Realize your potential

Realize your potential: discover your hidden powers (in original Tvoi vozmozhnosti, chelovek!) is a 1973 Russian self-help book by Soviet author Viktor Davidovich Pekelis. The English version was first published in 1987, translated by Anatoli Rosenzweig and the book has been translated into six other languages.

It deals with issues of self-improvement, cybernetics, genius and talent, binding them together in a unique way. The book is marked however by its creation in Soviet Union with Pekelis citing figures like Vladimir Lenin or Leonid Brezhnev on scientific issues.

History

The book was originally published chapter after chapter in Soviet newspapers and magazines. Later, it was fully reprinted by the magazine World of Socialism from 1971 to 1972 under the title How to become a genius. Afterwards, it was finally published as a book in Moscow in printing house Znanie in 1973 under the current name Tvoi vozmozhnosti, chelovek! (Your options, human!).

Summary

Pekelis starts by defining talent and what is genius, and provides numerous examples. He continues by showing techniques how to achieve various skills like speed reading, becoming a polyglot or fast calculations. The book ends with IDeaS on organizing work and working better.

See also

• Soviet literature