking, I took control of my thinking. In Running, I acted.
One thing that I noticed from the sections is the use of the word “you” in describing all of them. You is a word Mark uses in justified abundance. In the first section, Mark uses it so much that he creates “New You.” A “New You” is a term he uses to describe “…a sum total of everything you have ever experienced up until this exact moment.” I like that he pointed this out because it helped me realize that I am an updated version of myself. Just like Mark’s amazing flow with sentence structure, I am forever evolving and connecting to things.
This leads to the second section, Walking, where the updated version of yourself starts to become aware of its own thoughts. This is extremely important! Mark, just as much as anybody else, knew that awareness was necessary for growth. However, Mark realized that this awareness wasn’t automatic. You have to work for it! I love how Mark brings up work and how no one wants to work. Work is something people complain about all the time. Even so, I believe that changing your thoughts is one of the hardest things to do. As Mark stated, “your emotions come from your feelings, and your feelings come from your thoughts.”
Once you learn to control your thoughts, the last section, Running, starts. In this section you act. It sounds simple, but Mark points out that a lot of people have trouble with it. What he points out is that You are not entitled to success. Success is something that is earned and it all stems from how much time and energy you put into it. This is just one of the many examples of Mark’s tough love advice. He was just honest and if you didn’t like it, you suck it up. Life is about dealing with things you don’t like. If you cannot handle tough love advice then do not read this book.
While I did enjoy the book, I did not agree with everything Mark said about life. A lot of the advice he gives is general and can be applied to your life in just about anyway possible. The advice that was less general was where I disagreed with the most. For example, in one part of the book he states that, “I believe that you were meant to find this information.” While this sounds nice I do not agree, because I do not believe in destiny. I believe that I made myself read this book by choice.
Overall, I would rate this 4 out of 4 stars. This isn’t my first self help book, nor will it be the last. The advice was not self-righteous, but humbling and thoughtful. There were only a few typos. It had just the right amount of tough love, compassion, and wisdom to get the rating it deserved. I was not bored and his blending of ideas and exquisite use of flow in sentences made this an easy read. Anyone in any age range could read this and look at success in a new view.
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If Life Stinks, Get Your Head Outta Your But's
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