Become Who You Were Born to Be

After working a few years and rising to success, Brian Souza found that he wasn't as happy as he'd thought he'd be and began looking for something more. He read self-help books and attended as many motivational seminars as he could. Then he entered the motivational industry and wrote the book he wished he had found. His basic message is to find what you were born to be and then pursue it. Don Leslie is an earnest narrator, intent but not too serious. He is easy to listen to, and the book is full of stories of successful celebrities. If you're looking for an inspirational self-help book, this might be it. J.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

February 19, 2007
Americans are going through a crisis of identity these days, writes Souza, founder of Paragon Holdings LLC, which teaches personal and organizational success worldwide. Clinical depression rates are skyrocketing, he says. And while our living standards have improved in the past century, we have lost our sense of purpose. Souza has his finger on the discontentment epidemic facing many working professionals, since he used to be in the same boat—by age 27 he was a high-powered executive with a six-figure salary, but he finally realized he hated his job and wasn't satisfied with the external trappings of wealth. By finding his own sense of purpose in helping people discover theirs, he found his path. In each chapter, Souza draws lessons from the lives of successful people, some famous, who found their passion early, such as Lance Armstrong, Richard Branson and Oprah Winfrey. But it's the psychological astuteness with which he analyzes the fearful life patterns many Americans fall into that makes this book most valuable. In his view, so-called identity crises are natural and ongoing: we are supposed to change, try new experiences and evolve at every stage of our lives. "There are no shortcuts to success," Souza says, arguing for persistence, hard work and the ability to deal with failure. Not in the least preachy, Souza pushes readers to commit to a goal and follow through. Happiness, he says, is the goal, "but it never comes directly. It comes only as a by-product of living in truth and committing ourselves with everything we've got to discovering our gift and sharing it with the world." Readers looking for inspiration and moral support in following their dreams will find it here.

A former tech firm sales executive, now focused on helping others, interviewed scores of celebrities and ordinary people to learn how they overcame disadvantages and parlayed their gifts into successful lives. Souza says each of us can create similar success by examining the rhythms of our behavior and the many tiny decisions we make every day. Even with his sincerity and the pathos in his stories, however, the author's mechanical reading style will challenge listeners. Yet, every five or six minutes, you hear something that snaps you back to his intentions--to help you think seriously about some inner potential you haven't considered for a while. This is a doggedly effective audio that most listeners will find impossible to take lightly. T.W. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine