“The Surrender Experiment “ by Michael A Singer (2015) was recommended to me in passing by a wonderful woman I met at a business conference. Thank you Jacqueline! This book made me think about life in a whole new way. I liked his story so much that two weeks ago I went for an “out and back” and flew down to visit his yoga temple in Florida to take a free yoga class and listen to him speak.
Overview: I listened to his book on audio, which he narrates himself. It took about 4 hours of listening and it goes quickly. “Mickey” shares his story of a young man pursuing his PhD in Economics when he finds meditation. He realizes that he can observe his thoughts uses yoga and meditation as a way to tame the voice and find inner peace. He goes into construction and builds homes in the north Florida area, and eventually discovers the computer. He falls in love with engineering systems, builds the medical manager company and ultimately becomes the CEO of WebMD. The story takes different twists and turns with the FBI raiding his corporate headquarters, his experiences with visiting convicted criminals in jail, and his acquittal. Throughout the read, Mickey maintains the common thread in learning to trust life’s energy and flow. There were many times when he wanted to say no and to quit, but he learned that the best way forward was to say yes.
Key Message: The key message of the book is that you can choose to be happy and to also surrender to the flow of life events.
Supplemental Information:
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- Get the book on Amazon
- Listen to one of his talks or go to yoga from the Temple of the Universe
Where it Falls Short: I’ve got nothing here. If anyone else does, please let me know. I was told to read The Untethered Soul first and then The Surrender Experiment. I didn’t listen and I’m glad because I didn’t find the Untethered Soul a great audiobook. It wasn’t narrated by the author. Maybe I’ll try that one again in print.
Overall Assessment & Why: I rate it a 9 out of 10 in terms of a personal development book. It’s a deep mix in teaching about self-awareness while providing a direct example from the author’s extraordinary journey. I highly recommend this read.