Excuses Begone!: How to Change Lifelong, Self-Defeating Thinking Habits

Excuses Begone! is entrenched in the lessons taught by Lao Tzu, psychologists William James and Abraham Maslow and Theologian Thomas Troward, in addition to the work of Henry David Thoreau and more recent scientific research that "what you are is what you believe, not what you were handed genetically." In fact Dyer uses no less than 160 quotes from other sources to back up his wonderful paradigm to help us shift into an excuse-free life.Referring to the scientific work of Richard Brodie, in his book Virus in the Mind Dr Dyer says much of our thinking is "a thought belief, or attitude in your mind that....spread(s) to and from other people's minds." Effectively our thoughts are contaminated with an excuse virus. We are all essentially hosts of a virus that Dr Dyer refers to as a Catalogue of Excuses. Many of which were picked up as children. "By the age of six or seven we've all been programmed with an endless inventory of memes that act very much like a virus." "Once a meme is in your mind, it can and will subtly influence your behavior."Similarly Bertrand Russell told us "From childhood upward, everything is done to make the minds of men and women conventional and sterile." And Lao Tzu told us "Every human being's essential nature is perfect and faultless, but after years of immersion in the world we easily forget our roots and take on a counterfeit nature." Dr Dyer adds;"Your subconscious mind may be so programmed that you allow all of these memes or mind viruses to dictate your options in life."The good news is according to Dr Dyer and the detailed research;"You can change any excuse pattern, no matter how long or pervasive the conditioning process."Throughout Excuses Begone! we are introduced to many examples in Dr Dyer's life of how he has overcome `the virus excuse in his own mind' infected he says growing up in multiple foster homes, overcoming addictions, cant's and even labels that he had in later life as being `absent-minded.'As a great overview of what we can expect by ridding our mind of the excuse virus quoting from Walden, by Henry David Thoreau Dr Dyer writes "I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavour.""There are four words in Thoreau's quote that I want to highlight--encouraging, unquestionable, elevate, and conscious."1. Excuses Begone! is encouraging you to challenge patterns and feel inspired by a newfound awareness of the life hidden beneath your excuses. Invite yourself to move out of established thought patterns, and realize that there is nothing standingin your way of living at your highest levels.2. You have an unquestionable ability to eliminate excuses--they'll get up and go when they're revealed as the false beliefs that they are.3. You elevate your life by taking responsibility for who you are and what you're choosing to become. You can transcend the ordinary, mundane, and average with thoughts of greater joy and meaning; you can decide to elevate your life, rather than have it stagnate or deteriorate with excuses.4. You can bring your desires to consciousness by disconnecting the power from your subconscious so that it can't continue to run your life. Your subconscious (habitual) mind is accessible, so unearth the excuses buried deep within you. Become conscious!I think that is a great way to look at Thoreau's philosophy and certainly a way I would welcome living my life.

Sometimes we read a book and something in it just clicks with us. This is that book for me. I've known about this book since it was first published, but I wasn't ready to read it until now. I wish I had been ready to read it back then. I could have shortened the lifespan of my mistakes. This is a wonderful book to open up your mind, change your old thinking habits and create a new way of thinking that will truly benefit your life in every way.I love Dr. Wayne Dyer. He gets me to question my old thoughts and realize that they're wrong. He not only tells you what to change, but how to change. A lot of these self-help gurus skip the all-important how portion of their teaching and that's the most important step.Everything he writes is so inspirational. If you need something uplifting that will put you on the right path to reach your personal goals, this is the book to read. I can't recommend it enough.

I dont know that everything or even anything in this book is new but the manner in which Dyer has put together the process of changing yourself is outstanding and workable. As one reviewer wrote, he does embrace a lot of new age stuff that doesnt fly with me but he also embraces many of the timeless folks as well.I think he is a genuine guy, seeing the world as he does and sharing that view with the rest of us. In this book the one story of the hermit and the King is worth the price of admission. In it you learn that the most important time is now (all we have) the most important person is the one in front of you and the most important thing to do is good for that person. If we all 'got' that we could change the world for good.As a student and teacher of change myself I have to say he brought together better than I could some of my own experiences and feelings. Like all change is making that one decision now, not tomorrow but now. As a recovering alcoholic it was/is one day at a time ... the key to changing your behavior (you cant change others) is in that moment, right now, this minute.I am a fan of Wayne Dyer and was not disappointed with this book. Another great insight if we'll take it.

Warning: I've read the book after I had listened to his live lecture on the same topic (which is available on iTunes, amazon and possibly others). If I had to choose between the book and the audio version I'd choose the audio version, but the book makes the same point.I'm familiar with a couple of Dyer's other works, and in comparison the gist of this book has a suprisingly rational foundation in psychology. Of course the main bias is on spiritual development and lots of affirmations (it wouldn't be Dyer if that weren't the case). The main advice is to challenge limiting believes (what he calls excuses in this book) with a couple of questions, of which the most important and most powerful is "Is this 100% objectively true?" There are 6 others, and many (too many?) affirmations, but in my opinion they play a very minor role in this.And by the way I don't quite get the reviewers complaining about the lack of how-tos and workshops. What's more practical or easier than applying a couple of questions (of which the first one plays the lead role) to a believe you hold in your mind?

I am a long time reader/listener of Dr. Dyer's books and lectures. I feel he lives out what he proclaims, is a compassionate and enlightened teacher and clear, entertaining writer. "Excuses Begone" brought new insightinto my life and pointed out old, no longer useful thought patterns that were holding me back from following my dreams, goals and passions. I especially liked the affirmations suggested in the book and have applied them to chase away thoughts that I sense are not spiritually energizing or truthful. The book deserves more than one reading to bring home and practice the spiritual lessons taught.

The best book that I’ve had that touched my soul and the tears of truth that came with it!A great everyday read! Every page is a gift! Thank you for writing this!

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Amazing information that's applicable to all of us.I never thought that all the nonsense I thought were reasons, where actually excuses.

Packaged well thank you

I loved this book. Have listened to the audio book 3 times now and plan on listening more.Dr. Dyer has a knack for getting to your core beliefs and shattering what you thought you knew.Thank you for this work of art!

Practical approach to identify ones negative patterns and fix them one by one. Needs huge amount of practice though. Should read thrice get concepts clear then apply

J'ai été très déçu de ce livre. L'auteur ne fourni aucune méthode concrète, que des conseils de seconde zone du type " Soyez le Tao car le Tao est Dieu" ou des trucs de ce genre. Il mélange sa passion pour les philosophies taoïstes et le développement personnel sans pour autant donner de méthodes concrète et pratique. Il y a quelques petits trucs intéressants mais rien de réellement puissant ni utile au quotidien. Je trouve que cet auteur fait parti de gourous du développement personnel, ceux qui ont abusé de l'effet de mode. Bien qu'il ai écrit plusieurs livres pendant des années je suis très surpris que le contenu de cet ouvrage soit si pauvre. Mis à part des conseils d'autos suggestions et d'affirmation il n'y a rien dans ce livre de très utile. Passez votre chemin et préférez un autre ouvrage.