Alan Hester's insightful statement will ring bells with many people. So many of us will regularly and repeatedly stop ourselves from doing what we most want to do. We will get in our own way.

We may compare ourselves with more successful people and look for unfair advantages that they have and we don't. We may bemoan our luck or be plagued by any number of common conditions, such as starting something and not finishing it, making bad decisions or no decision at all. We may lack self-belief and think we don't deserve success, that we may be ridiculed or judged, that there is no point in even trying, or feel uncomfortable trying. These are just a few of the ways in which, through fear, ego and lack of confidence, we get in our own way.

The author's argument is that although we may not be able to control certain events in our life, we can control our response to those events, and thereby decide the outcome. He has written this book so we can learn how to get out of our own way and become our own best adviser, motivator and friend.