Review: Good for paradigm-shifting
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 16, 2014
This is not a guide for those on the fence when it comes to changing your life. You should already have made the choice to commit before picking up this book. Really that’s true of any guide/self-help book. It cannot help you if you aren’t looking for help. But this book especially so. Pencilliah won’t waste breath explaining to you why you have to change your paradigm and stick to it; he assumes you already know and that that’s why you picked up this book. It’s interesting to read a book like this that doesn’t spend valuable pages selling itself; it knows you’ve already bought it and gets right to work. There’s no 30-days-to-greatness plan here. It’s all about changing long-term views and actions to get a better result. If you’re looking for a quick fix, it’s not here. But it’s not really anywhere. You have to commit to long-standing change for things to get and stay better.This book is full of powerful statements that are designed to catch your attention and stick in your memory. For an e-book, it’s a big risk to use graphics since it’s difficult to control how they look on every device. Even books from big publishing houses have design issues here. But the graphics for Jetstream are clean and well-placed and definitely serve their purpose. Every few pages the concepts shift with a quote as artwork. These quotes guide you and keep you oriented to the matter at hand. I found them to be an excellent though subtle touch that I haven’t seen in many self-published books.It starts a bit on the vague side as Pencilliah works to explain the bigger ideas such as taking the reins. The early chapters use great examples drawn from his own life, but they could use a little more interactivity to keep the reader on the right path. And the diction could be cleaned up just a bit: there are so many multisyllabic words that the writing can be a little dense if you’re not already familiar with the concepts. It’s not difficult to read, but it could be a touch more user-friendly. As the book progresses into more concrete ideas, though, there is much more room for activities and checklists. I feel that any aide like this is best written with these exercises so people have a simple way to take action and track progress. It takes you through understanding that you have the power to shape your own life and aims at helping you find your own star potential. Pencilliah certainly takes on a big project here, but each chapter is organized and it is clear there was some serious planning behind this book.No matter what area of your life you’re working on, you will likely find something helpful in this book. While it can be a quick read, you should plan to spend a good long while working through these concepts. While reading through it once will certainly give you a good understanding of Pencilliah’s approach, no self-help book is meant to be read once, quickly, and then shelved for good. To get from taking the reins to truly being the captain of your own life, it will take time and effort. This book offers a good path to follow and I recommend taking the suggestions here under serious consideration.It isn’t a perfect book, but I think its value far outweighs the few issues I had. From a layout perspective, there are a few too many all-caps and bolded sentences for my liking. It’d be better to trust the writing to speak for itself. And I wouldn’t mind the real-life examples of Pencilliah’s being a little more detailed; when reading nonfiction I like to know as much about my guide as possible. I have no doubts about his credibility, but a richer background helps the reader connect with the author and want to follow his advice even more.There is an entire section toward the end about decisions and the importance of decision-making. Every choice we make matters. Every choice starts a ripple effect. If you’re seriously considering making a change, you can choose to invest in this book. There are plenty out there, yes. And it’s hard to sort through them all. But you’ll see that Pencilliah will give you a great start down the path you’re trying to find. It’s all about making that proactive decision to give yourself a little more control over everything going on around you.