Review of The Hamlet Secret – A Self-Directed Shakespearean Workbook

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I have been talking about James M Lynch's The Hamlet Secret - A self directed workbook (Shakespearean) for living a passionate, joy-filled life on and off, for most of 2010.

With this Workbook, YOU are your own coach, and let me also mention James' coaching website — he talks about it here — being the Star of your own life.

And don't let the Hamlet part throw you off: it is all very down-to-earth in our century, and no old English!

I finally finished this excellent workbook in 2010. It was really great and I want to share my experiences and what I gained from it. I published this review on Amazon dot com.

Let me say right away that I did not buy this book. It was offered to me and I accepted it with surprise. The gratitude came after I read it and worked through all of the exercises.

The premise behind the book is really taking 100 percent responsibility for you being who you are, your actions and inactions and where they lead you.

So whatever situation you find yourself in you have to act AS IF it was all you in order to move on from there. It follows a nice rhythm as chapters and corresponding exercises build on each other to provide you with the necessary tools required to face your fears, doubts, procrastination, etc.

The exercises in the Workbook look deceptively simple but they are not!

You literally have to UNFOLD YOURSELF (title of the opening chapter and exercise) by doing a little expose on yourself in 150 words or so starting with name, weight, who you say you are, discovering how inauthentic we are (yeah, how we lie everyday:) but it stays "soft" starting out and becomes more in-depth as you progress.

Basically, each exercise is a challenge — your challenge — to see how truthful you are with yourself and others by extension. That theme that runs through the entire book. Stop lying to yourselves people.

The chapters headings are brief and succinct Hamlet quotes which the author clearly explains in plain English and develops a theme around them followed by quaintly named exercises like "Mere Beasts", "Murder's Miraculous Tongue" "The devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape" and so on.

This had to have involved so much research because they are used so effectively to illustrate the object of every lesson and the exercises expand on them for our benefit.

James M Lynch is a very down-to-earth, tough-loving and wise kind of guy – no, I don't know him – That comes through clearly in his Workbook which only comes with experience and growth. The man lives by his words. The workbook wasn't written just because coaching is sexy now and he wanted to make a fast buck.

It is very well-written and is a learning concept with a different slant, funny sometimes, bloody frustrating at other times because there are some exercises that you just do not want to do. Do them anyway. Yeah, it is hard to face yourself even though it is just you, the workbook and pen and paper.

It took me all of 2010 to complete this Self-Directed Workbook. I kid you not and it was worth it. The author suggests doing one chapter per week although there are exercises which may take two or three weeks. I tried but could not follow his suggestion.

Life was happening! Plus, I was doing other self-development work, reading other books on personal development, and adapting to a new life in a new country on a new continent.

           Image by trevhunterThe beauty about this Workbook is that you gain something every time you complete or perform an exercise, and I mean perform because sometimes it involves interacting with other people.

Not only that, I discovered that every time I returned to the next chapter, it was exactly what I needed either to face an immediate challenge in my new life.

I would not have been able to achieve the in-depth quality to my inner and outer listening skills if I had not completed the exercises. I discovered a lot that was hidden from view or that I hid from.

Can I say that this book is a one-stop shop for all your coaching and self-development needs? Absolutely not but then again, growth is an on-going process, isn't it.

I will say however that it is a fantastic tool for getting to know yourself, a live reflection via other people, accepting your faults, limiting beliefs, and stumbling blocks that you create, dealing with them honestly and moving on.

There are also some great techniques included for simple things like how pay your bills, how to interact and negotiate with a supervisor or a store manager and so on. They are different, using an "original" slant and are very effective.

Many of the exercises can be repeated, used as refreshers when you have particular issues to deal with etc. A lot of exercises were cathartic for me particularly the letter-writing ones.

For instance the "Mere Beasts" exercise which covers judgement, choice and guilty pleasures (weaknesses) got me. Life is so simple so what the fuss! I read it after one month's "absence".

I was allowing myself to be pissed off for feeling guilty about being my authentic self because someone else felt hurt by what I said. These coincidences between my life situations and chapters I happened to read just then were really special.

The "Should, Would, Could" chapter was golden for me. I was irritated with myself about an issue and the exercise clarified my feelings - unbeknownst to me - and it was only when I met the object of my angst right after and I took action that my negative feelings disappeared. HA!

This is a key point in the Workbook. You must ACT in your life. Taking action is the only thing that will move you forward and that is why the exercises are so important. Reading and saying "okay, I got it" and moving on to the next chapter ain't going to cut it!

There is a FAB exercise in the book which replaces those ridiculous yearly resolutions that nobody keeps any way. It is for the thinking man and woman.

The "Splenitive and Rash" chapter and exercise is where you get to let go, safely. WOW!!! I hadn't done this type of exercise in quite a few months and considering how I felt afterward, it was worth it.

            Image by trevhunter The "Divinity Shapes Our Ends" exercise is incredibly rewarding. Talk about do you have it or don't you! The most important for me was the "Betimes" exercise where you list all of your fears, then revisit them 4 weeks later to see if any "came true". What an eye-opener that was as well.

There are many letter writing exercises. They end up being cathartic and inspiring at the same time. You end up discovering more of your Self.

The Hamlet Secret does not encourage self-blame. If it had I would have ditched it immediately. After completing it you will have a firmer grasp of your needs which will point you in your life direction. Not only that, you will also have your own Agenda on how YOU want to conduct it, your own bucket list, and much much more. You end up with a complete list of your life's accomplishments, big and small. That to me is the cherry on the pie!

James is encouraging and prodding you to be real; to be you 100 percent of the time; to live your life as you see fit in a way that is beneficial to you, and in a responsible manner.

The final chapter covers death and grieving may be a sensitive topic to some but you know what, death is the opposite of life. It waits for us all.

If the "old" you did not begin to wake up and shake off the dusty old persona by the latter half of the book and is not in its death throes by the end of this book, then you did not do your homework!

Great job James!!!