Davinci code

The writer who has guts to discuss & ready to share about his thoughts which may increase the pressure of others :-) will get into more trouble and will also get more popularity. Like wise, dan brown is one of the well appreciated writer in the recent. All his books are popular and having good sales record. Here I shared a review from my brother about the book from dan brown namely, “Davinci code” - Hari

"The Davinci code" is the second novel of Dan Brown, but gained fame more and before the first ("The Angels and Demons"). The question is whether it deserves it? It certainly does. As all Brown's works do, this novel also starts with a murder. This time it's the murder of the curator of the famous Louvre Museum. The reason for the murder forms the plot. Dan Brown's fictional hero Robert Langdon becomes the prey for the suspect of the investigator Bezu Fache. How Robert Langdon escapes and solves the mystery along with Sophie Neveu (the grand daughter of the murdered curator) forms the rest of the story. As an overview it may seem to be a normal murder mystery. But the elements Dan took for framing the plot leaves us dumbstruck. The way he approached the Fibonacci series, the cryptex and most importantly the famous work of Leonardo Da Vinci "The Last Supper" are astonishing. I don't want to spoil the thrill by revealing the answers for the cryptex, but just think what can you get from the word P.S.? That simple abbreviation becomes a play toy in the hands of the author. Every character in the story has its purpose and certainly fulfills it. Dan doesn't stop with creating thrills, but also has the ability to justify them. The chapters having conversations between young Sophie and her grand father are poetic.

From the starting you may start guessing the man behind the murders. But the real "Teacher", as Dan named him will definitely make you wonder. The crucial part is where the author deals and reveals the secret of "The Holy Grail". All the details the author provided in this novel leaves us with only one question. Are they real? Well, the author solemnly owns the right to answer that. But in the novel he has made us to believe that. As it has come as a motion picture, don't even think of missing the novel. I believe the film can't give you the feel the novel does. Certain omitted parts and edited parts posses a great value in the novel. Dan Brown has proven again he's undoubtedly one among the few creators who provide interesting, intelligent thrillers. If you have thirst for such genres, Go for it.

- Balaji

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living

The writer who died by 1955. But, his books are still in the top 10 of all the personality development book surveys that is Mr. Dale Carnegie. His unbeatable books are still in the competition with all popular books for the past 6 decades. This book is one of his excellent book, but is not a tale  - Hari

Each Sunday, The Simple Dollar reviews a personal productivity or personal development book.

Carnegie two?I’ve written before concerning the positive effect that Dale Carnegie’s more famous book How to Win Friends and Influence People had on me, and also wrote a detailed overview of the book. It took years, however, before I bothered to pick up any of Carnegie’s other books, not until I was well into a career.

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living is basically a continuation of the philosphy of How to Win Friends and Influence People: break things down into smaller steps, then let the smaller steps add up. This time, however, the philosophy is applied to the idea of stress and worry, both workplace-related and otherwise. Much like the other Carnegie book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living is a large collection of small, practiceable pieces that anyone can apply.

Does the advice work? Is the book worth reading, even given that it was written in the 1930s? Let’s find out. Looking At How to Stop Worrying and Start Living

Part One: Fundamental Facts You Should Know About Worry

Most worrying comes down to either things entirely out of your control or things that are further out than today. You can tackle the first one by merely imagining the worst possible outcome, visualizing what would become of it, accept that, then realize that anything better than the worst is better than what you’ve already accepted. For long-term worries, focus on the immediate task at hand and do it as well as you possibly can, because even if the connection isn’t obvious, doing the best you can on your immediate task will help solve that long term task, either directly (by building a foundation for making it easier) or indirectly (by opening up alternate paths).

Part Two: Basic Techniques In Analyzing Worry
When you’re worried about something, be proactive. Start gathering as many facts as you can about the situation, then use those facts to develop a plan of attack. Once the attack plan is in place, get down to business implementing that plan and just focus on the task at hand. Most worrying is reactive - take it to the problem by being proactive.
It all comes down to four questions: what is the problem? What is the cause of the problem? What are all possible solutions? What is the best solution? Answer these questions in order and you’ll dig down to the root of any worry and attack it head on.

Part Three: How To Break The Worry Habit Before It Breaks You
Another tack to take in battling stress is to find other ways to fill your time. For me, for example, the best solution to fighting stress is to keep busy all the time. If I’m always busy and have an organized system of keeping relevant tasks at hand, stress goes away because I’m constantly keeping up with the things I need to do. One should also let go of the past and focus entirely on the present and future; those are the areas where you can affect things, not the past.
Part Four: Seven Ways To Cultivate A Mental Attitude That Will Bring You Peace and Happiness

In a nutshell, the seven methods are:
Meditation Spend some time filling your mind with thoughts of peace. Find a meditative technique that works for you and practice it.
Don’t worry about enemies Instead of thinking about people you don’t like, spend some time thinking about people that you do like.
Forget about ingratitude If someone else isn’t grateful for your help, don’t worry about it in the least. It’s a reflection on them, not you, so don’t concern yourself with it.

Count your blessings Think of all the good things you have in life. Don’t imitate others Find your own path. Imitation leads directly to jealousy. Look for positives in the negative If something bad happens, try to find the positives in it.
Be nice to others Even if you’re unhappy, positive actions and attitudes towards others might make others less unhappy.

Part Five: The Perfect Way To Conquer Worry
Interestingly, it’s prayer, whether you happen to believe in a God or not. The point of prayer isn’t that you necessarily expect someone to answer or that you’re communicating with a higher power (though this is definitely of importance to people of faith), but that you can express what ails you, voice it in some fashion within, and open yourself up to receiving an answer, whether from your own subconscious or from a higher power. If you haven’t prayed, even if you’re an atheist, give it a shot.

Part Six: How To Keep From Worrying About Criticism
Criticism comes in three flavors. If it’s unjustified, just view it as a compliment - it’s coming from a person jealous of your success. If it’s well-stated and mature, be thankful for it, because it’s coming from someone who sincerely wants to help you and may have wisdom to share. This eliminates a lot of criticism; you can fend off the rest by just doing your best and then weathering it when it happens.
Part Seven: Six Ways To Prevent Fatigue and Worry and Keep Your Energy and Spirits High

These six techniques boil down to two basic things: get plenty of rest and eliminate distractions. This chapter is actually a much longer list of tips than just six; the titular six are merely groupings. In fact, one set of the ideas (those to handle workplace issues) sounds an awful lot like a prototype version of GTD.
Part Eight: How to Find the Kind of Work in Which You May Be Happy and Successful
This section was extremely outdated, but the very core of the advice boils down to figuring out yourself first. If the topic of this chapter really interests you, this germ of an idea grows into full bloom in the book What Color Is Your Parachute? (read my detailed review of it).

Part Nine: How to Lessen Your Financial Worries
Here, Carnegie lays down the very basics of personal finance, from the simple “spend less than you earn” statements to the basics of budgeting. The advice is simple and very much geared towards families during the Depression, with such interesting dated tips as “never give life insurance money to a widow in cash.” Much like the previous section, the advice here can be found in a more modern context elsewhere quite easily.

Part Ten: “How I Conquered Worry”
The book concludes with a large assortment of stories from various people, many of whom were well-known contemporaries of Dale Carnegie. I found Jack Dempsey’s essay particularly interesting, mostly because I happen to be a big fan of prizefighting from the early twentieth century, once even going so far as to decorate my dormitory room with posters of Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey. The stories reiterate the advice in several ways and are both culturally interesting and also great for providing examples of how Carnegie’s advice can be implemented in day-to-day life.

The Monk who sold his Ferrari

Robin Sharma is one of the world’s leading experts on leadership and personal development. The author of 10 major international bestsellers including The Greatness Guide Series and The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, his books have been published in over 50 countries helping millions of people and organizations create extraordinary results. Celebrity CEOs, rock stars, top entrepreneurs and royalty have all embraced his work. As well as being a much sought-after speaker globally, Robin is also a widely respected CEO advisor having worked with Fortune 500 CEOs and leaders all over the world on leadership, change management and high performance in business.

This is one of the book from the man who is famous for his marvellous writing & who deserves his place in leadership writing is Robin Sharma. Please enjoy the monk who sold his Ferrari review from one of my friend online – Hari

“The monk who sold his Ferrari” is a tale, which provides an approach to living a simple life with greater balance, strength, courage and abundance of joy. The fable format is a refreshing change from the tiresome listing of all the good things we could do for ourselves but do not. It makes the message being conveyed linger in our minds. Although most of the principles dealt with can be found in countless other books on self-help and spirituality, there is a difference in the way of Sharma has put things together.

This well crafted story by Robin S Sharma is the tale of Julian Mantle, a lawyer brought face to face with a spiritual crisis. Julian’s spark of life begins to flicker. He embarks on a life-changing odyssey and discovers the ancient culture of India. During this journey he learns the value time as the most important commodity and how to cherish relationships, develop joyful thoughts and live fully, one day at a time.

The eleven chapters are meticulously planned and flow seamlessly from one to the next. Julian Mantle, a very successful lawyer was the epitome of success. He had achieved everything most of us could ever want: professional success with an seven figure income, a grand mansion in a neighborhood inhabited by celebrities, a private jet, a summer home on a tropical island and his prized possession a shiny red Ferrari parked in the center of his driveway. Suddenly he has to come terms with the unexpected effects of his unbalanced lifestyle.

John, who is a friend as well as co-worker of Julian, narrates the story. He begins by describing Julian’s flamboyant lifestyle, his exaggerated courtroom theatrics, which regularly made the front pages of newspapers and his late night visits to the city’s finest restaurants with sexy young models.

Julian Mantle, the great lawyer collapses in the courtroom, sweating and shivering. His obsession with work has caused this heart attack. The last few years Julian had worked day and night without caring about his mental and physical health. That helped him become a very rich and successful lawyer but took a toll on his health and mental state. At fifty-three he looked seventy and had lost his sense of humor. Julian refused to meet any of his friends and colleagues at the hospital. One fine day he quit his law firm and took off without saying where he was headed.
Three years passed without any news from Julian. One day he paid a visit to his friend and former colleague John, who was now a cynical older lawyer. But Julian, in the past three years, had been miraculously transformed into a healthy man with physical vitality and spiritual strength.

Following his heart attack Julian Mantle had sold all his property (Yes, his Ferrari too) and left for India. The author tells us about Julian’s Indian odyssey, how he met the sages of Sivana who had a life changing effect on him. Julian Mantle shares his story of transformation, his secrets of a happy and fulfilling life with his friend John. Julian describes Sivana- a small place located in the Himalayas, the land of rose covered huts, placid blue waters with white lotuses floating, youth and vitality, beautiful glowing faces, fresh and exotic fruits. He tells John about the sages of Sivana who knew all secrets of how to live life happily and how to fulfill one’s dreams and reach one’s destiny.

Julian relates his experiences with yogi Raman the leader of the sages of Sivana and the person who taught Julian his secrets of a happy and fulfilling life. He narrates to John the fable that contained the seven virtues for a life abundant with inner peace, joy and a wealth of spiritual gifts. He tells John the techniques that he learned from yogi Raman on how to master our minds with simple techniques like “the heart of rose technique” and “the secret of lake technique”. He tells John how to cultivate the mind and how to use setbacks for expanding knowledge of the self.
He talks about setting and following our own purpose and teaches John the ancient art of self-leadership with techniques such as “do the things you fear” and “the 5 step method for attaining goals”. He waxes eloquent about the value of self-discipline and respect for time. He describes techniques such as “the ancient rule of 20” and “the vow of silence”. He teaches how to focus on the priorities and thereby maintain a balance and simplify life. He gives examples that prove that willpower is the essential virtue of a fully actualized life.
Julian teaches John the virtue of selflessness in serving others. He asks John to embrace the present and live in the present - “Now”, never to sacrifice happiness for achievements and to savor the journey of life and live each day as his last one. At the end he asks John to spread these secrets for the benefit of other people. Embracing John like the brother he never had, Julian leaves.

For the reader who might be in the rat race for material success and money, this book might be food for thought. But the message is a trifle too clichéd and the lectures too pedantic for the reader who is more or less conversant with the principles and insights garnered by Julian Mantle from the sages of Sivana. The presentation in the form of a story redeems the book to some extent. The book might perhaps be more satisfactory for readers who are unfamiliar with and hungry for oriental wisdom. All in all, a book of wisdom.