Official Review: How to Develop a Winning Self-Image

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joshfee77
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Official Review: How to Develop a Winning Self-Image

Post by joshfee77 »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "How to Develop a Winning Self-Image" by David A. Joyette.]
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3 out of 4 stars
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If you are happy and successful in life, chances are you have good self-esteem and a strong self-image. If your life is not going the way you would like, however, then these two closely linked characteristics need work. Enter Dr. David A. Joyette, whose book, How to Develop a Winning Self-Image: A Psychology of Personal Growth and Development claims to offer the help you need to change your life for the better. As someone unhappy with some key aspects of my life due to my poor self-image, I jumped at the chance to read this book and potentially improve my situation. As Joyette says in his book: "I am sure there are many different ways that you can initiate sweeping change in your life, but most of them require a lot of time and effort. I'm giving you shortcuts. Why wander around, if you can get where you want to go quickly, easily, and safely? These techniques will do that for you. Just be sure you follow them carefully."

At around 140 pages, the book wasn't too long, meaning there was no time to get bogged down in psychology theory or long, drawn-out examples. Dr. Joyette did occasionally include real-life examples to illustrate his points, but they were concise, impactful, and well-placed. I found his book well-planned and laid out in a logical progression, from defining the problem through to implementing a long-term solution in a clear step-by-step way. The book first got me to work out where I was now in terms of my self-image, then described how to develop a more positive view of myself in simple, easy-to-understand language backed by a series of practical exercises. Reading the book, I could easily envision how applying these exercises (though they might seem daunting at first) could improve my life.

The book's conversational style made it enjoyable to read; I felt as if Dr. Joyette was talking directly to me. Each piece of advice was clearly explained and justified to help me understand why it was so important to carry out and continue. The practical chapters each had a "REFLECTIONS" section at the end to reiterate the main points and reinforce the most important messages. This worked well to keep me on track and better cement that chapter's teachings in my mind. By halfway through this book, completing preliminary work on the exercises, I already felt good about the prospect of making positive changes in my life; my brain released plenty of positive endorphins to reward the right sort of mental activity. As a fairly negative person for most of my life, I could literally feel the difference...and it felt great.

This book did need another edit, however, with some minor typographical errors; I found ten in the first 50 pages. These were mainly only punctuation or a stray extra word that had not been deleted during an apparent wording change for a particular sentence. The word "development" on the book's title page was also not capitalised as it should have been. None of these errors were major and they did not detract from the advice offered or its potential effectiveness for any reader looking to improve their life. Another part that didn't quite gel for me was Chapter 8, which specifically addressed the African-American community in a motivational way. I think this was mainly included because Dr. Joyette is black himself. Don't get me wrong; I do applaud him for singling out this maligned minority to challenge them to better themselves, especially since they are still treated differently by many people and are usually paid a disproportionately low salary compared to white people in most occupations. However, presuming this book is a motivational tool for anyone, not just black people, I'm just not quite sure this chapter fit. To use a fiction analogy, it seemed a bit like an unannounced subplot that suddenly popped up as an unexpected tangent to the main plot.

Overall, however, How to Develop a Winning Self-Image: A Psychology of Personal Growth and Development was a fantastic guide to improving your self-image by making real and sustained changes, thereby improving your overall quality of life. I can see that its teachings, habitually applied, could make real positive changes in my life, and would recommend it to anyone who is in any way dissatisfied in their current situation. If not for the minor editing issues, I would definitely rate this book 4 stars. For now, I must rate it 3 out of 4 stars. If you are looking for some simple shortcuts to really improve your self-esteem, look no further.

******
How to Develop a Winning Self-Image
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Stephanie Elizabeth
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Post by Stephanie Elizabeth »

I think this book would be quite helpful to me, as I, like you, need a little confidence boost! Thanks for the wonderful review!
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Post by Clemens Nickleby »

As a man thinks, so is he. Do you think the great self image and self esteem many of our 'successful' leaders tend to have is warranted or delusional? I will pass on the book, but I enjoyed reading the review.
Truth is stranger than Fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. Mark Twain
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joshfee77
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Post by joshfee77 »

Stephanie Elizabeth wrote: 15 Jun 2019, 08:39 I think this book would be quite helpful to me, as I, like you, need a little confidence boost! Thanks for the wonderful review!
Thanks! Confidence - or lack thereof - is something we are blessed - or cursed - with in our formative years. Great that there are self-help books like this for people wanting to improve their lives. It's never too late to change!
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joshfee77
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Post by joshfee77 »

Clemens Nickleby wrote: 15 Jun 2019, 11:27 As a man thinks, so is he. Do you think the great self image and self esteem many of our 'successful' leaders tend to have is warranted or delusional? I will pass on the book, but I enjoyed reading the review.
I think MANY of our "successful" leaders (if you're referring to politicians and similar) are delusional! Still, I think this book is great for the average person who ISN'T delusional to get more out of life. Thanks!
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Post by EishaZafar »

I must say this book is very helpful for those who have self-esteem and confidence issues. Although, I don't have such problems, still I find it very inspiring. I always have a great time reading self-improvement books. It teaches you a lot about own ability to become 'who you are' and 'what you want to be'. All thanks to David A. Joyette and this review.
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joshfee77
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Post by joshfee77 »

EishaZafar wrote: 18 Jun 2019, 03:51 I must say this book is very helpful for those who have self-esteem and confidence issues. Although, I don't have such problems, still I find it very inspiring. I always have a great time reading self-improvement books. It teaches you a lot about own ability to become 'who you are' and 'what you want to be'. All thanks to David A. Joyette and this review.
Great observation! Thanks for your insightful comments. Glad to hear you enjoy books like this. They definitely have something for anyone who is willing to try something new to improve their life.
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Post by CyndiA1 »

I might give this a go. The concept sounds good. The flaws you noted were helpful. I'd rather know ahead of time than stumble upon those.
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Post by 8amaseter »

From your review of this book, I will like to read it. Its good to know that the Author went straight to the point.
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Post by Wanjugush »

This sounds to be more than an ordinary self-help book as it touches on crucial issue of confidence. This is a must read. Awesome review.
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Post by Nizar Ali Shah »

How to Develop a Winning self image by David A. Joyett.The author wants to improve the self confidence level of people so that his or her self image could be improved.He elaborates that if some one is happy and successful in life then it means you life is going the way you would like.If these do not go together then it means then there is a problem related to self esteem and lack of confidence How to develop a Winning Self image: A Psychology of Personal growth and Development was a fantastic guide to improving yourself image by making real and sustained changes,thereby improving your quality of life.Some people are involved in inferiority complex and some are facing superiority complex.The book would help both of them to bring positive changes in themselves.It is true that every human being is hungry of self esteem and he or she is justified as a human being as he or she should be treated fairly and in a well behaved way.
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