Sharma, Robin S(hilp) 1964-

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SHARMA, Robin S(hilp) 1964-

PERSONAL:

Born 1964, in Canada; children: Colby, Bianca. Education: L.L.B.; Dalhousie University School of Law, L.L.M.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Sharma Leadership International, 1 West Pearce St., Suite 505, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada L4B 3K3. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Author, attorney, and motivational speaker. Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, judicial law clerk; Government of Canada, staff litigation attorney; Sharma Leadership International (training firm), founder and Chief Visionary Officer. Keynote speaker at motivational seminars and conferences; has appeared on numerous television and radio programs.

WRITINGS:

Privatization: Lessons Learned, Mandira Sharma (Kathmandu, Nepal), 1995.

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Spiritual Fable about Fulfilling Your Dreams and Reaching Your Destiny, HarperCollins (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1997.

Who Will Cry When You Die?: Life Lessons from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, HarperCollins (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1999, Hay House (Carlsbad, CA), 2002.

(Editor and translator) Selected Nepali Lyrical Poems, Jiba Lamichhane (Kathmandu, Nepal), 2001.

Family Wisdom from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: Nurturing the Leader within Your Child, Hay House (Carlsbad, CA) 2003.

The Saint, the Surfer, and the CEO: A Remarkable Story about Living Your Heart's Desire, Hay House (Carlsbad, CA), 2003.

Leadership Wisdom from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: The Eight Rituals of Visionary Leaders, Hay House (Carlsbad, CA), 2003.

Discover Your Destiny with the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: The Seven Stages of Self-Awakening, Hay House (Carlsbad, CA), 2004.

Also author of MegaLiving!, The Gandhi Factor, and Begin Within. Author of audio program Timeless Wisdom for Self-Mastery.

SIDELIGHTS:

Canadian attorney and author Robin S. Sharma went on a ten-year self-directed quest to discover the time-honored secret to attaining human happiness. A successful attorney employed by the Canadian government, Sharma studied the traditions of philosophers and religious thinkers ranging from Norman Vincent Peale and Wayne Dyer to the sages of ancient China and India. The result of Sharma's intellectual journey was MegaLiving!, which the author self-published in the mid-1990s. Since beginning his personal quest, Sharma has turned to helping others transform their personal lives, and has published several other books, among them The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Spiritual Fable about Fulfilling Your Dreams and Reaching Your Destiny. He has also branched out into the business arena, founding Sharma Leadership International to help companies such as Microsoft, Nabisco, and Minolta aid their employees in reaching their professional leadership potential.

MegaLiving! is divided into three parts. The first section introduces readers to Sharma and to his quest for personal happiness. The second section outlines a list of 200 tips readers can use to help them achieve what Sharma calls "MegaLiving." In the third section of the book, he outlines a thirty-day program designed to help individuals make the shift to a new lifestyle that incorporates health, happiness, and a positive mental outlook. The "MegaLiving" approach was fictionalized by Sharma in his 1997 book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, which focuses on Julian Mantle, a successful litigation attorney whose drive to the top costs him his health when he suffers a heart attack. Mantle spends three years in the care of a group of East Indian wise men who impart to him seven principles for personal growth and spiritual enlightenment. While Books in Canada contributor Eva Tihanyi viewed The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari with some suspicion due to its author's use of numerous "clichés and platitudes" and the "flimsiness" of Sharma's text, the book resonated with audiences, fueled by Sharma's busy international speaking schedule.

Other books by Sharma include The Saint, the Surfer, and the CEO: A Remarkable Story about Living Your Heart's Desire, which a Publishers Weekly contributor dubbed "a spiritual allegory." Reading like a fable, the book tells the story of Jack Valentine, who is depressed and dissatisfied with his life until a spiritual journey takes him to three successive gurus who guide him on the path to enlightenment. Who Will Cry When You Die?, which focuses on creating a legacy through one's work and life, is organized into topics, such as volunteering, getting up early, exhibiting kindness, and creating a goal card, each section studded with quotes from sources that range from the ancient Romans to Plato to Benjamin Franklin. Although noting that quotes by women are few and far between, Canadian Book Review Annual contributor Louise Karch deemed Who Will Cry When You Die "nevertheless worth reading."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Books in Canada, December, 1997, Eva Tihanyi, review of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Spiritual Fable about Fulfilling Your Dreams and Reaching Your Destiny, p. 40.

Canadian Book Review Annual, 2000, Louise Karch, review of Who Will Cry When You Die?: Life Lessons from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, pp. 369-370.

Publishers Weekly, October 28, 2002, review of The Saint, the Surfer, and the CEO: A Remarkable Story about Living Your Heart's Desires, p. 62.