Are You Ready to Succeed?: Unconventional Strategies to Achieving Personal Mastery in Business and Life

by Srikumar S. Rao and Srikumar Rao

Book Overview

Whether you're looking for personal, financial, or career support, this carefully curated guidebook will help you get your life on track and prepared to reach all your goals.

The premise is simple: A person's ideal life, especially their career, can be carefully conceived and crafted. Based on Dr. Rao's popular course "Creativity and Personal Mastery" at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business, this book offers a series of...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1401301932
• ISBN13: 9781401301934
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Hachette Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 3.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.2" x 9.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Just read it...

I don't understand some of the low reviews this book has received. I've been reading these type of books for 30 years and this one is at the absolute TOP of my list because it actually produced staggering results for me. It is a life changer. Indeed a lot of what is said is not new, but the way in which he puts these concepts together just resonates - with me, at least. The chapter on gratitude is the single most powerful exercise anyone can do to change their life. I wouldn't have believed it if it did not actually happen to me. I wish I had a stronger way of saying it. It was scary in a disbelieving sort of way. If you are looking for something that will change your life, this is it. What happened to me is too long to relate in this review but you can have good things flooding into your life like a fire hose if you follow this exercise. PS I would recommend the book over the audio. The author's voice sounds like Deepak Chopra and can distract from the message.

An enlightening read

There are so many wonderful "aha's!" in this enlightening book. These profound concepts, intricate stories and thoughtful exercises will change the way you look at life. Some were new to me and others were good reminders. Here are a few of my favorites. You can cultivate a Witness to help you objectively observe your life and break free of bad habits, replacing them with ones that serve your highest good. Everyone acts in their own self interest. Understanding that at a deep level is liberating. Surrender is a good thing. Once you give up the illusion of control and detach from the outcome, remarkable things transpire. Srikumar Rao is a wise man with a big heart. He sees us at our best and supports us on our journey to succeed.

Good collection of a lot of information

A lot of the information in this book was not new to this reader. I have read a lot of it in many different books over the years. What is different here -- and very nice -- is that a lot of good information is presented in one book. For someone starting out on their journey it saves a lot of time and hunting. For someone looking to "put it all together", here it is. The recommended reading list is nice and that list is broken down into sections.

Totally Transformative

It will be fairly difficult for me to give an unbiased review of Are You Ready to Succeed, as the course on which it's based set me upon a path of growth and self-discovery and allowed me for first time to know true fulfillment. For this, I feel immense gratitude, incapable of expression with words. I'll divide this review into two parts: 1. The effect the wisdom and exercises within the book had on my life and 2. My feelings about the book itself. Prior to taking Creativity and Personal Mastery, the course upon which the book is based, I was an obnoxious, mechanistic, sociopathic prince of capitalism. I viewed wealth as a means to exert dominance over others, as well as a vehicle to procure hedonic bliss. I found a happy home for this way of thinking in the world of investment banking, venture capital and startups. I drank, drugged, womanized, broke the law; I created a world in which those without a similar plunderer-type mentality were weak and destined to be dominated. At the beginning of the course, I had been fired twice, totally four cars, been arrested in five states and inflicted emotional harm on countless females. I didn't read; I thought introspection was for meek, those incapable of enjoying the finer things in life. In short, I was miserable - a gerbil on wheel of chemical and emotional highs, a slave to the influence of my fellow "pirate" peers. You could say I was ready for a change. The course had several effects upon me. There are too many to list, so I will detail only four. The first is the notion that the universe is benevolent, a partner in creating not only fulfilling personal endeavors, but a brighter future. The second is that I have an opportunity to be truly happy, i.e. fulfilled, not through striving and external action, but through removing that which is unreal and not me, thereby allowing my true nature to shine. The third is that HOW is not important, rather only the WHAT and the WHY, meaning I need not obsess over how desirable things such as fulfillment and impact come into my life, only a clear conception of what it is I want to achieve and why I want to achieve it. The last insight I was blessed with was, "If you build it, they will come", meaning that attention to my own personal mastery is the most important thing I can do in terms of creating the life and manifesting the impact I desire. Since finishing the course, I have gone on to read several of the recommended texts, traveled to India to learn meditation, attended various personal growth related retreats, consulted with non-profits, helped people start companies, become a more effective writer and public speaker, begun creating healthy platonic and authentic romantic relationships, found fulfilling employment with a renewable energy company and am currently helping launch a non-profit. In addition to taking up meditation, I have stopped drinking, eating meat, eating sweets (and in doing so, lost 60 pounds), doing drugs, watching porn an

The greatest self-help book out there

I was "ready to succeed" but didn't have the tools. My ivy league schooling and decades in the school of hard knocks failed to give me what this book did: tools that INSTANTLY took me from where I was to where I wanted to be. I went from stress to bliss, from taking for granted to immense appreciation, from nervous to confident, from unhealthy to in shape. Most of all, I went from from total confusion to my dream job. I always wanted to be able to give speeches in public. There was only one problem-- my greatest fear was public speaking. In the book, Rao offers an exercise called "As-If's." Three days afer stumling upon this exercise, I had to give a speech. I felt amazing. People complimented me left and right. To make a long story short, I'm now a corporate trainer and executive coach. I'm living my dream of traveling the globe speaking on topics I'm competely passionate about. On every level, this book can and will change your life. I'm so grateful for the author's wisdom, I'll PERSONALLY offer a money-back guarantee for anyone who doesn't love this book!