Gift it to yourself , the present. Review on Present, The - Dr Spencer Johnson

I always turn a skeptic when i pick up a self help book to read. Not because i don’t want to believe what the authors have to say but because i really want to know if the book will have any impact on me. So here’s this book called “the present” by dr. Spencer Johnson, which had some positive influence on me. I had become a fan of Spencer Johnson's writing when i read “who moved my cheese” and he continues to impress me with this book too. The best part of his writings is that they never preach unlike other self help books. He always comes out with a beautiful story to put across his ideas and thoughts. The present is a story which teaches us about how to enjoy our present without carrying the regrets of the past and the anxieties of the future. It teaches us that if we can enjoy and live in the present we can be more effective and happy. The author even says that the best gift that we can give to ourselves is the present. Have you often realized that most of our present is wasted in regretting/ reliving the past or worrying about the future? So little time we have to live our present.

Ultimately we can’t give our best in anything we do.

\The story is divided into 3 phases: first to learn to live every moment of the present, second to learn from the past and move on and lastly to plan for a better future without worrying about it. Looks like three simple steps of being effective both in our professional and personal lives but actually not that simple. The author has taken a subject that is very regular and probably all of us know of these three steps but none of us practice it. The idea of using a story to convey and having two protagonists which represents both sides that of a person who believes in present and the other who doesn’t , helps us to remove all our doubts that we have in our minds regarding the concept of present. In the end the author states that once we have completed these three stages we get to a point where we realize the real purpose of our life, the point to make our lives more meaningful for ourselves and the others around us.

Finally the author states that it entirely depends on the individual how much they want to grasp and learn from the present and if they really do it will make them more efficient. The present like dr. Spencer Johnson's other books dwells into a simple concept of being happy, presented in a very interesting and practical manner. A must read for all the skeptics out there. ?

The book in short says:-

Be in the present

Learn from the past

Help create the future

Realize your purpose