I learned so much from this book that I can't praise it enough. It reads more like a philosophical treatise than a psychology self-help book. It is jammed to the brim with information and insight. This is a keenly intelligent book which analyses many aspects of the tendency for humans to blame, and how this tendency undermines our peace of mind. There are no overly simplistic, hokey self-help exhortations here. The sophisticated deconstruction of what blame is and how we engage in it excessively is itself a powerful tool for growth, and one intuits that Dr. Knaus inductively put together his ideas over many years of scientifically observing patients on his couch. The aura of empirical science- factual propositions created and tested by observation-courses throughout. There are no bizarre, unverifiable metaphysics to be found here. This is a wonderful companion to Albert Ellis's books. Psychology used to be subsumed under philosophy, and this book straddles both areas effectively. A great intellectual achievement! We need more books like this!

In this book, Dr. Knaus points out that we live in a blame culture. This is an important and powerful idea. Stress, strain, depression, and a host of other painful emotions come from self-blame, blaming others, and dealing with blame directed our way.

This book is jam packed with great ideas. I especially liked the insights Dr. Knaus placed at the start of each chapter--the practical tips I could use to take the burden of blame from my shoulders, his original stories that helped me to understand blame at a deeper level, and the five phases of change.

In this book, Dr. Knaus encourages you to look honestly within yourself and to stretch to improve. I think "Take Charge Now" is a book for people who believe that they can do better and feel better, but need some help getting started. This book provides direction, good ideas, and exercises to help you get started on your way to improvement. More than a book about blame, this is really a book about self-development and positive change. It helps you learn how to take charge of your feelings.

Blame affects our lives in ways we rarely think about. In fact,the blame game begins as soon as we understand language. Children are bombarded by blame: Research shows they are subjected to about 200 complaints every day from parents and teachers, says Dr. William J. Knaus. But make no mistake. Knaus isn't blaming anyone. In his remarkable new book, "Take Charge Now! Powerful Technqiues for Breaking the Blame Habit,'' Knaus teaches the reader how to steer clear of blame and the traps that accompany it. It's not easy and Knaus is the first to acknowledge it. We blame others for things that go wrong, blame ourselves for our shortcomings and blame society and politicians for the ills we see around us. Some people are so afraid others will disapprove of them, they stifle their own potential in an attempt to ward off something that may never happen. Knaus educates the reader about the insidious ways in which blame affects our lives. He also teaches people how to avoid blame, shame and the negative emotions that accompany it as well as how to communicate effectively and stop causing their own misery. The best-selling author details 13 ways to kill a relationship, most of which have a blame component. He teaches people how to rewrite their life story and improve the narrative, even though they can't change the events. Knaus' background as a licensed clinical psychologist and the former director of training at the Institute for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy shines through in this book. He understands how difficult it is for people to change. The book, which deals with everything from losing weight to changing careers, uses a five step plan in which people learn how to avoid the blame trap and take charge of their lives. "Instead of blaming, we need to look at the consequences of behavior,'' Knaus says. "If we don't like what's happening, we need to take steps to change it.'' The book is easy to read and understand. People will see themselves in stories Knaus employs and learn how to get out of any rut they are in by busting free of blame. "Take Charge Now,'' is a complete self-help manual written in a realistic manner. If we can learn to avoid blame, we can take a a good look at our strengths, accomplishments and what we need to do to meet our future goals. Since the book covers so many aspects of life in which blame affects our personal and professional goals, it's a shame there's noone to blame for not buying it.

In page after page I find myself gasping as William Knaus explains the different ways I have developed to procrastinate my life away. Knaus describes procrastination as a complex mixture of discomfort, self-doubts, perfectionism, fear of failure, anxiety, rebellion and depression developed over a lifetime. He explains how heaping blame on yourself only drives you to procrastinate more and he has created thought questions to help you develop the skills you need to pause, resist, reflect and respond.

A life changing weapon against the graveyard of missed opportunities, I highly recommend it!

I was gonna buy this book...maybe next week...

I have read quite a few self help books, but this book is way better than any other. The reason that this book is so good is that it not only tells you brilliant advice for how to overcome procrastination, but it tells you how to battle it. Many books give all the advice in the world, like be friendly, more outgoing, but it does not tell you how. By reading this book you will feel a real hope that your personal problems can be fixed. I read the book to help my procrastination problem, but the book did much, much more. It is an aid for every aspect of your life! I highly recommend this book. It is a shame it goes unnoticed, and is no longer in print. It is way better than 10 habbits for the effective person, Dale Carnegie books and any other book. This book has more of a chance to change a person's life.

...
To readers familiar with Ellis's R.E.T.(Rational Emotive Therapy)theory(also called REBT), this is already a familiar book, a variation on themes Ellis expounds upon elsewhere, most notably in "A Guide to Rational Living", written back in the 60's, where he lays out the basics of his theory. Readers unfamiliar with Ellis and R.E.T. might see his approach as similiar to television's "Dr Phil"(McGraw), and if you see the latter as something of a scold, you're likely to experience Ellis the same way.
Ellis's approach emphasizes "self-talk", and asking you to question your motives in avoiding anxiety-provoking tasks. He prefers behavior-oriented and pragmatic thinking over "what-happened-way-back-when" depth psychology. If such an approach strikes you as what you're looking for in a book about this topic, then I'd recommend Ellis. He's very straightforward and easy to comprehend.

In this little book, Dr. Albert Ellis gives us tools in order
to deal with procrasination. He instructs us in his A-B-C
system of mental health. We have the Activating event (A),
the Beliefs that we hold (B), and the Consequences of those
beliefs (C). (A) for me is writing this review. (B) is my Belief that it must be a perfect review. (C) is the Consequence
which I experience from that belief. Which is anxiety. When
we procrastinate, according to Ellis, we are holding irrational

(B)eliefs. The more we (D)ispute these beliefs, the more healthy
(E)ffects of mental health we will experience. Ellis also gives
us behavioral tools to help us eliminate our procrastination.
Such as a reward system. Nevertheless, his system depends
on disputing the irrational beliefs. There are two things that you might want to remember before you buy this wonderful book.
First, you have to use REBT (Rational-Emotive-Behavioral-Therapy) all the time. It has to become a powerful philosophy in and of itself. If you counter your procrastination ten minutes daily,
but then whip yourself with irrational thoughts and ideas the rest of the time, it won't work. For this, you might want to go to the REBT website (...) for more information. The second thing is that you might want to employ a Tibetan Buddhist technique to really dispute your irrational beliefs and to burn
in rational ones. To do this, you sit in a chair. Count to ten. And after you have counted to ten without losing your count, you THEN dispute your irrational beliefs. This is how
they burn in rational thoughts in the Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Regardless, I hope that you enjoy this little
book. And I wish you all the happiness in the world.

This book is effective because it both (i) identifies the major cause of procrastination and (ii) shows you how to combat it. Since the cause of procrastination lies principally in our thinking, the "rational" techniques work especially well. I also found a number of behavioral tools that worked well for me. Among these are the profit-penalty system, reminders, bits and pieces (which NLP authors term "chunking down"), and the five-minute plan. I've used this book several times over the past few years when I've found myself procrastinating.

If you're procrastinating, I suggest that you buy this book and start using it...now. As you're working with it, you might also augment your procrastination-fighting skills by using David Burns' "The Feeling Good Handbook." (I have found it more useful than its predecessor, "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy," and you can easily use it without reading the latter.) And then, until you realize that you've made the progress you wanted, stop looking elsewhere for more books and more tools. That's just another procrastination pattern!

If you want to know the types of procrastination, or the causes of procrastination-then this is the book for you. As for myself, I enjoy the kind of book that makes me feel like running a marathon-before, during, and after reading it. The thought kept running through my mind as I read this book, that I should write a book myself. Oh, maybe someday I'll write one. There is a lot of very useful information in this book, but I have read better books on the subject. Not a bad book, but I'll have to stick to my three star rating.

I've read many books on procrastination to correct my own bad habit of consistently putting work off. This book is very objective and written in a clean, concise English that is easy and enjoyable to read. Most importantly, however, is it's versatility. Practically any cause of procrastination imaginable is explained and helpful, effective solutions are suggested. William Knaus is a phenomenal writer who's vast knowledge of procrastination makes Do It Now! the BEST book in the field.

I actually haven't bought this book, but I plan to!

It looks really, really good.

I'm sure I'll get around to buying it one day.

But there are just so many things to do.

And I can't seem to do any of them!

Gosh I really NEED this book....