Change Your Life in 7 Days (Book & CD) [Paperback]

I bought this book about 2 years ago, because I thought 'there must be more to life than this ordinary hum-drum', but on my own I couldn't figure out what to do with my life, or how to go about it. I started the book once and tried to do it all in 7 days, but this really is ambitious, so I ended up putting it down for a few months. It was probably the fact that I couldn't come up with an alternative that I thought 'pick it up again, give it a proper try' and this time I took my time and it worked a treat - that was 18 months ago.

That is my advice to you, give it a proper try. What Paul aims to do is simply empower YOU to change YOUR life, no one else can, will, or should, do it for you. Some other reviewer wrote 'it is no magic bullet', this is true, but nowhere does the author promise that he'll do all the work for you - if only life were that easy. All I can say is if you dedicate a little time (and regularly) to his techniques as well as listening to the CD, you will see the changes you are looking for. He is open and honest with you and reiterates that it is up to you to practise. The exercises are clear, straightforward, engaging, and after a few tries, easy to do. Paul's advice is not airy-fairy, and unlike a lot of other self help books it is not vague - the jobs he asks you to do are specific, and when you think about the exercises and the effects, they are quite logical.

However, I suggest that the title of 'change...in seven days' is a bit unrealistic. To do what he asks (and do it right) in just seven days is impossible if you have a job, a family, if you commute, or whatever. I made significant changes within 3-4 weeks, and other changes occurred simply by doing a little and often. I stress that you need to really visualise, really employ your imagination 100%. It is worth it though. Regarding the CD recording, don't pay too much attention to what is being said, he is speaking to your unconscious after all. Just enjoy the relaxation.

The things that improved for me are, most noticebly, I suffered badly with sweating hands and feet, every day, morning til bedtime since I was 13. It affected my confidence and of course was pretty uncomfortable being swollen up all the time. I had tried expensive hypnotherapy which eased it for a few days but didn't cure it. I always felt it was psychological, and when I did Paul's techniques of finding your 'authentic self' and vividly imagining myself at my best, I always visualised myself with lovely dry hands and feet, smiling and shaking hands confidently with people. After about 3 weeks of doing the techniques every day (or second day), I had about 25 'dry' days out of every month. A pretty decent leap forward I say. I still suffer with it now and then, but I take a few minutes and run through the visualisation techniques and the problem quickly goes. The author does not suggest he will work miracles, he just helps you to help yourself.

Other improvements include a big boost in self-confidence, something that friends and family notice and comment on (this just causes a bigger boost again). I am calmer and don't worry so much. I value myself a lot more than before, and dare I say it, love myself a bit more; job offers and nice salary increases have occurred; working life has improved a lot too, I have even gotten relief from IBS. Yes, I may have gotten there on my own, but it would have taken me honestly about 5-10 years. The advice and techniques in this book have brought me very far, honestly. It is same with anything, if you want good to come into your life, it will, but if you only worry and fret and see the bad.... It is not rocket science.

By the way, we aren't related!

Having owned this book for several months I can definatly say that this is the best self help book I own. This is the kind of book you can read over and over and still learn something new each time.

The book focuses on reforming just about every major area of your life: emotions, your self image, living your dreams, being healthy and wealthy ect. You do one chapter per day and each chapter contains exercises for you to complete with anything from writing down your goals to visualising a new positive self image. On top of this the book also contains a 'mind programming CD'.

My only slight critisism of the book is that it needs a new title. You are met with a title boldly proclaiming to change your life in one week only to get to the end of the book to be told you need to 'change your life one week at a time to see the results'.

This doesnt really bother me, however, and I still give this 5 stars, because its such a great book to read and follow- In this book what counts is what works- none of the cheese you often find in your average self help book.

I used the 7 day program and found that within one week it certainly had made a difference; but i felt slightly dissapointed because I expected more- however after a while because it was such a great book I picked it back up again and began applying the techniques on a longer term basis and I can definatly say they work best that way.

Conclusion- brilliant book; very well written containing some of the best self help stuff available that does work, but dont take the title too seriously, because it will take longer than 7 days to really make big changes.

excellent book and even better cd. cd not only helps you to change yourself and your ways, but certainly helps you to relax. i am a mother of four young children and when I want to find peace and a push to get things done - i turn to the book and cd. it is a commitment but it really does work. it has helped me to get better organised, which is what i wanted and on top of that it has helped me to improve my appearance and give purpose and control to my everyday choices.