Everyone knows the fable of the monkey and the bananas - he couldn't get his hand out of the jar because he was holding too many bananas, making his hand too bulky to remove from the narrow container.
Life, contends Dr. Daniel T. Drubin, is like that story, in that too often people grab as many "bananas" as they can, without realizing that many of them, in fact, are holding them back. Now Dr. Drubin offers a quick 12-step program designed to help you see which bananas in your life are expendable, and how to drop them. Such tips
- If you want to find gold, you're going to have to lift some rocks.
- Always work on your "dash" of life - the only time between birth and death that you have control over.
Oh my, this is one of the dullest books I have read in a while. Basically, the author believes that if you believe something will happen and work as hard as you can to make it happen, it will. You just have to change your mindset, let go of everything that is holding you back and you will have raging success. This is not a bad viewpoint and there are plenty of other books that say the same thing. The problem is that the author says it over and over and over again. Chapter after chapter of him telling you to just let go of your past, believe in yourself and be resourceful. There is little practical advice, little discussion of what those bananas are that are holding you back (I thought this would be the primary discussion in the book) or how one develops resourcefulness. It felt like a teenage cheerleader yelling in my ear for two hours the same, only somewhat helpful, refrain over and over. I honestly gave up in the last 50 pages of the book because I couldn't deal with it any more. Oh, and his other great advice for being wildly successful? Get yourself a coach. So let go of your past, expect a wonderful future, imagine fabulous things, be resourceful, give it your all, get a coach and believe that you can be extraordinary and you will have a life beyond what you can even dream. There, I just saved you several hours reading the book.
A quick read with some good lessons. However, this book drastically missed some valuable proofreading. I wouldn’t recommend. I found the title on a list of books recommended to young lawyers looking for professional development titles. Good premise, but not for me.
Not at all what I expected, this book delivered mundane and stereotypical advice as to how to fulfill your destiny and live a happy life. Apparently, all that it takes is positive thinking and some will-power (who'd have thought?). When I originally heard about it, I thought it might guide me through the process of eliminating the negative things in my life, but the author barely touched on this subject, dismissing the idea of cutting negative influences in life as if it were the easiest thing to do. I was terribly disappointed in this book and do not recommend it to anyone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Corny, repetitive, and really not any novel ideas. However, given that I had a purpose for reading this book, there was food for thought and I highlighted several passages that I will consider as I work toward improving my life. But this may not be the right book for someone who has basic sense of logic. It was also a book that spoke in extreme generalities and the chapter titles or “keys” were more subthemes that broke up the monotonous messaging. Oh well, I think I got something out of it still.
Great book.....we all have things that we cling to like a monkey to a rotten banana! Great ideas on how to let go of those things that are holding you back to what you really want in life. One of the best parts....the dash of life. I learend that it's not the name, quotes or dates on your grave stone that makes the biggest difference but truly how you live your dash.....it's all the stuff between the dates that means everything.
From what I've read thus far, the book should be fantastical! Letting Go of Your Bananas is about letting go of all those rotten thing, habits, people or anything that doesn't mean you any good so you can be where you want to be in life.
I would have liked to have given it 2.5 stars, but Goodreads does not allow it. Nothing in this book is Earth-shaking, or revolutionary. It was stuff that I heard before from various places. Yet, it was a good reminder, and a simple quick read.