Official Review: How To Believe In Yourself

[ALynnPowers]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "How To Believe In Yourself" by Carmen M Parks.]

---

2 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

How to Believe in Yourself: A 7-Step Guide for Overcoming Fear and Self-Doubt by Carmen Parks is a non-fiction book intended to be used as a self-improvement guide for those who, as the title of the book states, need help overcoming fear and self-doubt. As also suggested in the title, this book lays out a plan for readers in seven simple steps, including setting goals, analyzing your own thought processes, and incorporating more productive self-talk that will help you achieve the goals you have set for yourself. Two cases, plus an example from the author's own experiences are presented at each step to serve as a guide to demonstrate how each step works with different types of goals. Finally, a list of do's and don't's to use when attempting to change one's self-talk is presented.

I received a Kindle version of this book in mobi format, which is only 49 pages long as opposed to the 68 pages of the print edition. The first thing that stood out to me about this book is the formatting. I actually thought that I had received a corrupted file, but then I checked the free preview of the book on Amazon. The file I have is exactly the same as the file that would be downloaded from Amazon if one were to purchase this for Kindle. It's obvious that this book has not been properly formatted for Kindle. There are very few paragraph breaks throughout the text, and most of the few breaks occurr in the middle of sentences. I think that these breaks correspond to the page breaks of the print version of the book, but on a Kindle, they appear to occur at random, making it extremely difficult to read. Furthermore, lists are scrunched together into single paragraphs, and certain graphics (bullet points, perhaps) do not display properly. The formatting of this electronic book really needs to be corrected; readers are not going to bother attending to the content if it is too troublesome to read.

The formatting does not appear to be problematic in the print version of the book, judging from the few preview pages I was able to view. However, I noticed that the print edition of the book contains a table of contents that is not present in the Kindle edition. This is unfortunate, because a table of contents is especially useful in an electronic book of this nature, in the event that a reader would like to quickly jump to a certain section of the book for reference after having read the whole book.

Next I would like to address the content of the book. It it is obvious that Ms. Parks is a successful Holistic Life Coach, and I don't doubt her ability to provide efficient counseling for her clients. She definitely knows what she is talking about, and she has created her own seven-step program to introduce people to techniques for self-improvement. Her writing skills are good and easy to comprehend. However, I still feel like there could be improvement to the content of this book. As someone who personally has a severe problem with low self-confidence, I was certain that I could benefit from the material in the book. While I feel like it is a good start, I still had so many unanswered questions as I read through each step. Some are more specific questions about certain terms used (for example, an acronym was mentioned and not explained until much later in the book; it would have been better to explain it the first time or at least note that it would be explained later in the text), but most were more general questions like, "Why?" Or, "How does this apply to less tangible goals?" And the more common, "What's an example?" Especially in the beginning, more examples of effective goals would be helpful, and maybe even a list of things to avoid when setting goals.

At the end of each chapter, there is a reminder that you will need to download a worksheet from a website in order to complete the steps outlined in this book. I went to the website in order to take a look at the worksheet, but downloading the sheet required me to enter my email address and click on a button that says "Download & Subscribe." There is no information about what such a subscription is about. I'm not comfortable submitting my email address to an unknown subscription. If readers were to pay for the book, I think they would expect any necessary worksheets to be included within the book.

I give this book a rating of 2 out of 4 stars. Although the writing is good and the information is useful, there are too many things within this short book that need improvement. The electronic book especially needs to be properly formatted. As it stands, I can only recommend this book to those who can easily set tangible goals for themselves but need a little help building up their ability to believe that they can achieve these goals.

******
How To Believe In Yourself
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Like ALynnPowers's review? Post a comment saying so!

[zeldas_lullaby]

Wow, that must be so frustrating to be sent to a web site and then unable to utilize the materials there.

This is a great review, and it doesn't seem like such a good book. Bummer.

[ALynnPowers]

It has such potential though. I wonder if my feelings would have been different if I had read the paperback version? I'm glad I checked the formatting of that one though! I would have felt silly if I commented on the formatting of the book I had when the print version was completely different!

[bookowlie]

I enjoyed reading your review! Good, insightful points. Sorry to hear that the formatting was problematic. That is ridiculous that a necessary worksheet is not included, but needs to be downloaded from a website. If I had bought the book, I would have been annoyed.

[zeldas_lullaby]

Likewise about the web site. And I could understand some formatting issues, but that many? My sense is that the author didn't put enough time and energy into this project. I think she threw it together mishmash. I hope if she's reading this, she'll consider putting more effort into it and maybe trying it again.

[PashaRu]

Thanks for an honest and objective review. Great analysis of the book. I wonder what the purpose is of having to register/subscribe in order to get the worksheet. I'm with you, though. I don't think I would, either.

[ALynnPowers]

The formatting was really good for the print version of the book though (but like I said, I only saw the free preview of that), and it made a world of difference in the quality! But it's like no one even looked at the Kindle version.... there's no way those issues would have been overlooked. I don't know what could have happened!

[cparks1]

Thank ALynnPowers for your review of my book. I greatly appreciate your honest perspective. I'm working on modifying the Kindle Version of the book. It's unfortunate that the poor formatting in Kindle took away from the content. I hope to have this fixed soon so that readers can get a better experience.

To comment on the download and subscribe, it's a secure subscription to my newsletter. Honestly, I want to be able to reach out to people that invested in my book and be available to them. However, I can see that without additional information many people may not want to provide their contact information.

I wanted to provide you with a link to my free pdf downloads (without needed to subscribe) however the security on this post won't let post links yet. (I am considered a new member) I will figure out a way to provide you with the PDFs.

To comment on wanting more about how to set goals. I don't believe in rules for setting goals. I think rules put us into boxes that aren't necessary. I understand the desire for structure, however there are no rules and we can all set any goals that we want to set. It's just up to us as the goal setter to believe that we can reach the goal. I have a pdf for how to set tangible goals. Again I will find a way to send you this link.

As far as intangible goals I believe that it's all about mindset and what we're telling ourselves. For example, I have clients who have a goal to be happy. How do you measure that? It's an internal feeling. We've all read it, but being happy is a choice. And so is believing in yourself. We can either believe the voice in our head that say's you're not good enough because xyz.. or we can know that we really do have the power to decide "I am good enough because I want to be" and from this day forward "I am good enough." We don't have to answer to anyone or prove to anyone anything. We tend to get this idea in our head that we are seeking approval from others and we will be good enough when..

I have a webinar video that I want to share with you. It is free, with no subscription necessary.
It's just over 21 minutes long. It's titled: 3 mistakes that sabotage success, however I really talk about the 3 mistakes that sabotage happiness. I will find away to send you this link.

Again, I greatly appreciate your honest review and I will comment when the Kindle Version is updated on Amazon.

Love and Happiness,
Carmen P

[csimmons032]

You did an excellent job on the review. That unnecessary work sheet seems like it was a pain in the but. It sounds like it should be a really insightful book. I used to deal with a lot of fear and self confidence as well. I was sort of forced to get over my fears though, and I am not saying that I don't still have fears. I just have to have a different outlook on life now. It sounds like the book did need some improvements, but I do like that there are people out there who want to help people conquer their fears and gain a new self confidence.

[zeldas_lullaby]

I was sort of forced to get over my fears though, and I am not saying that I don't still have fears. I just have to have a different outlook on life now.

Great job!

[ALynnPowers]

You did an excellent job on the review. That unnecessary work sheet seems like it was a pain in the but. It sounds like it should be a really insightful book. I used to deal with a lot of fear and self confidence as well. I was sort of forced to get over my fears though, and I am not saying that I don't still have fears. I just have to have a different outlook on life now. It sounds like the book did need some improvements, but I do like that there are people out there who want to help people conquer their fears and gain a new self confidence.

I read a fiction book for review once that was a great book on this topic. It's called Aloha Self-Esteem. Recommended!

[Jesska6029]

Really nice review. It's a shame the formatting of the book proved to be frustrating.

[zeldas_lullaby]

Really nice review. It's a shame the formatting of the book proved to be frustrating.

Fortunately, I think the author is going to reformat it, and get back to us when she does? She's fixing the website issue (needing to register and all) as well. I'm glad, and I think those will be great improvements!!

[26mada26daddy]

Very interesting 'Review' indeed. Mentioning (a) the technological inconvenience (b) the need for a 'Content Page' on the Kindle version (c) the 'unclear subscribing site' (d) break in paragraphs or sentences (e) despite all those inconvenient moments you persevered to finish the kindle book version. This has certainly brought home the salient message about the need for authors of all genre to practice 'good housekeeping' in order to establish clarity.

Despite all that I've listed above, what stood out for me is that you're open enough to state that your 'self confidence' is at a low level. As an 'I'-Coach, I'm happy to say that you're 50% along the way to resolving that issue. I found your 'Review' quite professional. Thanks for your honesty. Well done!

[Jesska6029]

Really nice review. It's a shame the formatting of the book proved to be frustrating.

Fortunately, I think the author is going to reformat it, and get back to us when she does? She's fixing the website issue (needing to register and all) as well. I'm glad, and I think those will be great improvements!!

That will be good! I'll check it out then!