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Title: Refuse to Choose!: Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams
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Manufacturer: Rodale Books
List Price: $15.95
Our Price: $5.56
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| Customer Reviews: |
| Refuse to Choose!: Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams by Rodale Books Satisfied with the service!! | | This has been a really good experience. I have ordered several items and have not been disappointed yet. I have confidence in ordering. I hope that you keep up the good work and customer service. | | Refuse to Choose!: Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams by Rodale Books An Amazing description of me! | If you are on of those people who tries something, then gets bored with it, then tries something else and nothing seems to be 'THE THING' that you want to do in life' then this book is for you! You'll find that there's nothing wrong with you - you're just a SCANNER! Barbara Sher tells you how to live happily doing just what you want to do! No matter what you are interested in - then not - you will not feel guilty anymore for not having that GOAL in life that others have and learn to be happy in your own skin, doing your own things! A Must-Read if you fit the profile - and not a bad read for those who live with you! I am so much more at peace with myself and refuse to let others dictate what I 'SHOULD BE DOING' anymore! Thanks Barbara!
Signed Been There Done That in Sedro-Woolley, WA! | | Refuse to Choose!: Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams by Rodale Books A little hope for those of us with "Career ADD" | It was such a relief to read this book and realize I am not the only one who suffers from what my family has termed "Career ADD." Scanner is a much friendlier word. I have always felt that my abilities were unique and special, but I have also suffered the reality of being pulled in too many directions to be really effective at anything.
The best parts of this book, for me, were learning that there are other people who are so similar to me, and utilizing a number of the suggested exercises to great effect.
I suspect that those who gave this book a negative review are either 1) not actually scanners themselves, or 2) expecting more from a book than is fair. Was every single page useful to me? Of course not. Nor did I expect it to be, because everyone is different, and I didn't expect the answers to life's questions to appear in a few hundred pages. No career book can do that.
In particular, I can't agree with a couple of points in Dr. Goodwin's review - first, that Sher tries to neatly categorize scanners into different typologies. While she does come up with titles for different types of scanners that share similar characteristics, Sher herself clearly states that no one will fall neatly into any category. But heck, you have to organize a book somehow.
Second, I can't agree with the assertion that Sher's insights are not new. While others may have published works about "scanner" types or about meandering careers in the past, I fear one might have to be a career counselor to be aware of them. The fact that Sher is reaching a broad audience with this idea IS new, otherwise it would not have struck such a chord among us scanners. If Dr. Goodwin were herself a scanner, and were she not a career counselor, with access to many other similar tomes, she might feel the same way.
For those of you out there who truly are scanners, do yourself a favor and read this book. Will it solve all your problems? No. Will it give you some hope and direction? Yes. | | Refuse to Choose!: Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams by Rodale Books Pat Answers to Real Problems | I should have known better than to pick up this book. If there's one thing I can't stand in a self-help book, it's a relentlessly cheerful writer who categorizes and labels people into different, pat little groups so she can give you lots of standardized remedies.
In this book, the writer postulates that there are a group of people which she calls Scanners, who are so interested in so many things in life that they don't get things done, and feel like they're bad people because they don't want to choose one path in life. The first section of the book is devoted to explaining what Scanners are and how they think, and includes exercises for helping a Scanner feel better about him/herself. The second part further categorizes Scanners into different types (the Serial Scanner, the Double Agent, etc.) and suggest careers or jobs that can work for them.
All of this sounds like it would be helpful, but much of the advice is just common sense, almost all of the career advice is something that I have thought of before, and a lot of it even comes from her own readers via her website's bulletin board.
And frankly, I have to disagree with Ms. Sher in her thinking that it's okay to jump from thing to thing if that's what you want to do. There have been times in my life where I have started something, only to lose interest after a while, but if I pushed myself through that point of disinterest, I gained a much richer understanding and pleasure of the project.
She does have at least one good exercise in the book though, and that's why I'm giving it two stars. She encourages readers to keep a daybook, and write down all the crazy dreams and ideas that one might have. Then, instead of thinking that one has to *do* all those things, just keep the book as a memento of those ideas, in case one ever has the time to get to any of those things. In essence, dreaming up ideas and planning fantasies becomes the object in itself, which I think is a really great idea that takes the pressure off of someone who feels they have to do it all.
But most of the book is just stuff you can come up with yourself, and it certainly won't help me to organize my time, my life, or help me choose a career. | | Refuse to Choose!: Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams by Rodale Books Reduced My Anxiety Level | I enjoyed Sher's book, and it has helped me find some creative solutions to a couple of problems. The concept behind her term, "Scanner," is not entirely a new one (I've always felt that I'm sort of a Renaissance person living in an age of specialization), but, I love the name and I love the reminder that there's nothing wrong with us that needs to be fixed.
Like many "Scanners," I've always thought that life would be easier if I would just make a career choice and go for it. Fortunately/unfortunately, I've never wanted to "settle down," (career-wise) because I've worried that I'd be missing out on something else. Sher gives many suggestions for people like me who despair when faced with the prospect of a boring job.
I'm very lucky to be where I am now--retired! Retired for me, however, has been ramping up my activities--and those activities are largely of my own design. I started my own business. I've written two travel books and published them. I do mini-booktours (yeah, travel!) to promote them.
I've become a long-distance hiker and backpacked thousands of miles here and abroad. I've climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and gone on safari. So I am living one of Sher's greatest recommendations--realize that you CAN have it all, but sometimes you have to do it sequentially!
Barbara's suggestion about doing long-range planning helped reduce my anxiety. Because I am in my sixties, I sometimes ponder how much longer I will be able to go on the strenuous trips I now enjoy. In particular, I had been concerned that I'd never be able to accomplish a big goal: to finish backpacking the Pacific Crest Trail (1,600 more miles). I didn't want to take off for 3 or 4 months in order to do it.
One of Sher's suggestions is to write a six-year plan in order to see that, over time, you can try a variety of things. Because of my age, I decided to reduce that to a four-year plan. With pen and paper in hand, I drew 4 squares and wrote the headings, "2007" "2008" etc. In each box, I wrote 400 miles. I could finish the trail within 4 years by doing 400 miles each year. Since I had been walking those kinds of miles in previous years, the four-year plan seemed possible. This planning took place almost a year ago--and this year I completed the first 400 miles.
My advice to readers is: don't worry about which of Barbara's "types of scanners" you might fit in (cubbyholes never work for me); enjoy her support while you realize that you are not alone, recognize that there are ways to maximize your life as a Scanner. I believe that a full life includes both rewards and challenges. "In Refuse to Choose", Sher offers scanners many creative ways to deal with the challenges.
| | Refuse to Choose!: Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams by Rodale Books Product Description | Don’t know what to do with your life? Drawn to so many things that you can’t choose just one? New York Times best-selling author Barbara Sher has the answer—do EVERYTHING!
With her popular career counseling sessions, motivational speeches, workshops, and television specials, Barbara Sher has become famous for her extraordinary ability to help people define and achieve their goals. What Sher has discovered is that some individuals simply cannot, and should not, decide on a single path; they are genetically wired to pursue many areas. Sher calls them "Scanners"—people whose unique type of mind does not zero in on a single interest but rather scans the horizon, eager to explore everything they see.
In this groundbreaking book, readers will learn:
• what’s behind their "hit and run" obsessions
• when (and how) to finish what they start
• how to do everything they love
• what type of Scanner they are (and which tools they need to do their very best work) |
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