Business Book Summaries

Emotions matter.

We cannot stop having emotions any more than we can stop having thoughts. The challenge is learning to stimulate helpful emotions in those with whom we negotiate – an in ourselves.

You negotiate every day, whether about where to go for dinner, how much to pay for a secondhand bicycle, or when to terminate an employee. And you have emotions all the time. These may be positive emotions like joy or contentment, or negative emotions like anger, frustration and guilt.

Beyond Reason offers straightforward, powerful advice for dealing with emotions in your toughest negotiations, whether with a difficult colleague or your angry spouse. You will discover five “core concerns” that lie at the heart of most emotional challenges. And more important, you will learn how to address these concerns to improve your relationships and get the results you want. The advice builds on previous work of the Harvard Negotiation Project, the group that brought you the groundbreaking Getting to Yes. World-renowned negotiator Roger Fisher teams with psychologist Daniel Shapiro, an expert on the emotional dimension of negotiation, to bring you this indispensable new classic.

BestSummaries.com is a book summary service that provides summaries of top self-help, motivational and inspirational books where you can learn–in minutes– what it takes to live life and live it well. BestSummaries sends out one book summary every week in PDF, PDA, audio and/or print formats.For more information, please go to http://www.bestsum.com

Find the Power to Never Feel Powerless Again
By Guy Finley

The Big Idea
Open your eyes to the wise and gentle presence of a bright new power that already lives within you… enter its timeless kingdom where fear, doubt, and despair cannot tread.

The Essential Laws of Fearless Living is a step-by-step manual for all who aspire to realize their ultimate potential as a human being. In its seven chapters of forty concise essays, Guy Finley explores deeply personal and meaningful ideas, revealing the secrets of the universe itself; but he does so in a way that makes the journey fascinating, compelling, and comforting at the same time.

A great hope fills the heart that the untold mystery of human existence has not only been revealed, but solved.

Why You Need This Book
This valuable, step-by-step book brilliantly presents the most important key to the breakthrough life. This book will bring you multiple ways to awaken your potential with what you are today.

readers are given specific insights and practical exercises that empower them to make real and lasting changes in their lives. Loneliness, stress, anger, and fear are replaced by contentment, ease, compassion, and freedom that never fade away.

Welcome the Light that Makes Life Bright

Let Go and Grow Beyond the Limitation of Illusions
There is no brighter gift, no greater potential given to us human beings, than the presence of a timeless Light within us whose power makes all things possible. Its celestial character knows we have not been created to live as the captives of any fearful condition, let alone those we unconsciously create for ourselves.

Before we can hope to let go of all that is not our own – with all of the painful relationships attending these mistaken conclusions – we must be able to see them as much, beginning with this revelation: No fearful sense of limitation or inadequacy belongs to our True Self. We must begin the necessary work of welcoming the Light that leads to letting go; our soul task is to release ourselves from an unconscious relationship with a false self whose imagined conclusions – about how to find lasting peace – are the secret source of conflict on this planet.

Then, liberated by the Light of understanding, we will enter and know –  as our own – a brand new world in which happiness and wholeness are one and the same.

Special Key Lessons in Review
The main reason to hold our chin up whenever some negative thought tries to drag us down is that whichever direction we choose in that moment is the one we will follow. To flee the fight, or be the Light, that is the question!

Knowledge without Spirit is like finding yourself on a cold night with all the wood in the world and not a flame with which to light it.

If you will do what you are doing in the moment, you cannot undo yourself.

One thing that makes negative states so difficult to drop is the illusion they create within us that no choice exists other than to cave in to their punishing presence. But, in truth, it is not we who are without choice in such moments: it is the negative state that has no choice but to disappear once we remember that no darkness is greater than the Light.

Build the Foundation of a Fearless Life

Be Your True Self and Be Fearless
The following three insights are designed to help us look at our old, familiar fearful reactions in a whole new way. But taken altogether, these key ideas tell the story of a whole new kind of self-understanding powerful enough to penetrate fear’s protective shell – dispelling both the feared and the fearful at once. The Light that remains is freedom.

Self-awakening, and the new order of freedom that attends it, begins within seeing through what is not real, just as freedom from the terror of a nightmare begins with discovering you’ve been asleep, having a bad dream.

Start today, this very moment, to cut yourself loose from any fear that promises that freedom from its troubled presence will be found somewhere outside of you. Stop looking for an answer to what pains you; don’t try to resolve the presence of a fear with the same mind that creates it.

Special Key Lessons in Review
Fear is the bitter fruit that grows out of this unchallenged belief: Unless we struggle to satisfy our own desires, we shall never know fulfilment.

Fear and anger – as is true of all negative states – are “undercover agents.” Their “soul” task, in any moment of conflict with life, is to rush in and cover up any possible impression that would otherwise reveal that we don’t possess the “powers” to which we pretend.

Either we live in the freedom that we know is real – choosing to embody it in the moment, regardless of the cost – or we wave a flag called “liberty tomorrow” and suffer the indignity of serving what has already betrayed us.

Break Through the Illusion of Limitation

Here are two lists that not only will make these life-healing ideas more personal for you, but that will help you to make a higher choice when it comes to what you really want from life. It would be valuable to study and then compare the lists to each other. You are often nervous and anxious because life may not cooperate with your plans.

You are willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to get what you want, and this may include integrity.

You are unable to rest quietly when you need to.

Now carefully consider what happens when you want what life wants:

You are never disappointed with what happens.

You are always in the right place at the right time.

You are quietly confident no matter what the circumstances.

You are out of the reach of anger and anxiety.

You are awake and sensitive to your surroundings.

You are free of ever feeling as though you’ve missed out.

You are never thrown for a loss.

You are in total command of events.

You are mentally quiet.

You are eternally grateful.

Special Key Lessons in Review
The true source of abundance is the silent mind, for in its fertile quietude rests all potential, all power, and all promise.

The past is as powerless to darken the present moment as is a shadow to reach up and drag down the form that casts it.

Work to connect yourself to the “allness “ of life, instead of identifying with the smallness of it, and you’ll awaken to a greatness already living within you that is no more bothered by the little things in life than a mountain is made miserable by the rain that falls upon it.

Your True Self cannot be made a captive of any dark condition any more than a sunbeam can be caught in a bottle.

Take Conscious Command of Yourself

Stop This Secret Self-Sabotage
As always, the best way to begin any journey of self-discovery is to gather the Light we’ll need to succeed. Your consideration of the two special insights that follow will start you down the path to a whole new kind of self-command.

Because anyone from whom you want something, psychologically speaking, is always in secret command of you.

If you doubt this finding, review the past interactions and results of your own relationships. If you’ve ever tried to raise children, you know this is true. So it makes no sense to try and change the way others treat you by leaning calculated behaviors or attitude techniques in order to appear in charge. The only thing these clever cover-ups really produce is yet another source of secret inner conflict, which, in turn, only fuels further self-sabotage. So what’s the answer?

Stop trying to be strong. Don’t be too surprised by this unusual instruction. A brief examination reveals its wisdom. Fawning before people to win their favor.

Expressing contrived concern for someone’s well-being.

Making small talk to cover up nervousness.

Hanging on to someone’s every word.

Looking for someone’s approval.

Asking if someone is angry with you.

Fishing for a kind word.

Gossiping.

Special Key Lessons in Review
Any concern over what others may think of you is a secret form of captivity, an unseen prison cell created by the false and painful belief that you are real – and your life worthwhile – only if others say it’s so!

If common social convention – with all its contrivance and hypocrisy – has one redeeming value, it is this: The happy day may come when we realize that our lives have been spent conversing with thieves, making plans with liars, and listening to promises of people, most of whom are incapable of a single act of integrity. This day of our awakening is the same as the delightful date of our departure from a bankrupt world filled with beggars dressed as kings and queens.

Realize the Invisible Heart of Happy Human Relationships

Here are friendly facts to help us let go and grow more spiritually independent:

No matter how it may appear on the surface of human events, self-interest governs individuals.

Even the typical display of human kindness or benevolence comes not from that person’s compassionate nature but from his unconscious desire to enrich himself with the intoxicating feelings of being a good person. Forget to thank him or acknowledge his generosity, and watch how quickly his goodness turns into repressed resentment or outward indignation.

There is a secret and miraculous part of yourself that only reveals itself when you are willing to stand in the light of the truth about yourself and others. Welcome this light and you will discover that a wise and uncompromised inner strength is patiently waiting for you to fulfil the laws that govern its entrance into your life.

Special Key Lessons in Review
The pretense of kindness, of being loving, does not make those qualities real in us any more than an actor who plays the role of a talking tree in a play by Shakespeare is endowed with the strength of an oak!

Our sole task is to be responsible for what is – and to allow this relationship with life to produce what it will.

Learn never to blame another for the pain you feel, nor to complain about anything that life brings to your door, but this doesn’t mean to be accepting of those who would see you ache, nor should you be apathetic in the face of anything that challenges your hopes and aspirations.

One reason that judging others so appeals to the level of self that sits in such judgment of them… is that the comfort found in sentencing others for their “defects” serves to convince us of our perfection.

Realize Your True Self in Stillness
It dwells in the center of us; it is our True Self. We plumb the unknown worlds within ourselves, and the lands we explore are reclaimed by the Light that reveals them.

Stillness is the path of revelation; no other path to the truth of yourself exists, because the freedom you long to be found is only in one place: within your awareness of the evergreen flowering of life endlessly releasing itself through rebirth.

Be still and be free.

Special Key Lessons in Review
Silence is that silver cup that life fills over and over again without ever filling up.

Self-surrender is not the acceptance of our limitations, but the only true way to transcend them.

The only strength that never turns into its unhappy opposite is the higher self-understanding that you are not, and never have been, your weakness.

Be One with the Light of Life

Solve the Mystery of Living in the Light
Here now are some ways to practice realizing the truth of your Self. Each case begins with remembering to make the new choice that follows:

Instead of surrendering yourself to its punishing presence, bring your loneliness into the Light of your Self. If you will remain there within your awareness of this “darkness,” here’s what you’ll see take place before your inner eyes: the fear of being alone will be transformed into the contentment of knowing that you have never been without the love that you long for. You will see that a tenderness beyond words lives within the Light you have embraced.

Bring your fear and worry about “tomorrow” into the Light of your Self. Remain there in your awareness of these frightening shadows, and here’s what you’ll see unfold before your inner eyes: you’ll watch these dark doubts dissolve into an unquestioned knowing that no time to come has power over the peace of being in the present moment. You will see that serenity is one of with the life of the Light you have chosen to be.

When visited by some sense of loss or emptiness, bring it into the Light of your Self. For your willingness to be inwardly watchful, you will see that the Light of your Self reaches everywhere in the universe… so how could you ever be alone? All that lives… lives within the Light of your Self.

Special Key Lessons in Review
Real fearlessness comes with knowing that you have everything you need to succeed in the same moment that it’s needed.

When it comes to “What should I do?” about the painful negative states we see in ourselves, here is all we need to know: what is condemned remains concealed; what is concealed never heals.

Into each of our lives comes some fight that must be made; however, the key to true self-victory is not that we “win” at all costs, but rather than we always choose in favor of the Light that ensures we remain true, kind, and innocent in spite of the cost.

Summary of a Story without End

What is Truth?
But the moment revealed.

What is Light?
But good concealed.

BestSummaries.com is a book summary service that provides summaries of top self-help, motivational and inspirational books where you can learn–in minutes– what it takes to live life and live it well.  BestSummaries sends out one book summary every week in PDF, PDA, audio and/or print formats.  For more information, please go to http://www.bestsum.com.

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Emotions matter.

We cannot stop having emotions any more than we can stop having thoughts. The challenge is learning to stimulate helpful emotions in those with whom we negotiate – an in ourselves.

You negotiate every day, whether about where to go for dinner, how much to pay for a secondhand bicycle, or when to terminate an employee. And you have emotions all the time. These may be positive emotions like joy or contentment, or negative emotions like anger, frustration and guilt.

Beyond Reason offers straightforward, powerful advice for dealing with emotions in your toughest negotiations, whether with a difficult colleague or your angry spouse. You will discover five “core concerns” that lie at the heart of most emotional challenges. And more important, you will learn how to address these concerns to improve your relationships and get the results you want. The advice builds on previous work of the Harvard Negotiation Project, the group that brought you the groundbreaking Getting to Yes. World-renowned negotiator Roger Fisher teams with psychologist Daniel Shapiro, an expert on the emotional dimension of negotiation, to bring you this indispensable new classic.

BestSummaries.com is a book summary service that provides summaries of top self-help, motivational and inspirational books where you can learn–in minutes– what it takes to live life and live it well. BestSummaries sends out one book summary every week in PDF, PDA, audio and/or print formats.  For more information, please go to http://www.bestsum.com.

You now know yourself better than most people ever will. So, what do you do with this newfound knowledge? First, ask yourself if you have enough fire in your belly to proceed as an entrepreneur in your own business. If you do, you will most likely be highly successful and will enjoy your individual endeavour. That fire in your belly can truly make the difference between success and failure in an entrepreneurial venture.

If you find you don’t have this entrepreneurial fire, consider other venues. Perhaps linking up with a partner who fills in your gaps and who has that entrepreneurial passion is the answer. Seek a partner whose skills and interests are very complementary. If entrepreneurship is totally out of the realm of your thoughts, then seeking an “intrapreneurial” opportunity with the right company will be best for you. Only you can decide which path is right for you, but you need to make this important decision before you worry about applying the rest of the principles of life.

Second, spend some time trying to understand your occupational “sweet spot.” Strive to understand in what business or situation your gifts, skills, and interests allow you to function best. You will be good at whatever this is and will have fun doing it. Remember, making money should not be the primary focus. If it is, you may find yourself financially successful but otherwise miserable.

Third, don’t forget to keep asking for wisdom. Encourage to drink deeply from the Bible and other literature that is particularly inspirational for you. After establishing a financial budget, seek inspiration and wisdom to know the ideal occupation for you to pursue. And keep seeking wisdom along the way.

The 7 Principles for Creating Your Future is a road map for you, showing you how you can find your occupational “sweet spot” based on who you are while achieving your dreams and incorporating a balance into all you do. When you proceed, it will change your life! Now that you have an understanding of yourself, it’s time to select the “right” opportunity based on this knowledge.

If you decide to go into business for yourself, don’t go into debt to start the business and don’t stay in a money-losing venture. The opportunity you choose to pursue must pay all the bills necessary to support a conservative lifestyle. But, life is not all about accumulating money. You have to do more with your resources to have a truly meaningful life. A portion of your time and money goes to your business, another portion to your own needs, and use the rest to help others. When the money starts coming in, don’t just spend more – live by your budget, eliminate debt, accumulate a cash reserve, invest wisely for the future (retirement and other future plans), and of course, help others.

Clearly, business and money are important to all of us, but they only provide the means to an end. Avoiding the constant pursuit of money for money’s sake, and planning and living so that you have time to leverage your resources to help others is a profound, life-changing philosophy.

BestSummaries.com is a book summary service that provides summaries of top self-help, motivational and inspirational books where you can learn–in minutes– what it takes to live life and live it well.  BestSummaries sends out one book summary every week in PDF, PDA, audio and/or print formats.  For more information, please go to http://www.bestsum.com.