Official Review: Abundance by Peter and Lorraine Swain

[CataclysmicKnight]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Abundance" by Peter and Lorraine Swain.]

---

3 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Management is something we've all experienced, both as a manager or as someone managed, be it parent/child, teacher/student, playing or coaching sports, in a video game clans/group/guild or the traditional boss/employee relationship. I've had fantastic managers that could easily get me to give 110% simply because I wanted to make them proud and managers that made me spend half my day coming up with sarcastic, bitter comments and vent for an hour after work about how mad they've made me. I even quit a job literally the night after accepting the job because of what was said in a mandatory meeting before I even worked a shift! My point is simply that a manager can make or break a job, and learning only from other managers makes it almost impossible to avoid some really bad methods of management. That's where college and books come in, books like Abundance: A Practical Guide to Having a Fulfilling Life and a Profitable Business by Peter and Lorraine Swain. 

Abundance: A Practical Guide to Having a Fulfilling Life and a Profitable Business is split into 2 major portions - the first third or so of the book is about changing your thoughts, words and habits from negative to positive. This builds the foundation of a great manager by building the foundation of a great person. The rest delves into business and management including the importance of setting goals, maintaining a business plan, hiring properly and ensuring employees become the best they can be, planning time properly and even exiting the business. While the book is most beneficial for those who own their own business, the book is still beneficial for those who are managers, interested in starting a business or even folks working in a company hoping to one day become a manager, and the first third of the book is applicable to anyone who wants to become a better human being. The end of the book wraps up with a solid list of additional books to read. Also worth noting is that the book is by authors in Australia, but because the book doesn't go particularly in-depth with legal, tax or government-specific topics, all of the information in the book is valid no matter where the reader lives.

Each of the 18 chapters focuses on one important concept and kicks off with a little playful image. Throughout each chapter, there are numerous breaks of bold letters separated from the text to highlight a quote or point. The quotes and metaphors in the book end up being very fitting and many are either original or at least aren't the cliche ones every self-improvement book uses. There are also quite a few exercises laid out for the reader, many of which actually have blanks in the text to fill out. The only real disappointment about the chapters themselves was that many times chapters end up giving redundant information, mentioning the same things repeatedly. This is most likely because the book's chapters can be hand-picked -reading chapters out of order or even skipping them entirely - and the repetition hammers home important thoughts and concepts, but I felt it needed to be said.

As mentioned, the book is aimed at managers or business owners, but a fair bit of it applies to anyone. This isn't a handbook that tells you how to write business plans and documents (although it does speak of the importance of them) it instead focuses on the important features, attitudes and personality traits of effective leaders. Statements like "you're your own best friend" and "be your number one ticket holder" really stick out as a good way to judge yourself better and encourage self-growth. I personally got a kick out of the book explaining that being able to say no is a vital skill, that multitasking isn't something we as humans should do (despite nearly every bad boss I've ever had demanding it), and that the entire book in general is very positive and uplifting without doing so naively. The book even managed to get me back into using Evernote when it specifically listed it among planning and time management programs today, and I feel much more focused and driven because of it! There were a couple portions that didn't seem realistic to a lot of folks, though - one section suggests saving 20% of earnings for investment, then 10% for self-improvement and later says to pay extra on mortgage when possible. There were also two pairs of sentences throughout the book that I was left wondering what they meant, and Googling them didn't result in anything. Finally, I ran across 8 grammatical errors in the book, but none were terrible.

Overall, Abundance: A Practical Guide to Having a Fulfilling Life and a Profitable Business by Peter and Lorraine Swain is definitely a book I think all managers should give a read, and that anyone who may want to become one someday should take a look into. The book definitely deserves a solid 3 out of 4 stars.

******
Abundance
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes

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

[kimmyschemy06]

Sounds like a very helpful book especially for managers and those who are planning to manage their own business. Great review.

[TrishaAnn92]

Great review. Seems like a very helpful book.

[gaporter]

It's interesting that a portion of the book is dedicated to being a good person, rather than all business related. Nice review!

[CataclysmicKnight]

It's interesting that a portion of the book is dedicated to being a good person, rather than all business related. Nice review!

That was definitely one of my favorite parts, a good person always makes a better manager than a bad person who does a great job of managing (at least to me; if I work for a jerk I'm always looking for the next job, regardless of how well he makes his/her numbers and goals)