
Title : Unleash the Warrior Within: Develop the Focus, Discipline, Confidence and Courage You Need to Achieve Unlimited Goals
Author : Richard Machowicz
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : A Fantastic Book that gives you the kick up the ass
Its not everyday you find someone writing on subjects they have personally , truly mastered.Richard takes you through his experiences as a Navy Seal and shows you how to face the challenges you face in life. A fantastic book I would recommend to anyone , Thank you for this book Richard.

Title : Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Author : Robert Cialdini
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Brilliant Book! A book you will keep going back to again and again. Worth more than 5 Stars.
I've just finished this book. Wow it was mind blowing!
I'm not going to reiterate all the brilliant reviews made about this book, suffice to say it is a useful guide for going into negotiations and other situations were undue and unfair influence might occur. For example, how to deal with dirty influence tricks or even just pushy salesmen, estate agents or recruitment consultants - you can see the tatics that are being used and side step them or use their tricks against them for your own advantage.
An amazing book. Read it for your own sake.

Title : Change Your Thoughts Meditations: Do the Tao Now!
Author : Wayne W. Dyer
Rating : 2 Stars out of 5.
Summary : This is an acquired taste
As meditation is a personal thing and everyone is drawn to different methods I thought I'd share a bit more about this cd.
It's basically a two line reading of each essay(81 essays) followed by a very loud "DAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO".
Think "AUM" but substitute DAO.
Personally, it's too loud and in my face. I was hoping for a gentle reading of each verse as I have the book and have really enjoyed it(see my review).
This is just an opinion as I know a lot of people like the "AUM". Duz it come with de AUM? No, it comes with the "DAO".

Title : Be Your Own Life Coach: How to Take Control of Your Life and Achieve Your Wildest Dreams
Author : Fiona Harrold
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : A life-changing book
Fiona's fabulous book has confirmed in my mind that I want to become a life-coach. Her style is easy to read, no-nonsense and very persuasive. She has inspired me to change my attitude on many topics and since I have read the book I have become 100% happier with myself and my life. She makes you realise that,if you're unhappy, the person that is responsible for changing that is YOU. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to do something different in their lives but can't quite muster up the courage to achieve it. I would also highly recommend it to budding life-coaches like myself.

Title : Quantum Success: The Astounding Science of Wealth and Happiness
Author : Sandra Anne Taylor
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Scientifically verifiable
Quantum Success is all about personal life transformation and empowerment based on the latest scientifically verifiable findings of quantum physics.
Sandra Taylor clearly explains how to tap into the power that can manifest your dreams so that you can live a more authentic, totally self-expressed and joyous life. The strategies are simple,practical and sure to create amazing results.
Some further reading that I'm sure you will find of interest is a recently released new age novel, a psychological/spiritual adventure about compassion, life transformation, and self-empowerment "Nexus: A Neo Novel" and "The Saint, the Surfer, and the CEO" - remarkable stories about life transformation.

Title : Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Author : Robert Cialdini
Rating : 3 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Good, but not totally convincing or that useful
I bought this book for two reasons - one to make myself more alert to sales techniques, and two to see if there are any useful insights to glean that could be applied to other areas of life.
On both counts the book delivers. Having recently been pitched to at work by a media tracking agency and nearly taken the bait (didn't in the end) I immediately recognised the use of reciprocity and scarcity to try and harry me into signing up. That alone was worth buying the book for, and I will definitely use that insight in future.
In addition, the chapter on consistency is also very useful. I've been involved in trying (and failing) to get people behind certain campaigns in the past. As such the discussion about getting people to make small commitments to establish a self image which they then feel the need to act consistently with both rang true on a personal level, and seems like something worth trying out in future.
So why only three stars? For one I did not find elements of the book convincing. The section dealing with newspaper coverage of suicides is the bit that really troubles me. Some of the data seems both to be limited and have been interpreted quite loosely. I would need a lot more convincing that the stats are being interpreted reasonably, it looks far too rough and ready. Given that this book is really about behavioural biases surely it should be extra careful about interpretaion of data as this is something we humans tend to be very bad at, always looking for patterns that aren't there and so on. That then leads me to query the hypothesis built on top of the data and to be honest I find myself not buying it. That also makes me query whether other chapters suffer from similar flaws.
Secondly, the book isn't actually that useful once you get your head around the key techniques because, as a previous reviewer says, simply having the knowledge that you have biases doesn't make them go away. To be really useful the book should have spent as much time reinforcing ways to resist the influence of biases as it does explaining what they are.
That said it is very readable, and I got what I wanted from it, but it could have been better.

Title : Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
Author : Keith Ferrazzi
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Masterful Networking Tactics
Author Keith Ferrazzi is a master networker who claims that his Palm Pilot holds the names of 5,000 people who will take his phone calls. That's a powerful claim. Starting as a self-made man of humble origins, Ferrazzi developed his social network by helping people and by developing and mastering the techniques for networking. Here, he shares his methods. His light, engaging and entertaining story will motivate those who want to enhance their social and business friendships. The author advocates generosity as the key to success. That's a radical business concept, but he claims it works. It's certainly worth a try. We recommend this book to people who want to be more social, make friends and expand their business connections. It should also prove invaluable for those who are sick of sitting at home on Saturday nights.
Other Related Resources:
1: http://blog.jonudell.net/2007/05/18/motivation-context-and-citizen-analysis-of-government-data/
2: http://iicet.com/archives/1513
3: http://www.myonehundredthings.com/2009/02/obama-offers-transparency/
4: http://www.nikao.ws/2009/03/16/hush-hush-issues/
5: http://www.red-hot-mama.com/2005/9/11/posters-for-the-unmotivated/