(9 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)Robin Sharma born in 1965 is an expert on leadership and personality development. In his fabulous and inspiring story “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” he provides a step by step approach to life with greater balance,happiness,courage and strength. The difference in the way Sharma has put things makes the book very interesting and very simple to read.
The book has been divided into eleven chapters and the flow in the book is natural.It keeps one hooked till the very end and the pleasant feeling lingering in the mind is something wonderful. The story tells about Julian Mantle a very high profile lawyer who had all the goodies in his life and how a massive heart attack brings him back down to earth and connect to his mortality.
The story is told from the perspective of his friend John who adored him and wanted to be like him in all perspectives. Julian decided to give up his law practice and heads to India where his restless soul was pacified and he was transformed into a smiling youthful personality with abundant vitality. He relates his experience with the great Indian Yogi Raman who in turn reveals the techniques of mastering one’s mind.
One quotation which deeply influenced me was
“When your mind is inspired by some great purpose it transcends all limitations and your consciousness expands in all directions. Dormant forces become alive and you discover yourself in a new great wonderful world that you dreamed yourself to be”.
His five step method to make desires come true is very practical;
Step 1 : Having a clear vision of outcome
Step 2 : Create positive pressure to keep oneself inspired.
Step 3 : Never set a goal without attaching a deadline.
Step 4 : Follow a new habit religiously for 21 days makes it a permanent habit.
Step 5 : Enjoy the whole process with a passion that fuels your dreams.
Julian explains the fundamental truth that the only limits in life are that we set ourselves.John explains to Julian how he in his fast moving life was unable to find time for himself. Julian reciprocates with a simple example of a fast moving car not stopping for fuel or conditioning. At last lack of fuel or un-serviced parts catches up with the car and it breaks down. Life is like the same car where we have to take our pit-stops of meditation,exercise and good food to reclaim the engine of our body.This he brings out in his ten rituals of radiant living:
Ritual 1: Solitude – Daily mandatory silent period for half to one hour.
Ritual 2: Physicality – Daily mandatory physical exercise period for half to one hour .
Ritual 3: Live Nourishment – Eating vegetables and avoiding red meat ,junk food.
Ritual 4: Abundant Knowledge – Life long learning.
Ritual 5: Personal Reflection- Take some time for daily introspection of the day’s acts.
Ritual 6: Early Awakening – Wake up daily at 5.
Ritual 7: Music – Listen to good music when you are down and out.
Ritual 8: Spoken word – Daily utter some mantras to free the mind. Man-mind,tra-free.
Ritual 9: Congruent Character – Daily incremental action to build your character.
Ritual 10: Simplicity – Do not complicate. Focus on priorities.
Julian then emphasizes on discipline which can be attained by consistently performing small acts of courage and then tells John that by the time most people figure out what they really want and how to go about it it’s too late stressing the importance of time.
It summarizes with the words
The quality of your life will come down to the quality of your contribution.
Overall a book of wisdom to all those who are in the rat-race for money,power and prestige.
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February 25th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Read this book on a train journey and felt like it was worse than an airport novel. Did not inspire me enough to go 'WOW'. On the other hand, the book also made me realise that I'm a sucker for fiction.
Non-fiction self-help books dont work for me. Nice pointers though—maybe if I ever manage to wake up @ 5, the first thing I might remember is Mr Sharma. You can read his column in Sunday DNA if you like his work Vigil.
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February 25th, 2009 at 10:59 am
Thanks for the comment. I understand your craze for fiction novels.At times even I am.But the point is the book has to be read in the perspective of a personality development book.The book is not to be just casually read over.The points reflected in the books has to be analysed and should be thought of how the same can be implemented in one's own practical life.I am sure transformation cannot be achieved in a day but the same can be done over a period ,trying to implement one at a time.Just after reading the book it had been my endeavour to rise early at 5 which I was not doing before.But you see I tried after that and now i wake up atleast 4 days a week at 5am.Thats the change which it can make.I had been a pure nonveg and now its reduced to twice a week.Other points Iam still trying to imbibe in me.It has definitely not harmed me instead it changed the way I looked life and its outcomes.I recommend this book as this can be the kickstarter for your change journey.Best Wishes.
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February 25th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Agree with you in completeness. I have read this novel and have even listened it over once. If not in totality, the transformation from a crazy lawyer to a enlightened individual was no less than heroic, resulting in his charming his companion of old.
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February 25th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Yes Avineet.Here Julian was able to transform himself after he suffered the worst heart attack of his life and he carries the message home to everyone that they dont have to wait for such events to happen ,instead practice the habits a bit daily and keep themselves fit for achieving their goals.
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February 26th, 2009 at 5:53 am
Will read this book soon.
Liked your article very much.
Warm regards
Rajah
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February 26th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Iam happy to hear that you liked this book.Do make an endeavour to read this good book.But dont swallow the book in one go instead chew it properly so that you will be able to digest the contents.Best of Luck.
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February 26th, 2009 at 11:41 am
It is a good book, I have read it… 21 day rule to get into habit of.. is my take away! and it works.
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February 26th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Its tough to implement as I had experienced.But once implemented its hard to erase also.So the 21 day habit is a good way to replace an unwanted habit with a useful one.
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March 2nd, 2009 at 4:07 am
The topic is good. But the ideas are not practical. Me a person who likes to sit late night. May be…. I 'll try some in future.
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March 3rd, 2009 at 8:02 am
Well it is as per perception. There are no hard and fast rules. The book is only a suggestion to improve the overall personality. We surely can mould it to our liking. The saying is “try to emulate good things”. Human beings are masters of innovation and we can always find better solutions.
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May 7th, 2009 at 1:54 am
Surely an amazing book and is meant for everyone. There are some typical self-help content, but it's very accurate and
well put. If you ever need to read a self-help book, you only need to read this one.
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