JFDI: The Definitive Guide To Realising Your Dreams (Paperback)

So, with some relish, I anticipated its arrival in the post and hoped to start planning my life with some detail for once! I read it from cover to cover and tried implementing the exercises. I was left with a strange sense of satisfaction and frustration!

Okay, here are the upsides. Firstly, it's the most detailed book you're ever going to come across in the self-improvement field. It's brilliantly packed with information. Secondly, it makes the fairly unique and important connection between action and emotions; this book recognises that we have to be emotionally engaged with our dreams/ambitions in order to make progress. Thirdly, it has a terrific 12 step process that involves phases including Brain, Emotion, Strategy, Tactics and Attention, Immersion and Momentum. By taking us through the 12 step process, we're made absolutely 100% aware of what we're doing, why we're doing it, how we feel about it and what will happen if we don't do it. You don't find this kinda detail in most books. There is a real sense of total and unconditional comprehension.

The downsides. Well, superficially, the book has a horribly tight binding!! This might seem a slight criticism, but it is in fact very, very annoying. The book itself is small and thick, tightly bound together. Given that this book is thoroughly detailed from start to finish, you'll find that you need to constantly refer to it in order to do your exercises. This is almost impossible given the tightness of the binding; I tried using heavy paperweights in order to keep the book spread open, but it still closed on me! And because the book is small, any sizeable object will just obscure the writing. This was a major annoyance to me, and you'll realise exactly what I mean when you receive the book! The second major criticism I have for the book is that maybe it is TOO detailed. Yeah, I know, that sounds crazy, right? But 'succinct' isn't a word that I'd apply to this book. Don't get me wrong, there's absolutely no chaff here whatsoever, and that's to be admired. Nick Bate's clearly a guy who believes in getting down to the nitty-gritty ASAP. But it did take me some considerable time to get a good understanding of the AIM 4 BEST model, and it took me more than a considerable amount of time to write up a plan based on that model! Having said that, I must say that it was an exceptionally thorough plan and one I'm glad I did.

Overall, I'd rate Nick Bate's JFDI pretty highly. I, for one, love what the bloke has to say on self-improvement. Yes, the 'F' in 'JFDI' DOES stand for what you think it does! That's the amount of passion this guy has. It's also nice to know that he isn't your typical nicey-nice life coach, nor is he a grinning, cheesey American life coach. He's like the smart guy down the pub who knows how to boot you into shape. I think that 9 readers out of 10 will connect with Bate in a way they don't with all the other genre authors out there. It's also worth noting that it's a wonderfully thorough book, and after you've finished making your plans, you will be all thought-out! You'll have little left in the tank, so to speak. And I think that's what Bate is aiming for, namely no more excuses (or 'BS', as he refers to it!). He aims to smash the culture of 'rationalising', and quite rightly too. Basically, if you finish the plans laid out in this book, you'll have nothing left to rationalise! It'll all be down on paper, so if you don't get down to some action, you'll probably be one of the few. The binding and overall publishing values of the book leave a lot to be desired, so I have to knock a star off for that, and the book is certainly one that requires a lot of attention, work and patience.

This is a straight-talking self-improvement book meant for those who are at the end of their tether and really ready to give it a good crack. If you're looking for an open-and-shut accessible, glossy book, this one isn't for you. But if you want the most thorough, detailed, exhaustive book on the market, you won't do better. I would recommend this publication over any other. Four stars.