Creative Living for Today by Maxwell Maltz

Maltz, Maxwell.  Creative Living for Today.  1967.  New York: Pocket Books, 1973.

Maxwell Maltz is known for his self-help books, especially Psycho-Cybernetics.  He got into the field because of observations he made as a plastic surgeon.  He found that the change in appearance he created brought about a transformation in some, freeing them to be happy, engaged people.  Others were just as depressed and disappointed after the surgery as before.  The difference, he decided, was self-image.

In Creative Living for Today, Maltz encourage people to have a positive, realistic self-image.  He says life should be lively: creative, interesting, engaging, adventurous.  For too many, life is dull, disconnected, and fearful.  We can choose which kind of life we lead, and it is largely a matter of how we think about ourselves.

Maltz intends the book to be practical inspiration for living the good life.  In it, he offers advice on how to practically improve your self-image and your life.

Goals are very important to Maltz. Large and small, long-term and daily, goals give us something to move toward.  Goals and self-image have an effect on each other.  To pursue a goal, we must be able to image we can achieve it.  Achieving challenging, realistic goals strengthens our self-image as people who can succeed.  In addition, activity and productivity is pleasurable in itself.  Endeavor to enjoy what you do.

Engagement is another major issue for the author.  To withdraw from life, and especially to isolate yourself from other people, is to separate yourself from pleasure.  Relationships with people are some of the greatest things we can enjoy.  Admittedly, life and relationships can be difficult, but that is something we all face.  Maltz argues that engagement is good, even necessary, and if we see ourselves as capable of living well and having good relationships even in the face of difficulties, which he says is true, then our self-image will help us live it.

Maltz doesn’t present a world where we can have perfection if we just think right.  Everybody gets hurt; we all have emotional scars.  Maturity is learning to accept this imperfect world and living creatively in it.  We must occasionally create some mental space for ourselves to be refreshed so we can engage life with energy, learn to forgive ourselves and others, and constantly tend our self-image.

Maltz illustrates his points with many stories.  Most of these come from his own life, sometimes his dealings with patients, but often drawing on other experiences.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

Attitude is Everything by Jeff Keller

Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar

The Velveteen Principles by Toni Raiten-D’Antonio

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The Magic Power of Self-Image Psychology

Surgeon Maxwell Maltz proposed that we are powerfully motivated to—actually must—produce in reality our self-image. If one wants to improve his life, he must improve his self-image. Maltz elaborates this theory, along with advice on improving self-image, in The Magic Power of Self-Image Psychology.

In an early chapter, Maltz introduces a though experiment. He encourages you to imagine yourself in a theater. You’ll find that you are also the primary actor in the show. In addition you are the writer and director. This is your self-image and you are in control—if you want to be.

Maltz returns to this concept of watching a film or play throughout the book. You can recall previous successes and bring that sense of confidence and accomplishment into the present moment to help you act with boldness. You can imagine yourself taking on challenges and overcoming them before it happens. You can use your imagination to anticipate problems. People often do this to stir up their fear and talk themselves into withdrawing, but you can also do it to invent solutions and find answers to objections so that you can proceed with reasonable confidence.

After introducing the idea of self-image, Maltz uses the remaining chapters to discuss building a healthy self-image to help you be happier and more successful in various situations or aspects of life. This covers a lot of ground, which is not easily summarized. Some of the advice seemed useful and interesting to me.

For instance, he discusses goals. Goals should be your own (not someone else’s). They should be realistic. Visualize your success (in that theater in your mind).

It’s important to be yourself. Don’t be afraid of being different. Don’t be afraid of seemingly perfect people. Accept yourself as a human being with strength and weaknesses; don’t beat yourself up. Express yourself in positive ways.

It’s natural to experience fear. Be open about it; fears seem less bad when they are brought out into the light. Solve problems as well as you can—imperfect solutions can still make things better. Once you’ve done what you can, think about something else.

Throughout the book, Maltz reiterates the basic theme. Your unconscious mind is working to produce what you want. Give it good and clear instructions by having a good, positive, realistic self-image. Your imagination, Maltz refers to it as your “success mechanism,” will guide you.

Maxwell Maltz also wrote Creative Living for Today.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Succeed by Heidi Grant Halvorson

This Year I Will... by M. J. Ryan

Maltz, Maxwell. The Magic Power of Self-Image Psychology. 1964. New York: Pocket Books, 1970.

You are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero

Making money starts in your mind according to Jen Sincero, author of You are a Badass at Making Money. Your wealth, or lack of it, has a lot to do with your mindset.

The things we think and say, even and maybe especially in your subconscious mind, affect our behavior related to money. If you’re making less than you want, you probably have beliefs and thoughts that are holding you back.

Fortunately, you can change your mind. Much of Sincero’s book is focused on ways you can get a new perspective on money and change your habits of thought. New behaviors and more money should follow.

Of course, changing deeply ingrained beliefs and habits that you’ve practice for years can be difficult. It requires persistence and determination.

It also requires action. At first, you’re unlikely to know how you’re going to make more money. You’ll have some ideas, and you should act on them. You’ll have questions and you should seek out answers.

Sincero suggests you’ll have help along the way. This is where things get a little far out. She says there is a universal intelligence trying to give you what you want. Our consistent thoughts tell the universe what we want and how much we want it. If we want positive things, like being rich enough to do a lot of cool stuff, we should have strong positive emotions as much as we can right now.

This notion of universal intelligence is common to self-help literature, especially related to wealth. Sometimes the power is ascribed to the subconscious mind, as in the case of Maxwell Maltz, but often this power is seen to rest in some outside or all permeating force, which is some people’s conception of God.

Actually, a lot of the ideas you’ll find in Sincero’s book are common to the genre. The humorous and entertaining way she presents the material is unique. Books like this are sometimes dense, brow-beating or far out there, but Sincero’s humorous, easy-going tone and straightforward style makes for easy reading.

Jen Sincero also wrote You are a Badass.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

Acres of Diamonds by Russel H. Conwell

Creative Living for Today by Maxwell Maltz

Gratitude by Melody Beattie

The Magic Power of Self-Image Psychology by Maxwell Maltz

Make Miracles in Forty Days by Melody Beattie

Mindset by Carol S. Dweck

The Secret of the Ages by Robert Collier

Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker

Write It Down, Make It Happen by Henriette Anne Klaus

Sincero, Jen. You are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth. New York: Viking, 2017.

Become a Better You by Joel Osteen

Become a Better You was Joel Osteen’s follow-up to his first book, Your Best Life Now. Osteen even presents the book as a continuation of the theme and purpose of its predecessor.

Each chapter is a topical sermon on reaching your potential in some aspect of life. The aspects are personal growth, positive self-image, relationships, habits, faith and passion.

I have previously criticized Osteen for taking self-help advice and wrapping it up in religion. I see Norman Vincent Peale and Robert H. Schuller in much the same light. A defense all of these pastors might raise is that they are focusing on practical matters of living well. A head full of religious knowledge that doesn’t change your life for the better is doing no good; it’s not the life Christians are called to.

I agree. I also see in Jesus and the apostles teachers who could both delve deep into the scripture and provide very practical instruction based on it. Religious meditation and working to make the world a better place—even if little seems to come of it—go hand-in-hand in Christianity.

In one area Osteen has a strong foundation: relationships. It is clear from the Bible that God cares very much about how we relate to and treat each other. Osteen’s use of scriptures are apropos in these chapters. The sermons hold up when read with a Bible in the other hand; something that is weaker in the other chapters.

Joel Osteen also wrote

Break Out

I Declare

Readings from Your Best Life Now

You Can, You Will

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

Be All You Can Be! by John C. Maxwell

Complaint Free Relationships by Will Bowen

Creative Living for Today by Maxwell Maltz

Faith by Jimmy Carter

Life's Not Fair, but God is Good by Robert H. Schuller

The Magic Power of Self-Image Psychology by Maxwell Malts

Positive Imaging by Norman Vincent Peale

Power in Praise by Merlin R. Carothers

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale

Self-Love by Robert H. Schuller

You Can Become the Person You Want to Be by Robert H. Schuller

You Can if You Think You Can by Norman Vincent Peale

Osteen, Joel. Become a Better You: Seven Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day. New York: Free Press, 2007.

Break Out by Joel Osteen

In Break Out, Joel Osteen encourages readers to leave behind limiting beliefs and stretch themselves to have faith for and achieve a bigger life. The themes of this book are very similar to those of his other books.

First, Osteen teaches that God can turn things around. Your past is not an indicator of your future. God can make things change quickly. In the meantime, Osteen encourages readers to do what is right.

In light of this, one should dream big dreams. Not only can God turn things around, He can accomplish more in your life than you can imagine. Hope for things that seem beyond your reach; God can help you achieve them.

Because you are not living alone, but always have the aid of God, you don’t have to worry about being inadequate. If you lack anything you need to achieve your God-given dream, He can provide what you need.

This likewise should affect your prayers. Talk to God about your bid dreams. Especially talk to God about the promises in His Word or examples of how He had provided similar help to others.

As I have mentioned in reviews of other books by Osteen, his works are not especially or uniquely Christian. Like the works of Norman Vincent Peale or Robert H. Schuller, if you strip out any mention of God, you’ll still have a self-help book. An the self-help messages may help you be happier and achieve more. A Christian message, however, cannot be stripped of Christ, why we need him, and what He does for us, and still have content.

Joel Osteen also wrote

I Declare

You Can, You Will

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested it

Be All You Can Be! by John C. Maxwell

Creative Living for Today by Maxwell Maltz

Life's Not Fair, but God is Good by Robert H. Schuller

Positive Imaging by Norman Vincent Peale

Power in Praise by Merlin R. Carothers

The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale

You Can if You Think You Can by Norman Vincent Peale

Osteen, Joel. Break Out: 5 Keys to Go Beyond Your Barriers and Live an Extraordinary Life. New York: FaithWords, 2013.

You Can, You Will by Joel Osteen

In You Can, You Will, megachurch pastor Joel Osteen discusses qualities of a winner. Actually, Osteen might say that you’re already a winner, you just need to start believing and acting one to see in come to fruition.

First, winners have a vision and they stay focused on in. A practical way that Osteen suggests to keep your vision before your eyes is to put things in your environment, like sayings or objects, that remind you of your vision.

Winners stay focused on their goals. In particular, they don’t get derailed by trying to please everyone or to please people who are never happy. They know the difference between being kind and generous and taking improper responsibility for the happiness of others.

Osteen encourages people to expect good things to happen. Reinforce this belief by actively remembering good things that have happened to you in the past.

Be positive intentionally. Do your best to enjoy whatever you can in your current situation, even while you hope and work for something better.

Winners strive for excellence. Do the best you can and look for ways to improve. Show your desire for excellence by taking care of yourself and your things.

Always be growing. If you’re not working to improve your abilities, you’ll get left behind. Besides, if you have big dreams, there are probably many things you need to learn and improve on your way to achieving them.

Make service a lifestyles. Try to make life actually better for actual people. As a bonus, you’ll have more satisfaction with life.

Finally, be enthusiastic. Stir up your passion. It’s easy to get bogged down and discouraged, so you have to intentionally maintain a good attitude that will carry you through rough times.

Mostly, this is standard self-help material. Osteen touches on a more deeply and fundamentally Christian topic in the chapter on serving others. The Bible repeatedly describes God as a helper of the poor, widowed, orphan and oppressed. He repeatedly expresses the pleasure he takes in His people when they help needy people.

Though he doesn’t devote a chapter too it, Osteen emphasizes the need to surround yourself with good people. You need to spend time with people who will challenge and encourage you. Spend as much time as you can with people you want to be like.

Joel Osteen also wrote I Declare.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

Be All You Can Be! by John C. Maxwell

Creative Living for Today by Maxwell Maltz

Life's Not Fair, but God is Good by Robert H. Schuller

Positive Imaging by Norman Vincent Peale

Power in Praise by Merlin R. Carothers

The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale

You Can if You Think You Can by Norman Vincent Peale

Osteen, Joel. You Can, You Will: 8 Undeniable Qualities of a Winner. New York: Faith Words, 2014.

Readings from Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen

Daily Readings from Your Best Life Now, is a daily devotional adapted from Joel Osteen’s breakout bestseller Your Best Life Now. The primary divisions of the book follow that of the source material. Likewise, the body of each short chapters is adapted closely from the original material. However, this book is organized differently. It is divided into 90 chapters, each one kept short in order to fit into a daily reading schedule.

At the top of each chapter is a reference to a passage of scripture. The chapters in the book are not expositions on the scripture; Osteen is plain in the introduction that that was not his intention. Osteen’s books, like his televised sermons, are topical rather than expositional. I thought that the connection between the scripture reading and the chapters were sometimes tenuous.

I’ll admit I took much longer than 90 days to finish this book (I probably first opened it shortly after it was published in 2005). That may have injured my sense of the book as a whole, but I think that the book was written with the hope that each chapter would be able to stand on its own as a sermonette of encouragement.

Encouragement is a good word for the book. It’s the theme through every part from encouragement to dream bigger to encouragement to press on in the hard times.

That leads also to what I think is the weakness of the book, and Osteen’s ouvre in general. It seems to draw from the theme and concepts of self-help as much (or more) as from the Bible. Even in the introduction, Osteen speaks in one sentence of wanting people to draw near to God and in the next of helping readers “unlock the doors of a fuller life.” These are not mutually exclusive pursuits, but that depends a lot on your concept of a fuller life.

I don’t mean to be too critical of Osteen. Obviously, I read several of his books and books by his predecessors as preachers of positivity in popular culture, Robert H. Schuller and Norman Vincent Peale. I have felt encourage by reading the books of these men, but I also leave there books feeling like something much deeper is missing.

Joel Osteen also wrote

Break Out

I Declare

You Can, You Will

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

Be All You Can Be! by John C. Maxwell

Creative Living for Today by Maxwell Maltz

Life's Not Fair, but God is Good by Robert H. Schuller

Positive Imaging by Norman Vincent Peale

Power in Praise by Merlin R. Carothers

The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale

Self-Love by Robert H. Schuller

You Can Become the Person You Want to Be by Robert H. Schuller

You Can if You Think You Can by Norman Vincent Peale

Osteen, Joel. Daily Readings from Your Best Life Now. New York: Warner Faith, 2005.

250 Books Reviewed on Keenan’s Book Reviews

Since starting this blog, I've posted reviews of 250 books.  The most recent 50 are listed below in alphabetical order and their are links at the bottom of this post for a continuation of the list of all 250 books.

First Time Reviews

12 “Christian” Beliefs That Can Drive You Crazy by Henry Cloud & John Townsend

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown by Paul Malmont

Attitude in a Nutshell by Sam Glen

Be All You Can Be! by John C. Maxwell

The Big Con by David W. Maurer

The Big Roads by Earl Swift

Canals and Their Architecture by Robert Harris

Creative Living for Today by Maxwell Maltz

Colossians

Deal with It! by Paula White

Defining Noah Webster by K. Alan Snyder

Deuteronomy

Eat That Cookie! by Liz Jazwiec

Elixir by Brian Fagan

Ephesians

First Corinthians

First Samuel

First Thessalonians

Galatians

It’s Not About Me by Max Lucado

Joshua

Judges

Just Say Thanks! by R. T. Kendall

Just Write by Walter Dean Myers

Life is So Good by George Dawson & Richard Glaubman

Katy Depot Historic Site edited by Deborah Biermann

Majestie by David Teems

Make Miracles in Forty Days by Melody Beattie

Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick

Pastoral Letters

The Peter Principle by Laurence J. Peter & Raymond Hull

Power in Praise by Merlin R. Carothers

On the Mainlines by William B. Claycomb

The Pentateuch

Pulp Art by Robert Lesser

The Revenge of Kali-Ra by K. K. Beck

Revved! by Harry Paul and Ross Reck

Ruth

Scholastic’s A+ Guide to Book Reports by Louise Colligan

Second Corinthians

Second Thessalonians

Second Timothy

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

Secrets You Keep from Yourself by Dan Neuharth

Stop Whining, Start Living by Laura Schlessinger

Titus

The Velveteen Principles by Toni Raiten-D’Antonio

The Victory of Reason by Rodney Stark

Water by Steven Solomon

Additional and Expanded Reviews

Majestie by David Teems

Continuation of list of 250 books reviewed

First 25 Reviews

Reviews 26-50

Reviews 51-75

Reviews 76-100

Reviews 101-150

Reviews 151-200

I Declare by Joel Osteen

I’m not sure what to make of Joel Osteen.  You may have seen him on TV preaching from the pulpit of the megachurch he pastors in Houston.  I recently finished his book I Declare.

I Declare is 31 declarations intended for the reader to speak aloud.  Each is followed by a couple of pages of related comments or illustrative stories.  Osteen’s notion is, as he puts it in the introduction, “Whenever we say something, either good or bad, we are giving life to what we are saying.”

It is an attractive message.  Osteen even says some things I agree with.

For instance, he speaks and writes a lot about the goodness, benevolence and love of God.  God loves us.  Christ on the cross is the great evidence of this, and it is far from the only evidence.

I even agree that what we say is important.  The things we say should bless God and encourage others.  Our speech should be full of gratitude and hope.  I think that our thoughts and emotions, and through them our actions, are affected by the things we say and hear.  We are helped and harmed by words.  For our part, we should strive to say what is helpful.

The leap Osteen makes is that “Our words have creative power.”  He means actual power to directly affect things in the world.  He says we should speak aloud to our problems because the world listens and obeys.  Osteen alludes to Bible verses that support his view.  I think he has selected verses and emphasized them over the rest of the Bible.  There are instances of God, prophets, and apostles performing miracles through spoken words.  They also prayed, smeared mud on eyes, built model cities in the dirt, cast shadows, held up staffs, or were simply touched.  In the Bible we can see that God is active in His creation, especially for the salvation of man, even when His actions are apparent to us, even in Biblical books in which He is barely mentioned.

I think this muddies the water on faith, too.  Is faith fundamentally trusting God, knowing that He is loving us and caring for us even in very difficult circumstances?  Is faith a power in itself, made effective by our words?  Maybe these definitions aren’t mutually exclusive, but they lead to very different expectations.

Though it has some Biblical dressing, it seems to me that I Declare is little different than what you might find in self-help books that come from other perspectives.  Sometimes I thought the premise is little different from that of The Secret.  I think The Secret was a great way packaging a message (and separating people from their money), but it is not great way to improve a person’s life.

I encourage you to read the Bible for yourself.  Get help from knowledgeable people and good resources, but wrestle with God’s Word directly and prayerfully.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

Be All You Can Be! by John C. Maxwell

Creative Living for Today by Maxwell Maltz

Power in Praise by Merlin R. Carothers

Osteen, Joel.  I Declare: 31 Promises to Speak Over Your Life.  New York: Faith Words, 2012.

Google

New & Interesting Stuff April 5, 2012

April Featured Book: The Gospels

April Featured Category: Christianity

Creative Living for Today by Maxwell Maltz (227)

Good Friday & Easter Links

He stores up wisdom for the upright

Judges (226)

New and Interesting Stuff March 7, 2012

Notes on Collecting

The Velveteen Principles by Toni Raiten-D’Antonio (225)

New & Interesting Stuff December 10, 2016

Amos

Daniel

Empires of Light by Jill Jonnes

Hosea

How to Fail at Almost Anything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams

Infrastructure News (Mostly Missouri)

Joel

The Magic Power of Self-Image Psychology by Maxwell Maltz

New & Interesting Stuff November 14, 2016

The Powerhouse by Steve Levine

400 Books Reviewed on Keenan's Book Reviews

I’ve posted reviews of 400 books on this blog. It’s hard to believe.  Here are links to the 50 most recent posts. Further down are links to more reviews.

First Time Reviews

A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin

Amazing Fantastic Incredible by Stan Lee, Peter David & Colleen Doran

Amos

Bottled Lightning by Seth Fletcher

Break Out by Joel Osteen

The Caped Crusade by Glen Weldon

Circles by James Burke

Daniel

Do Less Get More by Shaa Wasmund

Ecclesiastes

Empires of Light by Jill Jonnes

The Explorer King by Robert Wilson

Ezekiel

General Epistles

The Grid by Gretchen Bakke

Habakkuk

Hedy's Folly by Richard Rhodes

Hosea

How to Fail at Almost Anything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams

I Am Spock by Leonard Nimoy

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

The Imperial Cruise by James Bradley

In Memory Yet Green by Isaac Asimov

Jeremiah

Joel

Jonah

Lamentations

Lights Out by Ted Koppel

The Magic Power of Self-Image Psychology by Maxwell Maltz

Micah

Nahum

Obadiah

The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People by David Niven

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

The Powerhouse by Steve Levine

Psalms

Readings from Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen

The Real World of Sherlock Holmes by Peter Costello

Reckless by Chrissie Hynde

The Right to Write by Julia Cameron

Rising Tide by James M. Barry

Rust by Jonathan Waldman

Song of Solomon

Technology in World Civilization by Arnold Pacey

Why Science Does Not Disprove God by Amir Aczel

The Wright Brothers by David McCollough

The Writings

You are a Badass by Jen Sincero

You Can Become the Person You Want to Be by Robert H. Schuller

You Can, You Will by Joel Osteen

Continuation of list of 400 books reviewed

First 25 Reviews

Reviews 26-50

Reviews 51-75

Reviews 76-100

Reviews 101-150

Reviews 151-200

Reviews 201-250

Reviews 250-300

Reviews 301-350