I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What

by Barbara Smith and Barbara Sher

Book Overview

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A life-changing guide to finding your direction--and your passion--in a world of seemingly limitless options "For those who want to find their passion . . . a step-by-step... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385307888
• ISBN13: 9780385307888
• Release Date: March 1994
• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Length: 322 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Hit home, unlike other books on uncertainty

I LOVED this book. The only book on finding a career direction that has been helpful to me. It was so different, in the way that it explained to me what has been blocking me from going after my true desires. The other books I have read just did a bunch of career assessments and personality assessments. Who needs that? I know my personality already, I don't need someone to test me on it. Barbara Sher went so deep into a person and why their desires remain repressed. She had different chapters for different types of situations. It was like a personalized book. I highly recommend this book. It gets to the root of the problem, and motivates you to get out there and go after what you want. She tells you to start NOW, which is scary, but that is what is stopping you...the scare. Buy this one...I promise, you will be glad you did!!

If you're ready for a change, Sher shows you how

Maybe you're just out of college wondering how you ended up with a business degree when you hate business. Or you've been spending way too much time on the job/in life daydreaming about some other job or life. Or maybe, like me, all seems right with your world, but you have a nagging feeling there's something else you should be doing. Barbara Sher's book will help you sort it all out. She'll help you figure out what's at the root of these feelings and how to understand and handle them. Through a series of exercises, explanations and examples she guides you to discover just what it is that you truly want to do. And then she shows you how to get to do what you want. You have to be ready to do a little psychological work on yourself, think hard about your past and realistically about your future. You have to be ready to put aside the excuses and fears, and Sher knows them all, and commit yourself to working towards the life you want to live. If you're looking for something easier, like tests or checklists to tell you what you should be doing, this book might not sound like it's for you. But buy it anyway. I read all the books with the tests, the checklists, the affirmations and the goal making, etc... and they got me nowhere. This book finally got me somewhere.

Where has this book been all my life?

I have imagined myself doing thousands of different careers, but the interest in each career would fade as fast as it appeared. Each day was a new idea. Then I found this book and couldn't put it down. It helped me realize the patterns and interests I had all my life, but never pursued as a career. I just didn't have a formula to create a career out of what makes me the happiest. How to do find your life's desire when you feel so confused? The answer: Get this book. The exercises, when done honestly, really help flush out all the garbage you have learned along the way on what you "should" be doing versus what you need to do deep down inside. The author focuses a little much on blaming parents and other significant figures we have had in our lives, but they did only as well as they could. Each chapter, even if they don't entirely relate to you, teaches you something about life and the choices you have made. This book is practical and thought provoking. It really got me excited about finally living my dream. Here I go! A must read!