Skillful Means: Wake Up!

Skillful Means: Wake Up!
Tarthang Tulku
Dharma Publishing
ISBN: 0-89800-262-1
Non-Fiction, Self Help, Spirituality, Business
Reviewed by Dr. Tami Brady

Skillful Means: Wake Up! Is a follow up to the author’s book Skillful Means: Patterns for Success. In Skillful Means: Patterns for Success, the author examined the problem of work apathy and poor performance. He noted that most of us get very little actual work done each day. We may look busy but our minds are often distracted when we are actually working. At other times, we are busy making excuses, finding busy work, or procrastinating. In order to counter this common occurrence, the author challenged readers to look at work in a different way. Exercises included within the text help reader tackle difficult projects, use time more wisely, and to be mindful while working. The result was better quality work, completed faster, from employees who actually felt good about their jobs.
Skillful Means: Wake Up! follows through on the notions presented in Skillful Means: Patterns for Success. This book is somewhat more in depth taking on even more aspects and presenting over 80 more exercises for the reader to work through.
I found Skillful Means: Wake Up! a little header than Skillful Means: Patterns for Success. I found that as I read through the exercises in the latter, I could then practice them the next day at work. I could even practice several exercises at a time as they tended to compliment each other quite nicely, directing me towards mindfulness. I had to take the exercises in Skillful Means: Wake Up! a little slower. Sometimes, I had to practice a particular exercise or contemplate a concept for a while before I felt ready to move onto the next one. It was definitely worth the extra time and patience though as I learned a lot about myself.