Crease awareness of importance of Intention
588139
I love this book - it is written in a fashion that is easy to understand. It is loaded with a great deal of positive energy and really focuses on creating awareness of your intentions and what the implications are if you are not in line with your intentions.  I am only up to chapter 4 but this is my "go to" to generate positive energy thus far.
23034
That the majority of larger system development projects fail to meet expectations is well known.  Further, the futility of redoubling efforts to elicit customer requirements is now being recognized.  What to do?

The more advanced system thinkers and a few simply lucky practitioners are discovering the value of capabiltiy cases as enablers of solution envisioning.

This book describes 36 aspects of system envisioning, including insights into the mysterious decision flow called system architecting.  It provides a repertoire of 15 example Capability Cases.  Further, it shows the reader how capability cases can be defined, thusly bootstrapping his/her repertoire.  Moreover, it shows how new capability cases can be shared and vetted thus leveraging the 'wisdom of crowds.'

Invest in this book.  Because it costs less than one wasted personhour of project effort your ROI can be very high.
4421032
****
"My argument... is that knowing how your brain stumbles is intriguing, but not necessarily useful unless...we can turn awareness into action. My hope is that my book conveys usable knowledge,...'science help' instead of 'self help'. Research ... does offer knowledge-based clues for overcoming stubborn tendencies of the human brain." --David DiSalvo
*

The answer to the question explored in the book is our reliance on the inclinations of our own brains is advisable in all cases. The answer, collectively supported by the last decades of cognitive science, is we will then end up doing a lot of things against our best interest. Years of neuroscience research have led to the current understanding of the brain as a prediction PC. The problem is that our brains' evolved capacity for defending against threats has a lot of side effects, all tightly woven into our thinking and daily behavior, that involve us in while keeping our threat-anticipating brains 'happy.'

The implicit reason; discovered by close psychiatric scrutiny is that our brains have evolved for survival, and what constitutes threats to our survival has changed in the last several thousand years. Our ancestors lived under conditions with clear threats. But modern societies are significantly more complex, and while some threats are evident, others are ambiguous. Our brains evolved to predict what's coming next and identify patterns to give us a better chance of survival. With so many ambiguous threats, defined as any situation that may alter homeostasis, those pattern-detection tendencies are operating in the dark.

What this all means is that we have to pay attention to the native tendencies of our brains and work through whether or not they are beneficial in any given case. The decision we are faced with is making that determination. A brain that evolved for social interaction in groups of fewer than 150 people is not necessarily equipped to deal with the complexities of a society consisting of millions of people. It makes sense to think that doing what comes naturally won't always be in our best interests. What really matters is the density of social dynamics within just our small corners of the world.

So let's talk a little about cognitive biases, and how they fool us into thinking we know more than we really do. We also seem to be drawn toward novel information, whether or not it is true. Cognitive bias is one category of brain frailties, and biases that gets longer all the time. For example, the restraint bias, the tendency to believe we can expose ourselves to more temptation than we really can resist. Diets, and smoking cessation programs, and all that requires pulling ourselves away from compulsive behavior. Very few of us have not stumbled on restraint bias, usually more than once.

One of the most interesting capabilities of the brain is memory, one of cognitive science's favorite subjects. It is interesting that we are actually solving problems while we are in autopilot, a default network to solve different problems, or just take over when the brain needs to rest? It seems the engaging book does not have an answer to some of the questions. It is evident that the human being is a social animal, but different from the enlightenment solitary rationalist. But one of the scientific turns that has changed the way we think about ourselves is that, in many ways, we're not very different from other animal species.

<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Neuroscience-Exploring-the-Brain/dp/0781760038/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain</a>
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This book gives valuable insight in how we take decisions. By carrying this insight with us, we may manage to be more rational in our choices. Key learning points:
1. System 1 (our fast but somewhat shallow thinking capacity) constructs stories and system 2 (our deeper but somewhat slow and lazy thinking capacity) believes in them.
2. A general limitation of our mental capacity is our underdeveloped ability to reconstruct earlier knowledge and opinions that we have left behind.
3. An outside view based on a representative case, may provide us with a ballpark indication that is far more valuable than a plan based on a theoretical scenario we think is likely.
4. Complacency or stubbornness may be the result when we build a story around information we believe in and neglect information we do not have.
5. Letting a group run idea generation about what could go wrong (premortem), may inhibit groupthink.
6. In a choice between two bad outcomes of which one is a certain loss and the other a possibility of losing even more, diminishing sensitivity makes us more risk seeking.
7. We put exaggerated emphasis on the distance between 0-5% likelihood (possibility effect) and likewise between 95-100% likelihood (certainty effect). If we consistently put too much weight on unlikely outcomes, which is very common, we will be worse off than if we managed to consider the risk more cynical.
8. The implementation of a plan is easy to imagine. Thus, it stands in contrast to all the vague possibilities of other outcomes (planning fallacy).
9. Consider a game with low risk and positive expected value as one of many through life. By using this perspective, we may accept a higher risk, which in return gives us a higher total outcome.
10. Memories are all we have from our experiences in life, and the only perspective we can use on our life is our remembering self. Our experiencing self has no voice. Our remembering self speaks about we have learnt from our experiences.
3426954
Think you are aware of your thinking? Think again!

Although we may feel like we are conscious drivers of lives, our brains actually have a heavy reliance on the unconscious forces that steer it. The truth is, much of our thinking happens outside of our conscious awareness and control, and our subliminal programming affects all aspects of our lives--from how we perceive the world, self, and others to how we think, feel, behave, and remember.

But, we can't fault our brains for this heavy subliminal reliance. If our brains actually took in all of the data we are bombarded with each moment, we'd be overwhelmed and overloaded. As the author of _Subliminal_ explains:
"To ensure our smooth functioning in both the physical and the social world, nature has dictated that many processes of perception, memory, attention, learning, and judgment are delegated to brain structures outside conscious awareness...The truth is that our unconscious minds are active, purposeful, and independent. Hidden they may be, but their effects are anything but, for they play a critical role in shaping the way our conscious minds experience and respond to the world...Our subliminal minds take incomplete data, use context or other cues to complete the picture, make educated guesses, and produce a result that is sometimes accurate, sometimes not, but always convincing." (pp. 18, 29, 152)

The reality is that much of what we believe to be true, is actually false. (How's that for a brain challenge?) Our brains are not the computers we assume them to be, but instead creative distorters of reality:
"We are not like computers that crunch data in a relatively straightforward manner and calculate results. Instead, our brains are made up of a collection of many modules that work in parallel, with complex interactions, most of which operate outside of our consciousness. As a consequence, the real reasons behind our judgments, feelings, and behaviors can surprise us...Our brains are not simply recording a taste or other experience, they are *creating* it...We believe that when we choose a laptop or a laundry detergent, plan a vacation, pick a stock, take a job, assess a sports car, make a friend, judge a stranger, and even fall in love, we understand the principal factors that influenced us. Very often nothing could be further from the truth. As a result, many of our most basic assumptions about ourselves, and society, are false." (pp. 22, 25-26)

To wrap our brains around the confusing two-tiered brain processes of the conscious and the unconscious, the author presents a great metaphor explaining how subliminal forces result in our brains acting less like truth-seeking scientists and more like conclusion-driven lawyers:
"The human mind is designed to be both a scientist and an attorney, both a conscious seeker of objective truth and an unconscious, impassioned advocate for what we *want* to believe. Together these approaches create our worldview...As it turns out, the brain is a decent scientist but an absolutely *outstanding* lawyer. The result is that in the struggle to fashion a coherent, convincing view of ourselves and the rest of the world, it is the impassioned advocate that usually wins over the truth seeker...The unconscious mind is a master at using limited data to construct a version of the world that appears realistic and complete to its partner, the conscious mind." (pp. 200-201)

Appropriately enough, I found this book to be incredibly mind-blowing.  Not only is the content fascinating and engaging, but the author's writing is superb: just like the unconscious mind, he has quite the gift for synthesizing huge amounts of information into accessible and digestible slices. (But, unlike our unconscious minds, he does not distort reality!) Admittedly, I can't quite explain the reasons I chose this book from the many others on the shelf (now I realize there were a slew of subconscious processes that influenced my decision), but I can consciously stand behind my five-star recommendation for reading it.
3551910
The book was written in a way to be easily understood.  Knowledge shared in the book would help people who meditate to understand the deeper meaning of meditation, and how we are connected to the universe.  Instead of the kind of pursues by most people by using the five senses, which are limited in terms of receipt-ability, it makes good example to let reader understand that we have much greater receipt-ability from the use of the third eye.  Further on  the book introduces the secrete space of the heart and the inner space of the heart, it is a glimpse as to how one may one day develop to share the greater responsibility for the good of all kinds & all livings.  The book perhaps is not an instruction manual to open the different abilities as mentioned above, afterall it is always better to initiate our hidden abilities through the help of more experienced teachers, nevertheless it helps to increase the understand of the tools that we could seek to open up our natural abilities.
1716253
This book is a jewel, in the context of publications about meditation and mind-training. While recognizing the ways in which our chronic distractability diminishes the quality of our attention, of emotion regulation, well-being and health, this book offers a clear path for overcoming these limitations. It offers a path with practices and milestones, in the sense of nine stages, that can support our focusing, refining and deepening of attention. The practices are based in Tibetan Buddhism; yet, these forms of mind-training can be described and applied in universal terms. Next to the attention practices, Four Qualities of the Heart are addressed (loving kindness, compassion, empathetic joy and equanimity). Both groups of approaches complement each other. The book offers the reader many examples of guided meditations, the style is accessible, and there are notes and references for those who seek a deeper immersion in these themes. Anyone, at whatever level of absent-mindedness or attention precision will find inspiration in this enriching publication.
By Adeline van Waning MD PhD, author of&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Less-Dust-the-More-Trust-Participating-In-The-Shamatha-Project-Meditation-And-Science/dp/1780999488/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Less Dust the More Trust: Participating In The Shamatha Project, Meditation And Science</a>
2109871
The anima and animas, the shadow, and mandalas are quickly considerable factors that evolve into a modified search for self. Rationalization of life's purpose, meanings, and self defenses are intuitively asserted into a purposeful illustration into the maximation of a newly defined reliance inherent within us all. Factually....intuition, hesitation, gut feelings, doubt, and curiosity are motivated by a reliance of self and gifts of God. Jung professes his own experience with the unseen and his odyssey to better conceptuaize his intellectual being in an effort to invoke a type of metacognition. In doing so, the book is valuable to present the idea of understanding the meanings of the book title and how to approach the subject matter, interpret it and evaluate progress in the chosen strategy.
1271998
As Stella Porter points out, things like psychic awareness are often ridiculed.  For those of us raised in mainstream churches, we might consider it 'wrong' to dabble in such matters... and the people behind some of these churches might not like us to realise we have our own direct connection to the 'powers that be' instead of having to work through a hierarchy, or according to a set of rules.  Some academics might be quick to brush aside reports of psychic success because they feel it threatens the basis of their life's work and beliefs.  And it could be argued that the world's financial elite and big businesses wouldn't want workers and consumers to find out how powerful they really can be.

I firmly believe that there is much more to man than meets the microscope.  I have had experiences and insights that have convinced me that we can operate beyond our 'traditional' physical constraints.

I would have liked to have read about some of the author's personal experiences in this small book, and I was a little distracted by what appeared to be errors that somehow got missed in the proof-reading process.  While I'm being picky, I must say that I would have preferred to have seen a picture of the author on the book's cover instead of what appears to be a stock image grabbed for the purpose, as it is so similar to other books in this category (wait... maybe that is a picture of the author on the cover.  Dunno).  Nevertheless, the use of a stock image enabled this book to be published quickly at a low cost.  And despite these minor problems, the book has the feel of authenticity.  I also get the impression that the author is  a sincere and caring person (that's another reason why I'd like to read her personal stories...  maybe we'll get these in a subsequent book).

If more people became 'aware'... if they tuned in more to what is beyond physical sight... if they had more contemplative moments and considered the possible affects of their every thought, word and action.... and if they could see how every person and thing might be connected... then our worldly experience would be very likely to improve.  With that in mind, I recommend this book.  Reading anything sincere like this is useful.

While I (or you) might not agree with all of what an author may write, or the reasoning that they use, it is still possible to find valid and useful ideas in a majority of written works.  "Take the best and leave the rest" is a good guideline.  While novices and seasoned psychics alike might disagree with some things that others say, they are all likely to agree that there really is something going on in the non-physical realms.  People have been using electricity for years, and I don't think that anyone has ever been able to explain to me, in a satisfactory way, how it really works.  But it is apparently a real phenomena (well, something is going on), and I find that I can use it to my benefit... irrespective of whether it is positive particles moving one way through a wire... or electrons moving in the opposite direction or whatever.

I think that Stella Porter knows a bit about what is going on, and she is trying to help us learn about it.

Best wishes from Nelson, New Zealand.
2119343
Several important themes of the book are recognizable.
For instance, if we learn to love ourselves-there is
nothing to prove to others. Generally, people like
to be appreciated not criticized. You will see eye
contact and interest increase when someone is complemented.

The conscious incompetent is the person aware of his/her
complaining. This is the lowest level of human relations
development. Ultimately, "... we become what we think..."
  [ The Buddha ]

The highest form of personal accomplishment is to do
something without complaining. This book would be
helpful in our everyday relations at home and elsewhere.
665797
This book provides a well-organized survey of issues that limit our reasoning abilities:

- Our misperception of random events, as in the "clustering illusions" that lead us to believe in the hot hand, for example.

- Our misunderstanding of statistical regression, which, for instance, affects our perception of the roles of reward and punishment in education.

- Our tendency to seek confirmatory information, as in the justification of our choices.

- Our inability to see what could have happened under different circumstances, as in self-fulfilling prophecies (e.g. a negative first impression or the presumed insolvency of a financial institution).

- Our own biases that make us expose inconsistent information to more critical scrutiny than consistent information.

- Asymmetries that distort what we recall and, thus, what we take into account to evaluate the validity of beliefs (as in multiple endpoints situations or one-sided events).

- Our tendency to believe what we want to believe (specially about ourselves), as if beliefs were possessions.

- The distortions present in secondhand information (a.k.a. sharpening and leveling).

- The influence of what we think others believe (and also of the inadequate feedback we often receive about that).

These limitations make us draw incorrect conclusions and bolster erroneous beliefs. Being aware of them helps us in distinguishing what we know well from what we only think is true. Just this is of utmost importance for thinking clearly. Could there be a better reason for reading this book?
2179163
<div id="video-block-R1ZQHQECZH0ZXX" class="a-section a-spacing-small a-spacing-top-mini video-block"></div><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/F1oZrsjdKQS.mp4" class="video-url"><input type="hidden" name="" value="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/01hTniLUf4S.png" class="video-slate-img-url">&nbsp;So, this leading edge book is really about understanding the importance of having a deliberate intent for an end result, while at the same time, tending to the balance of your Energy along the way. But it is much more about awareness of the balance of your Energy than it is about goal-setting or focusing on end results. And it is from this very important distinction that this book, The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent, has come forth.

Your emotions, in every moment, give you an indication of the vibrational relationship between the Non-Physical You and the physical you. Nothing is more important to you than this relationship, and nothing can enhance your physical experience more than an understanding of your emotions.

~ Esther and Jerry Hicks from The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent

Esther and Jerry Hicks. Love em.

This is the third Review Ive written on their work (check out the first two: Ask and It Is Given and Money, and the Law of Attraction for more mojo). Im absolutely in love with them and the clarity with which they express their wisdom.

(I might still be a little freaked out by the whole channeling thing, but O.M.G. They rock. Remarkably lucid and equally transformative! :)

Here are some of the Big Ideas:

1. Life on Planet Earth - Rocks!
2. Desires & Beliefs: - Compatibility?
3. Deliberate Creation - vs. Creating by default.
4. Emotional Guidance - You & YOU.
5. Correcting Course: - The sooner the better.

Ah Are YOU willing to play at the Leading Edge of creation and dance with your creative genius?!?

(More goodness--including PhilosophersNotes on 250+ books at http://www.brianjohnson.me)
3917902
The author shows how unremitting activity  causes unthinking actions, but also does not allow for any self reflection.  Without the self reflection, our goals tend to fizzle and we become dissatisfied.
2854498
My previous experience with vision boards was a one size fits all approach presented in articles and workshops.  This book beings with a process for setting your purpose for the project, discusses the materials you will need and includes practices for furthering that intention so that at the end of the process, you have more than a collage.  The book is also distinguished by suggesting other media to envision your intention in addition to the typically suggested poster board.  The author discusses action as part of the equation for manifestation and provides advice on what do it if the vision board does not seem to be working.  The title Clear Vision is a good description of what the reader will find here, a method for using the vision board to articulate and focus his/her intention.
1298926
An interesting read from an FBI profiler on certain principles of engagement. The book covers the role of proximity, frequency, duration and intensity toward developing friendships/relationships. It also touches on several body language lessons along with psychological behavior principles such as law of reciprocity, golden rule of friendship (we like those who make us feel good about ourselves), creating curiosity hooks, friend (smile, tilted head, eye brow flash, open stance, lean in, whispering) versus foe (crossed arms, barriers, scowl, etc) signals, mirroring. The book then illustrates the applicability of these principles in personal as well as in business life.

Some examples seem a bit contrived and make one wonder if the author is overselling the material. For instance, how a salesman would divulge exact details of commission and discounts just through the use of a seemingly innocuous presumptuous statement. I think people are much more smarter and even cunning to be indulged this easily.

I found the material interesting. It makes people-watching more fun.
3461398
An easy "to consume and use" primer on the essence of brand differentiation - the "promise" of the product or service. The case studies and real world examples from Duane Knapp's deep experience leading and coaching service or consumer product organizations, large or small, public or private, are relevant to anyone's business. The BrandMindset provided the entire brand process; the BrandPromise proves how critical and powerful a brand promise can be - for any organization in any industry. It makes sense.
1726149
This book is about attitude, not tools or products the financial services industry has to offer. The book encourages the reader to examine what's important to them and to develop a plan of action to work on the things they can control, not trying to fix the things they can not.  Like most important things in life, a person's financial success is determined by their personal attitude and commitment to a plan designed to achieve their personal goals so they can fulfill their personal values.  We can control our attitude and therefore our commitment to develop and implement a plan of action.  Some few can do this on their own; many need professional advice.  The sad reality is that many Americans have too much debt and have not saved enough for their most important goals, because they have not been shown how to make changes in their attitude towards money.  It matters little who wrote the book, the premise is valid, whether in business, health, personal relationships, or finances; "Attitude determines Altitude."