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

I was so convinced after reading the "I can make you thin" book(having gone from a complete cynic to full convert) that I wanted to immediately find all the other stuff Paul Mckenna had written and produced. I have to say the results are fantastic. apply yourself to the exercises and keep an open mind. It's very straight forward and cheerful in it's style and doesn't go for the american shmaltzy(?) style which would have put me off straight away. And it's not for business types exclusively either, I'm a musician with quite a large debt which I'm now convinced won't be there all that long. I've been diagnosed in the past with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Anxiety, Clinical Depression and various other mental health issues but nothing anyone has said to me has helped me, personally, as much as this book. I'm not saying it's a cure for these things but it makes you approach your life differently and it certainly worked for me.It basically teaches you to unlearn your natural responses if they are negative and make them into something very positive.Of course you can't change your life in 7 days but you can certainly alter the course and in a few years time I believe I will look back at the week I've spent reading this book and think it was a turning point. I agree with the other reviewer about the C.D (once you get past the cheesy-ish voiceover) it really does work! I think he's a genius, but I also think most of us have the potential to be geniuses having read this book! I really was a complete sceptic and am now convinced of the benefits of neuro-linguistic programming/suggestion/hypnosis, whatever you want to call it I just know it works. Thanks Paul, you've really changed my life!Dom

Paul Mckenna is best known for his television hypnosis shows, and you might be thinking that this is a kind of spin off gimmick book, but it isn't. Change Your Life in Seven Days is really very good.

McKenna's writing style is quite light, which makes the ideas easy to digest and makes you comfortable with doing the daily tasks. You are introduced to one task per day, and so you can get to grips with each bit easily and build on each day.

The CD that comes with the book is of a very high quality, the sound is clear, and the music soothing. When you listen to it twice a day, you can just let the hypnotic effect resonate through you. Many of the things that McKenna says chime with the daily tasks in the book, which ensures that you know the CD and the book work together as a pair.

After the first day of listening and reading you are likely to have a bright, beaming smile and a more colourful outlook. The daily tasks that McKenna presents allow you to see all kinds of possibilities to extend the richness of what is already in your life and also to expand your horizons in the directions that suit you best.

This is a wonderful book, full of genuine insight, and has all the tools to get you up and on your way to whoever it is that you want to be more of. All it takes from you is a little time every day to gain your own rewards.

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!