Title: Fulfilled
Author: Deirdre Bounds
Published by: Pearson Life
Publication date:  18 Jun. 2009
Genre: Self-Help
Pages:  206
Format: Paperback
Source: Bury Library

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I wanted to start this review with a bit of a personal experience – it’s relevant, fear not. Lately, I have been feeling somewhat lost with myself; the realization that my main ‘adventure’ in life hasn’t been good for me has been hard hitting and uncomfortable, difficult to cope with. So with these feelings of ‘lost’ in mind I went to the local library to find some guidance. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for and drifted through the non-fiction topics looking for something that might appeal to me. While picking out some books in the Psychology section this book leaped off the shelf and fell on the floor at my feet. I see this in no other way to see this other than a sign – even with books of a non-fiction nature, if they fall at me in some way I see it as someone telling me that I should give this book a read.

In the case of Fulfilled I am utterly pleased that I did – the self-help course within is based on the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous; not something I am overly aware of myself, but it has helped countless thousands of other people so I am not surprised to see that this condensed version of it has also helped others and I now count myself as one of them, but I don’t want to fill my entire review with personal triumph. Fulfilled doesn’t just feel like an AA short-cut but a self-help book able to stand on it’s own two feet.

In Fulfilled Deirdre Bounds shares her personal story – how she went from an alcoholic to a millionaire entrepreneur without making the reader feel guilty about their own life in comparison to hers – once the outline of her life was given I expected the book to become needlessly preachy and I am more than happy to report that this isn’t the case. Who want’s to read a self-help book that makes you feel bad about yourself and compare yourself with the reader? Not I!

The steps in the book are easily explained and in that respects easy to follow – but there is an element of hard work to them so while the instructions are explained well, doing them is down to the reader, but I don’t think a book like this would be picked up if the reader wasn’t already ready to make that change in their life (I know I was.) There are a couple of sections that some might find difficult to swallow, firstly giving belief in a ‘Higher Power’ a ‘God’ this is something that I have come across before in other Self-Help programs (The Artists Way) so I was already open-minded enough to embrace this ideal, but other readers might decide that this is a bit too hippy-woo-woo for them. Other sections of the book really pick at the negative thoughts and feelings of the reader and how to change them for the better, how to move on from these thoughts and rise above them, in a clear and concise way that – for me – feels like it is working.

Although I have a lot of praise for this book there is one major negative. It keeps referring too a wesbite that is No Longer Available. The reader is recommended to connect to a website that’s not online any more – which is a bit of a kick in the teeth for readers trying to change their life, having this stumbling block in the way puts a bit of a downer on the whole experience; but if following the rest of the advice in the book, you’ll think about it no longer running in a different perspective. It’s a shame though and I think due to that a lot of readers will be put off completing the course.

Fulfilled is an interesting read in it’s own right, it’s insightful to the minds of human beings from all experiences in life. I recommend it to anyone who harbors feelings of anger and resentment towards other people and wishes to take action into feeling free of these emotions. Also to hose that feel they’ve adopted an unwanted behavior in their lives and need help seeing that their own actions are wrong. It’s a very eye-opening book, I am certainly an advocate of it because I can already feel the effects of it positively impacting my life-choices and at the price it is on Amazon it’s a steal!