Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8748 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Amazon.com
War is hell, but if you prepare properly for war, there's not much about life that will take you by surprise. At least, that's the premise of Unleashing the Warrior Within, in which author Richard Machowicz takes the lessons he learned as a Navy SEAL and applies them to real-life situations.

For example, in war you learn that there are three dynamic elements of combat: target, weapons, and movement. The target dictates the weapons, and the weapons dictate movement. In real life, your target is what you want; your weapons are your skills; and movement is whatever you need to get in position to use your skills.

But, since deciding upon a target is the step that's most troubling to people, he adds another wartime analytical tool called the CARVER matrix. You lay out various targets you may have in life--a better job; getting in shape; buying a new house; and taking on a new business partner, say. Then you assess the criticality, accessibility, recognizability, and vulnerability of the target, plus its effect on your overall mission in life, and the potential return on your effort.

Machowicz calls his philosophy Bukido, and when you take his classes in Los Angeles, you learn self-defense along with these life-improvement skills. In this book, the object is to get you to choose a mission that is closest and most important to you, and then achieve your goals with military precision. By the time you're through learning the seven principles of combat, what you've really learned is how to think critically and focus your efforts. Machowicz uses his students as examples of how the enemy in life is really a lack of action, allowing life to take you along for a ride. So if your current target is a solid self-improvement course, Unleashing the Warrior Within could be your most effective weapon. --Lou Schuler

From Publishers Weekly
Machowicz, founder of the Bukido Training System, a self-protection program, offers his insights on taking charge of one's life, conquering fears and achieving goals. Based in part on his decade-long career as a Navy Seal, Machowicz urges readers to break down their fears into components as the first step toward overcoming worries. After laying out what he calls the "Three Dynamic Elements of Combat" ("The target dictates the weapons and the weapons dictate the movement" one chooses to reach one's goal.), he shows how readers can respond to their fears. In his "Fear Crusher" exercise, he encourages his readers to recall a moment of pride, repeat a motivating phrase, focus on the future and move forward when faced with a terrifying situation. While Machowicz's approach is generally sound, his combat experiences are far afield from the fears and anxieties related to relationships and jobs that most readers must confront. Still, those who have unsuccessfully tried to take charge of their lives may find that his potent prose and no-nonsense approach will motivate them to begin to behave differently, even if they don't conquer all their fears. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Daily News
"Machowicz takes you into the trenches of your passive mindset and pulls you out a self-assertive warrior."

Customer Reviews

Unleash The Warrior Within
I found this the best selfhelp book I have ever read. This one works! Right from the beginning you are given easy to use methods and tools that start taking you forward immediately. Great entertaining stories woven throught this book keeps the whole process moving. There are many new ideas that I needed to reread and pratice, but it did not seem like work at all. I am over 50 yrs. old and wish I would have been able to read this in my twenties, so I bought it for my son. He is glad I did. I give this book five stars.

SEALs get it done, right?
I can appreciate the work Mr. Machowicz has done in abstracting his experience and knowledge into something that can be used by anyone to accomplish their goals. His basis of thought comes from one of the most universally understood concepts in society, that of war and in general, conflict and politics. It's no mistake that Sun Tzu is a primary reference in this book, as war has often been the primary analogy for any conflict resolution.

However, despite the labeling of his precepts being very much adapted from his military background, the theory is sound and unencumbered by unrelated anecdotes or detours into tangential subject matter. "Figure out what you want, plan an attack, execute your plan... and here's how".
It doesn't have to be any more complicated than that, and why should it be? The simpler it is, the easier it will be to get right, and adapt to your circumstances. He emphasizes being honest with yourself at all times, and taking a longer view of the road ahead. There are no promises of easy success, only a single promise of improvement if you can muster the discipline necessary to execute even the smallest of changes. From one step...

-C

NOT DEAD, CAN'T QUIT!!
Give fear the BOOT! If you pick up and read "Unleash The Warrior Within", we'd hope you would want to tap into learning how to focus, function capably through fear and hit a target, (and not just the physical targets, mind you) but all the others that come up in life as well. That is precisely what the book promises and accomplishes. Machowicz will show you in a very straight forward and result-oriented way how to achieve RESULTS. Tangible, real, completely proof-worthy results. Not a book for wimps, as really looking at what you need to do and how to do it and even why it hasn't gotten accomplished BEFORE requires looking at yourself very honestly...and that is extremely difficult for most people...Luckily Machowicz easily manages to be clear and compassionate for the struggles we all have around fear...this book will give you USABLE tools. (Also, he tells great stories, and some of them are very funny!) The book was so awesome both my husband and I completed training seminars with this intelligent, gifted man. Not dead, can't quit!