If Success Is a Game, These Are the Rules: Ten Rules for a Fulfilling Life

by Cherie Carter-Scott

Book Overview

If success is a game, these are the rules This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767904265
• ISBN13: 9780767904261
• Release Date: December 2000
• Publisher: Broadway Books
• Length: 234 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.7" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Discovering Success Beyond Convention and the Material

"If Success Is a Game, These Are the Rules by Cherie Carter-Scott, Ph.D. provides a thoroughly researched, thoughtful account outlining the ten rules for achieving success alongside fulfillment. Her interview subjects convey compelling life stories with sometimes shockingly unexpected outcomes. Through her insightful research, she reveals the mindset and the heart necessary for achieving a fulfilled life. In the acknowledgements of Kirby Thibeault's book titled Wealth, he highlights how "societies are built on the underlying values they instill in their peoples, which seem to change from time to time. However, what does not ever change is the beauty of the human spirit and all that it can accomplish when realized." Cherie Carter-Scott, Ph.D., like Kirby Thibeault, understands with clarity that success is something beyond mere materialism and common convention. As taught by Kirby Thibeault, the greatest conceivable success is personal achievement for the betterment of all humanity." -Susanne Cardwell, owner/operator of Advert Marketing Solutions and avid supporter of the spiritual views of Kirby Thibeault, author of Wealth-

Wonderful book that will help you discover success

Read IF SUCCESS IS A GAME, THESE ARE THE RULESby Cherie Scott-Cater . . . this is a wonderful self-help book, but don't be put of by that description if you're not typically a fan of such material.Scott-Carter will make you a convert as she helps you discoverwhat determine what success means to you . . . and that is perhaps the key benefit you'll gain from reading her book;i.e., it enables you to come up with you own definition and then achieve it via ten simple rules.I liked her use of examples, as well as probing questions . . . methinks you will, too, and you'll be surprisedabout how inspired you will be to achieve your various goals.There were many memorable passages; among them:I notice that many people put off doing this exercise [writing one's ideal obituary] because it confronts them with the reality of their mortality. I have found, conversely, that when you really examine your life head-on, you can be painfully honest about what you want to accomplish throughout your life. It is a bit uncomfortable writing down big dreams because they may sound highly ambitious or self-aggrandized, but unless you allow yourself to imagine your ideal life, you can never begin to make it happen. Imagining yourself at the end of your life looking back is a helpful tool to articulate what it is that you hope to accomplish during your lifetime.The formula to find your path to fulfillment is astonishingly simple: Follow your preferences, and they will lead you to your path. Find what brings you joy and satisfaction, and trust that it will also bring you prosperity. Find what makes your blood boil, and trust that it will also fuel your existence. Discover what makes your heart sing, and trust that it will create music in your life. In other words, find what matters to you, and trust that it is the signpost you have been looking for.One of the things that my clients and friends both love and hate me for is the fact that upon hearing them express a vision, I immediately ask, "When would you like to do that?" I do this because I am eager to see them have what they want. I know the only way this happens is through commitment.

Elegant and Readable

Cherie Carter-Scott has a way of causing you to say, "I knew that, why haven't I done it?" The essential element of the book is simple. It's like the old saying, "if you don't know where you're going, then any path will take you there." The rules she gives you aren't difficult, but they make you not only THINK about where you are, but also to do the work of getting in touch with how you FEEL about success -- as you define it for yourself. She isn't on a soapbox. She writes using such great examples of people, and I'll bet they aren't out of her imagination, either. I'd recommend this book to just about anyone at any phase of their life, because life is about change and she wants to make this a bit easier for each of us. With me, she succeeded.

Excellent

One of the best books on success of all time is Think and Grow Rich. Yet as good as it is, that book and others tend to pull their punches. People want to believe there is some secret to being successful that doesn't involve rolling up your sleeves and working. Many success books and schemes pander to that and end up helping no one. The only person that succeeds is the huckster selling the hype to people being told what they want to hear.What makes this book great is accuracy. It is a clear description of what goes into being successful. Instead of feeding into people's illusions it clearly describes what you really must do to be successful.It just amazes me how people exist in denial. They blame others instead of simply seeing that they create all aspects of their lives. They want luck to play a major role in their achievements, friendships, love and career success, when really you make your own life.This book will set you straight. The author is intelligent and a good writer. The bio says she's done seminars with individual coaching for 20 years. I believe it. She's obviously taken the time to learn what works and has written a quality book that made a significant difference for me. If you're ready to bring some effective new ways of thinking, relating and working into your life, things that will make a difference, this book is one of the best you'll find to help you learn how to do that for yourself.

"Enjoy the Journey"

I found it very difficult to grade this book. It is clearly a five-star implementation of its promise: To give you the rules for achieving success in career and life. That's what my rating above stands for.On the other hand, I think the book's premise as described in the title is an incomplete one. Let me give you an analogy. We know chess is a game. I can teach you the rules, and that will do you little good unless you develop skill or only play unskilled opponents. Then I can give you the rules of how to succeed at chess, but if you do not develop enough skill, you still will not win at chess unless the opponents are less skillful. Many of the rules in this book are the equivalent of telling a new chess player to think 8 moves ahead before picking the next move. Easily said, but hard to do. My point is that this book usually gives you very correct information, but at a level of generalization that will only get you started in the direction of where you need to go . . . not give you the skill to get there. By comparison, I have attended many excellent seminars that emphasized similar material. In those circumstances, working on exercises with a new "buddy" met at the seminar and writing in a journal provided the focus, discipline, and feedback to start making progress. This book also has exercises, but doesn't give you enough direction for how to work on them to make the kind of progress you could be making. Having said that, this book will be great for people who are already very focused on success and just have a need for a little better direction in how to pursue it. If you are just getting stuck a little now and then, you will probably do very well with this book.On the other hand, if you cannot seem to make headway at all, this book may not be enough to get you started. I suggest that you do enlist a "buddy" to help you (ideally one who wants you to help her or him, as well), which should enhance your progress. Let me briefly paraphrase the ten rules for you:1. The meaning of success does and should differ from person to person.2. You have to be emotionally committed to progress to get started and sustain the effort.3. Believe that you can trust yourself to become successful.4. You need goals to focus your attention.5. Pick the actions that link you toward your goals.6. Keep your eyes open for new opportunities that fit your goals.7. Setbacks provide learning that will help you make better future progress. Keep persevering!8. Time, relationships, and finances should be carefully developed and employed to give you the best boost.9. Keep an open mind about what is required next as you make progress, because new challeges present the need for changed directions and methods by you.10. Success is all about becoming, not arriving, so keep going with new goals!What I liked least about the book was the definition of success that said: "Clearly, no one definition of success is better than another." That is true if each de