Book Review: Subject - Professional Development Skills

Title: Live Your Dreams - Let Reality Catch Up
Author: Roger Ellerton, Ph.D, CMC
Publisher Tafford Publishing
ISBN: 141204709-9

"Think it, act it, become it." "People are what people do". "Actions speak louder than words." These are well-known, often quoted aphorisms and they're all true. The question is: why do we do what we do, and why do we choose to do it that way? I am a behaviouralist by training and I love watching and studying people. I can't help but wonder why people behave a certain way. If we are born into a certain behavioural style, can we change? Can we become someone else? The short answer is yes, I think we can. I believe it's all in how we program ourselves to react in any given situation to get a desired result. (Good habit = Good result. Bad habit = Bad result.)

As adults, we can learn new habits. We can train ourselves to stop doing one thing and start doing another. And if we do it often enough, we have created a new habit. Sounds simple enough BUT it's easier said than done. If you are looking to make a permanent change in how you go about doing the things you do to get a more favorable result, then the first thing you need to do is go out and buy yourself a copy of Roger Ellerton's new book, Live Your Dreams - Let Reality Catch Up: NLP & Common Sense for Coaches, Managers and You. Ellerton believes that you have patterns, habits, strategies and programs for everything you do. He believes that some of these patterns serve you, but others do not - often resulting in unwanted outcomes. The idea here is that if you think and act like Donald Trump you should in time experience the same results that 'The Donald' gets.

Think of NLP as the software program that your brain uses to search your data base when you need to come up with a response to a certain situation. NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) will help you identify those thought processes that are blocking you from getting a more positive result and teach you how to reprogram your brain so you respond in a more favorable way the next time. (Change the input to change the output.) Stephen R. Covey talks about success as being a matter of choice: "Between stimuli and response is the opportunity to choose how you want to react in any given situation." Only you get to decide on how you want to react.

Ellerton believes we are all on a journey. "If you are open to it, this book will assist you with your journey, and you will make exciting discoveries along the way - discoveries that will only serve to enhance the remainder of the journey." I believe the biggest challenge facing most people is to have the strength and courage to get out of their own way, and to have the patience and endurance to hang in there and see their journey through. You have to create a picture in your mind's eye as to where you want to end up and then act your way to success.

Students and practitioners of NLP will find Ellerton's book to be a great addition to their resource library. For most readers, this book will educate and enlighten more than entertain and amuse. Take advantage of Ellerton's 15-plus years of studying, talking about and using NLP principals and techniques, both personally and professionally. You will become the better for it. Go ahead - stick your toe in the water and then take the plunge. I'll see you in the deep end! To find out more about Roger Ellerton, PhD and NLP visit www.renewal.ca.