Switch On: Unleash Your Creativity and Thrive with the New Science & Spirit of Breakthrough

I received this book on my birthday in September, it's now nearly May and I haven't finished it yet. Normally that would be a damning sign for a book's readability. In the case of Switch On, it's more a sign of what's involved - for me at least - in taking it all in slowly and letting it do its work.There are, if it appeals, lessons of the greatest simplicity here that can be adopted. Within the first month of reading, I had a breakthrough in a very stuck relationship. A relationship that was incredibly complex and important to maintain, yet caused me - and probably him - continued pain. Already familiar with the notion of patterns, I had even gone so far in the recent past of identifying my role in the stuck-ness, yet still coming out the other side unable to shift the dynamic.However something about reading the various ways Nick related fact and science, along with his own humble stories, had a drip drip effect. I didn't even know my feelings had shifted to the degree that they had, until I walked into a difficult situation with the person concerned and the voice that came out of me was DIFFERENT. Not dishonest. Not someone else, or even manipulative. Just different enough to create a breakthrough. Instead of acting aggressively in what felt like the need for self defence, I came across as a friend. Boom - a long relationship stuck in the shadow of perpetual challenge saw its first chink of daylight in months.So far so good the first two months. Then at Christmas I was diagnosed with breast cancer. A small tumour, with lots of practical ways of tackling and lots of potential for great outcomes. But still, reading a book bought to help shift my career relationships and address the many ways I seemed to hold myself back seemed superfluous. I put it down, and for the next two months shifted my attention to my physical health. When I picked it back up, this is what I read - the page I had left it at: SWITCH ON TO PAIN Can you allow yourself to notice any pain without trying to maximise it or minimise it? Can you allow your heart to stay open and vulnerable by breathing deep and feeling your courage alive within?The situation I had been in was all about managing, coping with fears - some rational and some from another place. There had been times - and sometimes still are - where despite the fact what's happening to me is also happening to a million and one other people at the same time, life is suddenly filled with big, huge ideas I have to face alone. Not because I am without support, but because life at it's simplest, rawest level requires this stripping back, the cleaning off of the layers of make-up I've used to protect myself from being vulnerable.I'm not implying the page falling open to this place was mysterious or even coincidental. There is nothing supernatural here (though the book includes interesting spiritual wisdoms from many cultures, these seem like illustrations you're invited to note). More, that it's an indication of what the book is filled with: apparently simple propositions with a huge amount of depth that can be applied to ANY part of your life at any time. In my example, I had put the book down thinking I was unable to do something as luxurious as pay attention to my creativity, when it was the one time more than any other that my deepest inner-resources were being called upon. Switch On is not about our simplistic definition of creativity. Nor is just about the relationships we develop with other people. It's about the relationship we have with ourselves and therefore the world. What it enables is a shift in every single molecule and atom of life.I have read the one negative review and totally get what was being said. My view of creativity has in the past been equally narrow, perhaps a side-effect of working in the 'creative industries'. The creativity being unleashed in Switch On might better be thought of as any 'different response'. Perhaps it would be better to say, 'what would you normally have as an outcome?', and 'is something different required?'... (If we think of creativity in that wider context there would perhaps be more room for it in schools as therein would lie the solution to difficult problems, whether they be resolving disputes or economic crises...)There is a definite level of choice involved in accepting this book and working through it, and scan reading would not reveal anything at all of any significant meaning. Superficially, there are ideas and statements that you may have heard a coach tell you, or have read another book with some similar suggestions. But this is a book that asks you to dig deep, that maybe says okay, you know it all already, but if that's the case, why do you feel you're not thriving? Why do you get the same answers or the same let downs? Why, no matter how hard you try, do you end up feeling the same?Sometimes I have hated the book and the work it's made me do. Sometimes I don't like the language and the choice of words or examples are not for me. But my experience of life is that my best friends don't always tell me the things I want to hear; and what I want to eat is not always good for me. When I feel like resisting a bit of Nick's wisdom or he asks of me something too too challenging, I imagine my back arches like a cat facing a dog. I puff myself up to make the tiny me a whole lot bigger so it doesn't need to change.It happened yesterday when - despite all my best positive thinking - I wholeheartedly resisted reciting the Ho'oponopono based on the fact it sounded a lot like trippy, hippy s***. Giving in and sitting on a sunny balcony I was five recitals in when the important thoughts and then the tears came. The sort of thoughts that truly felt like a breakthrough. The sort of tears that wash out the inside of my head and my heart, that felt like they wouldn't stop but when they did, I felt a whole lot lighter, stronger, and somehow emotionally lithe.Switch On might well turn out to be the longest read I've ever had, but personally I think that's the way to do it. When I finally finish you never know, I might just turn around and go right back to the beginning.

This book is absolutely packed full of fascinating insights and understanding about what it is to change and how we have the power in any moment to come back to our best self and a more beautiful response to life. The author is clearly incredibly well versed in his subject and you get a real sense that he loves sharing his knowledge. There is a playfulness and joviality that makes this book a real pleasure to read and at times the writing is utterly sublime. A fantastic book well worth a read.

I'll be honest here, Im not one to leave reviews typically. Switch On however, compelled me to share my thoughts. This is a truly wonderful journey covering a number of disciplines - that manages to convey mind.body.spirit perspectives in ways that are authentic, accessible and (unlike most books which are, by definition, quite deep) very humorously.Its nothing short of a treat. Nourishment for the intellectually / spiritually curious types, that want to continue to improve things for themselves and others.A big salute to Nick Seneca Jankel for this excellent work.

Quite possibly the worst book I have ever read. It's not well written, the scientific leaps are syllogistic and the language is tiresome. Moreover, it's full of false premises presented as 'inner truths', cliches and 'oneness' babble. There is hardly anything on Creativity itself, save a suggestion that it comes from the universe - so, no point reading a book about unleashing it then, eh?The book essentially denigrates experience and learning, advocating the stripping of patterns and "hugging your internal Protector." Honestly, if you want to read about creativity, this is not the book to read. If you're interested in patterns and psychology, the Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin is far better. If it's the psychology and science that piqued your interest, try Thinking Fast & Slow, The Lucifer Effect, Brainwash: A Secret History of Mind Control, Influence or The Luck Factor.

I really enjoyed this book because, for me, it tapped into more of the intuitive/emotional rather than logical/rational aspects of (my) human experience. It was more personal, powerful and resonant for that reason, as it reached down into deeper motivations about why I do what I do. To create meaningful changes in outmoded/dysfunctional social systems in this "VUCA" world, will need many more of us to blend both the art and science of possibility if we are to "imagineer" brighter inclusive futures.

Switched On is terrifically relevant today. It is an amazing combination of powerful stories and with anecdotes from the newest science. It is a mix of life hacks and beautiful philosophy, all stitched together by an overarching framework of change and development that Nick has done an excellent job of making relevant. I highly recommend this book for people looking to thrive in the world today, tomorrow and far in the future.

I love this book. Nick uses accessible language and catchy phrases, combined with cutting edge science, age old wisdom and philosophy to help us explore and ultimately thrive from breakthroughs. I'm left with the feeling that truly dancing with life, delving in to our challenges, playing and creating on the edge, and embracing our whole (heart-head-hands) as well as our connectedness, anything and everything is possible.

Reading this book was a beautiful experience, for my mind and my body. It brought me peace and inspiration to search for more.If you read this book you will certainly become a better person. If everyone reads it, we will make a better world.Thanks to Nick for this enlightening experience.