"Talking Yourself Into Success"

I’ll admit it – I’m not a Dr. Phil fan.  I don’t read self-help books and I consciously avoid self-described “inspirational” literature.  Perhaps it is just ego on my part, but I have yet to meet the person who has their life so together that they are in the position to set themselves up as a model of how I should live mine.  I already know my daughter Maya is a talented writer (and if anyone needs proof, all they need to is check out her review of Liz Schumer’s novel Buffalo Steel in the current issue of Wordgathering), but when the book to which she contributed a chapter, Playing and Staying at the Top of Your Game, was published and available on Kindle last week bearing the subtitle “Inspirational Short Stories by Women for Women,” I had to temper a proud parent’s enthusiasm with a certain amount of caution.

 I need not have worried.  Maya’s article “Talking Yourself Into Success” is a terrific piece of writing.

I was only a few sentences into the article when I completely forgot it was my daughter who had written the piece and began hearing the self-assured voice of a professional. It was lucid prose uncomplicated by jargon that - as an erstwhile instructor myself - I could easily see taking its place in an introductory college business course.  As Maya, points out, it challenges potential business owners to ask themselves questions that a standard  course on business organization is not even going to see in the landscape, but which are critical, especially for someone with a dream of owning their own business.  Moreover, the applicability of the article is not limited to business owners or even business professionals.  I think anyone who has a career or job that they feel themselves invested in will come away from reading the article asking themselves a few questions. If they can’t, perhaps its time to turn on Dr. Phil.