This list really nails it. I’ve never seen it listed so succinctly. I’ve printed it out to remind myself especially about number 3. If I commit something to someone (myself included), then I can’t allow excuses to interfere with me completing my task.

Over the weekend I was at a swim meet and spoke with a dad I’ve known for years. I hadn’t seen his daughter at practice and wondered what was going on. Swim registration is in March. At the end of the school year she was selected to be on the school’s drill team for the next Fall. Practice begins during the summer and conflicted with swim. She talked it over with her dad and he gave his blessing for her to quit the Summer swim team (it meets in May and June); however, he had already committed to judging the meets on Saturdays. I told him I thought it was really going above and beyond to continue to participate when his daughter was no longer taking part. His response was he endevours to teach his kids that their words count. The best way to teach it is to live it. That’s what I call a Dad and someone who values integrity.

I purposely don’t push my religion on anyone because I’m not even certain what I believe myself, but I know that believing in a higher power than yourself changes your perspective on this considerably. It helps you to look at the bigger picture and not be so selfish, but that’s only if you truly believe in the higher power (not specifically the Christian God, but any higher power).

My own finances were becoming too self-centered and I wasn’t able to see the bigger picture. I was believing many of the myths that the author puts forth and it was holding me back personally, professionally and financially.

I’m not pushing the book on you (the general reader) than to let you decide for yourself whether it has any impact in your life, if it holds any truth, or if it’s flat-out wrong (or somewhere in the middle). But bashing even a single idea from the book, or any book, show, poem, blog, speech, etc, based on a single sentence fragment is rather ignorant and I think my readers, including yourself, are better than that.

Do yourself justice by researching your claims. I’m calling you on them just like my own readers call me on my own pretty often. But I listen to them when they can back them up, such as when I bashed The Golden Compass before even finishing the book or seeing the movie. I jumped the gun and people saw through it, just like I saw through your claims. Hence, either read the book or don’t argue about it.

If you wanted to debate that “Japanese textbook” without reading it, then you’re just being lazy and childish. THAT’S why I’m saying you need to just read the book or stop arguing, because I don’t want to hear baseless criticisms.

I understand your reaction, but don’t try to have a literary debate when you don’t know the material you’re standing against. Either read the book so you can comment on its merits or don’t read it and don’t comment on it.

I don’t need to read every single book to know what’s inside – it’s kind of like watching trailers to judge whether I like the movie. I’ve seen fundamentalist Christians try to disguise their arguments many times before, and this appears to be the first attempt to breach the PF literature… I appreciate your interest in religion, but I can find no justification for bringing up the issue of Separation in a personal finance book.