Book Review: "Tapping the Source: Using the Master Key System for Abundance and Happiness" by Gladstone, Greninger, and Selby

Wouldn't it be great if life had an instruction manual? Fortunately, every now and then, someone writes a book that gives us, in no uncertain terms, step-by-step instructions on how to achieve success and happiness in life. Tapping the Source is that type of book.

Tapping the Source starts with how authors Gladstone, Greninger, and Selby serendipitously collaborate to expound on the wisdom of the Master Key System introduced by Charles Haanel in the early 1900s. Haanel had shared how meditation, manifestation, and being one with the Universal Mind (also known as Creative Spirit, Infinite Creator, or Divine) can influence the people and events around us into making our aspirations come true.

What makes Tapping the Source stand out from other self-help books is it draws from an expert who has been the role model of many successful businessmen and personalities over the past century. The book's authors, themselves, use Haanel's secrets in their own lives. Here, they present these secrets in practical, present-day, layman's terms, for regular people like us to use.

The book quotes Haanel extensively. The authors elaborate on Haanel's teachings and translate them into a manifestation process anchored on seven focus phrases that we can utter several times a day. This manifestation process works around the Law of Attraction, the secret of giving, the power of positive thinking, and direct communication with the Source. It may all sound nebulous, but the authors succeeded in presenting Haanel's concepts and teachings in clear and concise terms.

Tapping the Source is a life instruction manual. The manifestation logic and the actionable focus phrases serve as a blueprint for fulfilling our desires, achieving our goals, and tapping into the power of the Divine. This book empowers its reader with insights, awareness, and various mental tools to build material, social, emotional, physical, and spiritual perfection. In fact, this book takes away whatever possible excuse we may have to not succeed in life.

Book Review: Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is by Natalie Pace

Everyone wants to be rich; which is why countless books have been written, suggesting ways to build wealth, by as many experts on the matter. Natalie Pace’s “Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is: Investment Strategies for Lifetime Wealth” may be just one of them, but I appreciated her book because she shared her own experiences and spoke in simple terms to readers like me, amateur investors.

Pace’s approach gives a layman’s view of the forest as well as the trees. She laid out the basic principles of investing, the fundamental guidelines in designing and maintaining a sound investment portfolio, and the various wealth-handling challenges one has to deal with. She stresses that it’s not just about getting rich, but also about staying rich.

What makes “Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is” a compelling read is how Pace reveals her own successes through real-world examples. She shows how she handled her investments over the years and describes which companies she studied, recommended, and built her own wealth on. She shares her personal investment strategies openly and clearly; and she nutshells every major lesson with three important takeaway tips.

“Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is” is a good how-to book in investing that even a newbie can quickly understand and immediately apply. Regardless of whether the overall economic situation is in flux, Pace’s chapters like “The Magic of Stock Report Cards”, “Lessons from Enron”, and “The Top Eleven Investing Mistakes” remain universally pertinent. In fact, the book details how to invest wisely so that wealth becomes recession-proof.

Natalie Pace’s book details practical answers to crucial questions like “How do I choose a broker?”, “How do I buy low and sell high?”, and “How do I diversify my nest egg?” For me, though, the best takeaway of all is her set of tips that describes “The Foolproof Get Rich and Stay Rich Plan.” After reading this book, I feel that I’m psyched to learn more about enjoying a lifetime of wealth.

To Be A Millionaire

Back in our younger days, my friends and I used to say, “We’re so ready to be millionaires… the only thing missing is money.”

I’m sure some of them have found the money by now and are comfortably circulating among fellow millionaires. I have high regard for them, especially after I read an article about what it takes to become wealthy.

In a nutshell, all you need to do to become a millionaire are:
1. work long hours
2. take risks
3. be willing to fail

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Why then are there only "2.9 million millionaires in America and 8.7 million millionaires worldwide in 2005" (Wikipedia: Millionaire)? Maybe because long hours, risks, and failure are not exactly what we want to deal with in this short journey called life. After all, these are way outside our normal comfort zones. We prefer easy money, get-rich-quick, and winning the lottery.

Then there’s the responsibility that comes with being rich. You’ll need to continue spending more time and energy to protect and nurture all that wealth. Affluence does come with a hefty price tag.

But if you really want to be a millionaire, here are valubale hints from one who's been-there-done-that:

If you want to be rich, first stop being so frightened