Life Strategies: Doing What Works, Doing What Matters - Hardcover

Phillip C. McGraw

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786865482 ISBN 13: 9780786865482

Publisher: Hachette Books, 1999

Synopsis

Whether its a bad relationship, a dead-end career, or a harmful habit, Dr. McGraw's 10 Life Laws will empower you to take responsibility for your own actions and break free from self-destructive patterns.

Drawing upon more than fifteen years of experience, Dr. McGraw explores each of the 10 Life Laws necessary to succeed, including:

• People do what works
• Life rewards action
• Life is managed, not cured
• There is freedom in forgiveness

Filled with case studies, checklists, and strategies that will work for you, Life Strategies will provide you with the skills you need.

About this title

Review

Some people spend their lives reacting to what life hands them, while others craft life to fit their goals. Author Phillip C. McGraw, who is a psychologist but describes himself as a strategist, is determined to make sure that his readers are the creators of their lives, not created by their lives. By accepting that you are personally accountable for every element of your life, McGraw says, you can erase the negative "epidemic behaviors" (found in all of American society: denial, false assumptions, inertia, deceptive masking) in your life and reach your goals.

Written in a tough-love, sometimes cantankerous tone, this self-help book is not for those looking to explore their inner child or visualize away negative energy. No, this is pull-yourself-up-by-the- bootstraps advice from someone who's done just that. McGraw opens with a scene describing how he helped Oprah Winfrey survive--and win--the 1998 "Mad Cow" lawsuit in Texas, when she was having difficulty coping with the reality of what was happening to her. He helped her face the facts about the lawsuit, after which she was better able to participate in crafting a strategy to win it.

McGraw first forces you to take a good hard look at who you are by dissecting your personality. It may be painful to realize that you fall into the "Porcupine" or "Perfecto" or any of the other personality types McGraw delineates, but here it's true that there's no gain without pain, because (Life Law No. 4) "You Can't Change What You Don't Acknowledge." He then describes in depth all 10 "Life Laws"--the rules by which the world plays--that he learned the hard way. Laws such as "You Either Get It, or You Don't," "Life Is Managed; It Is Not Cured," and "You Have to Name It to Claim It" make up the bulk of the book and McGraw's realist philosophy.

If you learn and abide by the Life Laws and go on to create a Life Strategy, McGraw claims you will not only know yourself better and eliminate negative behaviors, you will also know how to reach any goal you set for yourself. --Stefanie Durbin

About the Author

Dr. Phillip C. McGraw is the person Oprah credits with helping her win the Amarillo beef trial. He is a trial scientist with over fifteen years' experience in the psycho-legal system. Having earned a Ph.D. degree in Behavioral Sciences, Dr. McGraw relies upon a broad base of academic and applied experiences in predicting, measuring and utilizing the value systems and decision-making patterns and processes of contemporary juries. As President of Courtroom Sciences, Inc., Dr. McGraw leads a litigation consulting firm comprised of experts from the fields of psychology, law, biomedicine, medicine, engineering, business, computer sciences, communication, economics and finance.

Dr. McGraw has also trained thousands of people in effective life skills seminars, principally communications and relational management. He also conducts Texas and American Bar Association approved continuing education courses for lawyers (MCLE) in the area of trial science, particularly the forecasting and influence of civil trial verdicts.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hachette Books
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0786865482
• ISBN 13: 9780786865482
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304