Book report on Dr. Phil Mc Graw's recent book "Self Matters"

Essay by ephtwo10University, Bachelor'sA-, February 2003

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Matters of the Self

Zig Ziglar, motivational speaker, salesperson trainer, and author, likes to use this example when he speaks about the impact our words have on others. The sentence "I didn't say he beat his wife" can express a myriad of thoughts, depending simply on which word is emphasized. "I didn't say he beat his wife" (where a declarative emphasis is placed on the underlined word) has a completely different meaning that "I didn't say he beat his wife" In the first, whether the man beat his wife or just knocked her around is in question. The latter sentence recognizes that "I" am not the one making the accusation, but the accusation had been made. Dr. Phil Mc Graw's book Self Matters holds the same word play in the title, and the book is an exploration into both meanings.

In a modern American culture that struggles for identity, the thought that my self, my authentic

and real self, matters and is important is a somewhat foreign concept .

. . outside of the labels of what I do for a living, who I am married to, how many partners I have had, or what I do on the weekends to give my life excitement. Dr. Phil's book is an examination into just how a person can discover that his authentic self matters, i.e.: is important and valuable. To reach clearly identify this goal, the shoot-from-the-hip Dr. digs into the matters of self, those events and choices that have left their lasting mark on our consciousness, and have participated in shaping us into who we are today.

The first concept Dr. Phil identifies is that each person has a true or authentic self. We each have been given a collection of gifts, talents, abilities and desires. Dr. Phil puts it...