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For me, The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho marks a special place in my life. It was a transitional time when I was 22 years old. I found myself becoming dissatisfied with dogmatic religious perspectives that had ruled my life. On a whim, while on vacation at the parent’s house of my girlfriend at the time I picked up this book out of boredom. A few hours later I was halfway through it and totally entranced in the story.
It was a simple enough story, yet the characters and events resonated with me in a way that I had not experienced in my then-limited exposure to personal development literature. At the same time, I was experiencing cognitive dissonance as what was written within the story conflicted with my paradigm at that time. Still, there was something intuitive about the way I kept reading the book – that still small voice that was saying “there is more than one truth out there…”
I’ve re-read The Alchemist numerous times since then and each time brings more trust and confidence that I can follow my dreams. And, as I write this… I am! My entire journey into personal development coaching, hypnosis, NLP, and transpersonal psychology have stemmed from this experience nearly a decade ago.
For you, perhaps your version of something similar is also unfolding… If I can help you move beyond fear, shame, or guilt and into fulfillment, confidence and meaning – just let me know!
View all the books I recommend:
Michael J. Emery’s Recommended Books