Good Self, Bad Self

Transforming Your Worst Qualities into Your Biggest Assets

By: Judy Smith

Narrated by: Lisa Reneé Pitts

Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

As America's number-one crisis-management expert, Judy Smith has been asked to help overcome the obstacles faced by some of the most well-known companies, celebrities, and politicians of our time. In the process she has discovered that, whether or not one is a household name, there are universal character flaws, trouble spots, and weaknesses that exist in everyone.

Over the years, Smith has been able to identify these high-risk traits that often lead to marital, financial, professional, or personal imprudence. These urges exist in all of us, whether it's the belief that an indiscretion is too minor to detect, a mistake is too difficult to repair, or a deceit is too well-hidden to be discovered. But, as Smith shows, we can overcome these negative urges and failings - and even turn them into our strongest assets.

Just as Gavin de Becker's best-selling book The Gift of Fear explains how to recognize and survive universal signs of violence, and as Chip and Dan Heath's best-selling book Switch shows readers how to implement change in their lives, Good Self, Bad Self will teach us how to face and overcome our own denial of impending problems - and how to identify and avoid such situations in the first place.

Smith believes that the way each of us deals with personal character flaws is what dictates whether we're going to be successful or whether we're going to destroy what we, and those around us, have worked so hard to build. In Good Self, Bad Self, she distills years of experience to share the tools we all need to face our mistakes and ultimately overcome them.

©2012 Judy Smith (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"I have known Judy Smith for many years and she is one of the best crisis managers out there. Good Self, Bad Self is a really important book and offers a unique way of looking at crisis." (Larry King)

Painful to listen to on audible

Don't waste your time... the reader is horrible... I couldn't even finish the book nor did I want to.

GREAT RESOURCES FOR MAKING CHANGES

What did you love best about Good Self, Bad Self?

GREAT EXAMPLES OF MISTAKES.EASY TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE CHANGES IN STOP BAD CHOICES.

Who was your favorite character and why?

JUDY SMITHSHE KNEW HOW TO STEP BACK AND THINK BEFORE EVALUATING SITUATIONS.

What does Lisa Reneé Pitts bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

THE NARRATOR WAS A DISTRACTION.I HOPE THE AUTHOR LISTENS TO THE NARRATION OF THE ENTIRE BOOK, BEFORE THE NEXT AUDIO BOOK VERSION IS RELEASED.IF THE AUTHOR ENJOYS THE AUDIO BOOK, I AM WILLING TO LISTEN TO THE BOOK CONCENTRATE OF CONTENT, NOT THE PERFORMANCE.I HAVE THE BOOK. SO I CAN READ THE BOOK.NO WORRIES.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

SELF RESPONSIBILITY FOR BEHAVIOR.OWNERSHIP FOR BEHAVIOR.

Any additional comments?

I AM GOING TO USE THE THINGS I LEARNED AND HOPE I GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO LISTEN TO MORE JUDY SMITH BOOKS.

Poor Narration

What disappointed you about Good Self, Bad Self?

The narration was so bad that I couldn't even finish listening to it.

What could Judy Smith have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Pick a different narrator

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Lisa Reneé Pitts?

I don't know. Anyone, it couldn't be much worse.

What character would you cut from Good Self, Bad Self?

None

Content Ok...they should have hired a pro reader

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I am a fan of Ms. Smith however she does herself no favor by hiring this reader, I will listen to excepts first in the future. Buy this book in hardcopy instead.

Has Good Self, Bad Self turned you off from other books in this genre?

No

Would you be willing to try another one of Lisa Reneé Pitts’s performances?

Never, she is the least enjoyable reader I have ever experienced.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Neither, just learned new approaches to crisis mgt.

Any additional comments?

Note to self...listen to except first

Terrible! Don't waste your time

The advice in the book is obvious stuff like "be flexible but not too flexible; be strong but not too rigid; a bad trait can be good and a good trait can be bad; have perspective on your behaviors to avoid crisis"
There I just saved you hours of reading. I guess I was looking for real insight and she has the experience to provide that but she doesn't. Why? Very disappointed and won't be reading anything more from Judy Smith.
The narration is awful!!!! I had to speed up the pace of the playback so I could tolerate her SLOW annunciation of every word. I think that added insult to injury. A horribly read book full of bland, obvious advice.

Can't finish

Can't take seriously or finish Can't stand the narrator my review evidently needs 15 words to save.

Droning at best

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

The choice of narrator is awful. Her voice is droning and the pace at which she speaks easily lulls you to sleep in addition to feeling like she's speaking to an uneducated group of listeners. Her voice does nothing to convey any passion for the topic or wanting to listen longer than 5 minutes. Save your money and buy the book for cheaper.
The audio will put you to sleep and that's not great if you're driving.

Would you ever listen to anything by Judy Smith again?

If Judy Smith narrated it herself.

Would you be willing to try another one of Lisa Reneé Pitts’s performances?

Absolutely NEVER.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I've heard from other readers that the content of the book is exceptional. I think I'll read it, but I cannot listen to it at all.

Narrator just about ruins a good message

Would you try another book from Judy Smith and/or Lisa Reneé Pitts?

I might read another Judy Smith book, but I will not listen to this narrator again.

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator should be someone who understands the material and does not give equal emphasis to every other word. It's as if she is reading the phone book and trying to make it sound interesting by doing it in a sing-song tone.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I kept listening because it seemed promising, and Judy Smith does have a well-organized motivational messge. However, I don't think she is saying anything new; the appeal is in her connections and Washington experience. I liked the real-life examples and I think there could have been more of them.