Title: Summits of Self: The Seven Peaks of Personal Growth
Author: Alan Mallory
Genre: Motivational Self-Help, Personal Growth
Book Blurb:
Your own personal Everest is waiting for you to climb it. We all have mountains to climb. Some we climb by choice; others rise before us without warning. All require skill, preparation, and determination to conquer. In this guide, speaker, author, performance coach, and mountain climber Alan Mallory—whose family was the first to scale Mount Everest together—draws on his personal and professional experiences to lead you through seven summits that will lead to stronger mental health, resilience, and fulfilment. With practical steps and actionable ideas for scaling new heights, you’ll learn to shed your perceived limitations, and gain the confidence to find new footholds in your professional and personal climb. As you scale the summits of self-knowledge, self-motivation, self-balance, self-regulation, self-respect, self-resilience, and self-actualization, you’ll not only gain the skills to soar higher than before—you’ll also gain a better sense of who you are and what drives you. Along the way, you’ll learn to carve a path toward a kinder, healthier, and more productive relationship with yourself and the world around you.
My Review:
Self-motivation is a central theme that can be embraced by all who read this book. The author goes to some length to try to understand the vagaries of coercive tactics, especially in the workplace. The example of the owner demanding his employees accept his ideas stuck with the reader. Back in the day when I had a boss, I would accept the ideas from said boss...but then put them into action in a way that made them work better. That way, the boss was happy and made money. The ability to listen and still do the right thing comes from human experience and ability.
Within each section, there are often titles that define what the next part will be about. This is helpful for a reader looking for a specific area of assistance. Interspersing regular personal information makes this more approachable.
The book is broken down into convenient sections. Some of the sections do delve into wordy psychological concepts. If you are not grounded in these concepts, then these sections may be a bit of a difficult go for some. The author does try to explain the concepts and does a fair job, but it may still be beyond simple understanding for some.
Strong common-sense approach that will reach most readers. Those without common sense are, like normal, just on their own. There is a well-made argument for mindful breathing and this relatively simple technique could be useful to many. One of the best pieces of advice given is to ‘be your own therapist’ – listen to yourself. It is true that we are often the best source of information about what is going on in our own minds.
It is brave and illustrative for the author to detail his own issues. GAD is more common to some degree than many of the mental health stressors people face. That the author was able to overcome this gives credence to his advice to others.
Overall, a book that will be useful to people who are struggling with any aspect of GAD. Don’t take too much from parts of the book that stray away from the central point without solid investigation.
A fine effort that will benefit.
My Rating: 5 stars
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Author Biography:
Alan Mallory is an international speaker, author, and performance coach who is passionate about inspiring individuals, team members, and organizations to reach new heights. His own mental-health journey has taught him that intentional, incremental improvements are the key to creating a meaningful life. He has a degree in engineering from Queen’s University and a master’s in psychology from Adler University, giving him a well-balanced approach to the internal and external challenges we all face. Alan, together with his father, brother, and sister, set a world record climbing Mount Everest in 2008. Born and raised in Canada, he lives an adventurous life with his wife and three children.
Social Media Links:
Website https://alanmallory.com/
Twitter https://twitter.com/AlMallory
Reviewed by: Mr. N