The Motivation Manifesto
Posted on October 15, 2021
Author: Brendon Burchard
My Rating: 3/5
As I read the introduction to this book, which it labels as “The Declaration of Personal Power”, it was getting me pretty excited to read the rest of the book.
“Why, having been endowed with the courageous heart of a lion, do we live as mice?
It seemed to speak to me in a way that I was looking for. At the time I started this book, I was in need of a little motivation.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men and women are created equal, though we do not live equal lives due to differences in will, motivation, effort, and habit. That we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, but that it is incumbent upon each of us to be vigilant and disciplined should we to attain such a vital, free, and happy life.”
Within the introduction it goes on to summarize the 9 Declarations that will be presented in the rest of the book:
- We Shall Meet Life with Full Presence and Power
- We Shall Reclaim our Agenda
- We Shall Defeat our Demons
- We Shall advance with Abandon
- We Shall Practice Joy and Gratitude
- We Shall not Break Integrity
- We Shall Amplify Love
- We Shall Inspire Greatness
- We Shall Slow Time
The introduction does a great job of summarizing these points. The problem with the book starts after the introduction. The rest of the book seemed to drag out the points and fluff them up to a point that it began to be pretty boring to read. Like most books, it was probably twice as long as it needed to be. In my opinion, the introduction was great and could’ve been the book, but I suppose an 11 page book is too short. But as Einstein said, “make things as simple as possible, but not simpler”.
I gave it 3 stars because it did remind me several times throughout the book about being present in the moment. It also give some good, functional, examples of how to do that.
“Slowing time begins, always, with breath. The deeper and longer we draw air in, the more oxygenated our bodies becomes, and the more heightened our energy and presence.”
That was probably my biggest take away from this book – keep trying harder to be more present, always.