I just finished reading this book and feel that it was such a waste of time and money. Very little substance to work with and lots of fluff!

I've read lots of books on self-help, setting goals, time-management, etc. So I'm often reluctant to read more, feeling that I've learned most of what's our there.

'The Magic Lamp,' however, is an excellent read for anyone who wants to get more out of life. It's a wonderful combination of fresh insights and time-tested wisdom and common sense.

And true to the book's promise, Mr. Ellis does help the reader foster a perspective from which setting goals is not a chore, but rather a pleasure.

'The Magic Lamp' also contains a lengthy, priceless appendix that lists other recommended books. Highly recommended.

"The Magic Lamp" is a very good book to learn how to define your goals, how to do something every day towards your goals, and how to manage your progress.

Things I learned from it:
- the 11 steps to define your goal; I especially like step #7 (Begin your goals with "I choose...") and step #8 (Make it emotional)
- the 7 steps to create an action plan
- to focus on one or maximum two goals at a time
- to schedule a weekly progress report to manage the progress of your goals
- the 30-day plan to create a new habit
- the preference question (e.g. What is more important to me right now? Eat that chocolate cake or loose weight?)
- the FAQ-section at the back of the book
- how to finish what you start

The style of this book is also very different from the success boys like Robbins, Tracy, etc. who promise that you'll double your income, be more successful, blah, blah by setting goals.

If you want only 1 book about goal setting: buy this book. However, I think it is good to compare it with a more traditional goal setting book to appreciate "The Magic Lamp" even more. (e.g. buy also Brian Tracy's book or audio book "Eat That Frog")

I say this because this is the best book I have ever read on setting goals. Most books that are written on the subject of procrastination and goal setting are usually written in a very dry formulary way of how to set out tasks and a list of things to do, and when you don't fullfill them you think once again I have failed, I will never achieve my goals.
This book is different. This book was written by a man that didn't know how to fullfill his goals. He spent years avoiding them,not even thinking about them, but he taught himself ways that he could achieve them. Some people don't even know what there goals are, but he gives you techniques on how to find them. He shows you really effective ways to find more time. He points out the importance of not trying to work on too many goals at once. And the most beneficial thing I got out of the book was the wake up call that goals take TIME. Sometimes a long time. I have always been a procrastinator, and I realized it was because if I couldn't see a difference with little steps I took , I gave up. He makes you see that it is the long term picture when you see results. It may take months, years a lifetime, but the baby steps count. I see that now! I loved this book and I hope you will too!

When you see a book has over 200 pages and it's on a subject like goals, you know it might get repititive. It's not that the last chapters were not important, but they seemed to be reiterating the same idea. After all, having to read too much is keeping you from realizing your goals! The author talks a lot about "wishes" in the beginning and it seems contrary to what we typically call wishes, but after that, he really lays out a plan on how to realize goals that are sound.

I say it is "unique" because the writer is not one of those people who always knew what he wanted to do and did it. I could relate to him, unlike many of the authors of these type of books. Plus, the book was not anecdote after anecdote, which I really liked. If you take one thing away from this book, it should be not to worry about how you didn't accomplish what you wanted previous to reading the book....realize that it's never too late.