Keep Calm and Ask On By Michael Samuels

Keep Calm and Ask On  By Michael Samuels: A No Nonsense Guide to Fulfilling Your Dreams- is the third volume in the trilogy that relates the well known "Law of Attraction" to everyday life.  Anyone who is not already familiar with Samuels' motivational self help books will enjoy this volume- even without having read the earlier two books which include: Just Ask The Universe and The Universe-ity.  All three volumes are available online on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Unlike the theoretical Rhonda Byrne book, The Secret, Samuels actually helps the reader to achieve actual goals addressing life issues such as confidence, co-dependency, attitude and materialism.  He also covers the common traits of happy and successful people and compares them with the qualities observed in bitter and unhappy people. Samuels keeps the reader engaged with his vibrant and personal writing style.  One would almost imagine he is speaking directly to his or herself.  He writes with humor and knows how to lift the spirits of his readers who may feel burdened with the trials and disappointments of life.  On page 74 he tells the reader to imagine "dancing leprechauns farting gold on rainbows" whenever one feels discouraged or beaten down.  The power of humor should not be underestimated.  It is a good diversion tactic that works.  Keep in mind that although this is a secular book about achieving one's goals, there is a spiritual or supernatural element.  For some readers, this book, as well as the others in Samuels' self help series,  may serve as a spring board to the inner workings of spiritual world. If you are looking to try a new outlook and you find you have exhausted all the traditional self help strategies from the bookshelves of your local library or bookstore- this book will be something new.

Have you read Samuels' other books, also available @ Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble? 



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Just Ask the Universe: A No Nonsense Guide to Manifesting Your Dreams by Michael Samuels, is the first book in a self- improvement trilogy.  The trilogy which includes: Keep Calm and Ask On and The Universe-ity, provides practical advice based on the concept of "The Law of Attraction".  Some readers  may have already been introduced to the idea of  "The Law of Attraction" through Rhonda Byrne's well known book, "The Secret".  Samuels' book, Just Ask the Universe draws upon this concept and expands upon it a a more precise, matter of fact, style of presentation.  He introduces the reader to the spiritual concept of "The Universe" and gives the reader practical advice on how to apply the "Law of Attraction" in order to find success and happiness in life and in achieving goals.  Based on a quasi- scientific explanation that rationalizes the conglomeration of ideas which incorporate the eastern philosophy of Karma, and the telepathic bond the human subconscious mind has with the Universe, Samuels provides  a plausible model in which a person's thoughts and wishes can be transformed into reality.


 To Samuels' credit, he offers clarification early in the book, explaining that the concept of "The Universe" does not represent a deity, nor does it serve as a replacement for God or religious worship.  Rather, Samuels explains that the idea of "The Universe" serves as a distinct entity or concept  that is not mutually exclusive from one's religious or spiritual faith.  In otherwords, for those readers who believe themselves to be Christian, Muslim or Jewish, the author wants to make it clear beyond a doubt, that the ideas presented in this book do not contradict religious belief.  I believe that many readers, even religious readers, will embrace Samuels' apologetic statement with open arms, wanting to justify and reconcile the ideas of the Law of Attraction with their belief systems.  It is not surprising that the author would go out of his way to provide such a statement  given the resurgence of spirituality and bible based faith.  Nevertheless, there will be readers who reject this teaching as contradictory to the spiritual message of the bible and regard it as a gnostic or apocryphal type of teaching with no biblical support. For this reason, this book is separate and distinct from the Christian self help genre- and its believe system may be more consistent with  eastern religious concepts of Karma  as well as the New Age movement.

Nevertheless, the concepts are not necessarily spiritual, but rather secular.  The concept about gratitude and acting by one's morals and conscious are commendable ideas that can only serve to help the individual as well as contribute to making the world a better place.  The idea that life is not nor should be a competition and that there are sufficient resources and gifts available to all is refreshing.  I can see how even the most apathetic and discouraged of readers might find inspiration and empowerment after reading this book.  No matter how depressed one may find himself to be, reading this book will motivate any reader to act to follow his lifelong dreams and goals. This is a unique book that points the reader to find his answers to happiness externally, rather than focusing on his own works.  If you have tried a variety of self help books in the hopes of trying to find the elusive answer that you seek- this book offers a unique solution- and a new direction to take.

Having my own useless Bachelors degree from a respected university, I attest to truth found in eye opening book, The Universe-ity and in  Michael's Samuels' poignant words, "A standard education doesn't mean you will have an abundant life". (Samuels, 2013) Samuels' words reached out to me, as we both had similar backgrounds- university degrees with no meaningful utility in achieving any goal whatsoever.  This is a book for anyone who seeks more out of life; for those who are enlightened enough to know that success does not come from only a career or a degree and that there is a supernatural or spiritual component to success and happiness.

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In the context of the "universe-ity", Samuels  builds on the concepts of Rhonda  Byrne's, The Secret- a unique self help phenomena that integrates science and spirituality with the supernatural in order to help people attain their goals. In his book, The Universe-ity, he demonstrates that success and satisfaction is not lined to education or intelligence or even money.  He explains that "unsuccessful people .... have been broken in by society to live in a box.  They associate having a successful life with tremendous physical or mental exertion. " (Samuels, 2013) He goes on to share with the reader,  the "secret" behind achieving happiness.  As the reader, I had the distinct feeling that Michale Samuels was speaking to me personally.  he has a lively and charismatic writing style that makes it seem as if he is personally speaking to you one on one.  Although Samuels' book is a self help guide, it is like having a personal session with an inspirational speaker.   This is more than an introductory manual that brings the reader to the basic principles  to achieving real happiness and success.  This book is like a continuing education course in strengthening one's morals and achieving personal success in life.

The author integrates the concepts of Karma in providing a backdrop for the principles behind the inner-workings of the universe.  The idea of Karma serves as a spiritual law for Samuels.  This principal is used to explain the universal moral code.  The "Universe" is analogous to a deity in a sense and the idea of Karma becomes a theology or spiritual code.  The spiritual element of this book makes it more complex and more substantial than a traditional self help book- and serves to fulfill the human need to reach for something greater than one's self.  Using modern analogies and anecdotes to reach today's generation,  the author compare the "Universe-ity" to a large supercomputer to which all people are interconnected.  This modern idea of the supercomputer is intertwined with the ancient spiritual concept of Karma in delivering a theory of the behind the scenes mysteries on  how the world really works.

There are those readers who will have difficulty reconciling Samuels' ideas with their religious beliefs.  Michael Samuels' position is that he does not seek to discredit any religion, although some readers, nevertheless, will certainly hold fast to the belief that he contradicts established religious beliefs. For those readers who embraced "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne and the Law of Attraction, this is a great resource to expand one's learning.  For anyone unfamiliar with the Law of Attraction, this book is an eyeopener to a new thought process and a new way of seeing the world. This book is simply written and easy to digest for any reader. For some readers this book will prove to be life changing.