“Each of us carries within us the seeds of greatness, waiting to be nurtured and brought to life,” writes Stephen Rue in this comprehensive guide on how to turn potential into achievement. Rue is a celebrated lawyer and counselor-at-law with degrees from SMU and Loyola, advanced training at Harvard, and doctoral studies at National University. In addition, he is a certified trauma recovery coach and motivational speaker. His book, MUST: Becoming the Person You Are Meant to Be, distills all of the author’s experience into a structured plan that aims to allow anybody to flourish and live with purpose.
Rue combines personal anecdotes about his own struggles and triumphs with words of wisdom from luminaries and thought leaders. His wide-ranging inspirations include Ralph Waldo Emerson, Tony Robbins, Vincent van Gogh, and even reflections on the children’s television classic “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” By opening up about his influences, Rue aims to provide a fully rounded guide to self-improvement—noting that many other books focus only on one particular aspect and leave readers “without a comprehensive guide to navigate the entire journey of self-discovery from start to finish.”
For readers just setting out on their journey, the sheer size and scope of MUST may appear daunting. In seeking to provide a fully holistic approach, Rue risks offering too much information. Given how often the dismissive initialism TL;DR (too long; didn’t read) is tagged to overly verbose internet postings, any author (self-help or otherwise) must remain mindful of their potential audience’s attention span. To mitigate this, Rue does insert frequent lists and bullet points to highlight important aspects of his approach. This gives the casual reader an easier entry point from which to explore the author’s strategies, though the uncommitted may still find themselves lost in frequent tangles of rote self-help platitudes such as this: “Your beliefs are the architects of your reality, and by consciously shaping them, you can build a life that reflects your true potential.”
Like many authors in the self-improvement sphere, Rue has a tendency to jargonize and attempts to create buzz words by relentless repetition. The key to MUST, and Rue’s USP, is the “Must Zone.” This is defined as “the non-negotiable space where individuals align their imperative actions with their core beliefs, values, standards, and purpose.” To reach the zone, the willing participant “must” use their “Must Mindset” to cultivate their “Must Habits.”
Rue cannot be faulted for the wide-ranging influences and attitudes he brings to the book. But for the casual reader, there would seem to be rather too much of MUCH. With a familiar positive-thinking jargon and a slight case of information overload, the overall experience of reading the book is somewhat tiring. That said, Rue’s “Must” philosophy is well-thought-out. If it were presented more concisely, it would prove very useful to a wide range of readers.
MUST: Becoming the Person You Are Meant to Be is a comprehensive motivational manual for self-improvement. Stephen Rue uses all of his experience and expertise to provide a holistic approach to nurturing an individual’s potential. Though perhaps the author’s ideas may have benefitted from a more concise introductory volume, there are enough innovations in play for the book to justify its place on the shelves.
~ Kent Lane for IndieReader