by Dan Perkins

Like most of us, Samantha Ettus found areas of her personal and professional life that needed improvement.  So, she decided to get advice from individuals who were experts in the areas where she was lacking.  She compiled their wise counsel into a clever little book entitled The Experts' Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do, published by Clarkson/Potter of New York.

Ettus is founder and president of the talent and brand-management firm Ettus Media Management, which specializes in developing personality-driven brands.  It's the one area where Ettus views herself as an expert.  The other areas of her life are plagued with what she calls her "Personal Knowledge Gap" - a black hole of skills she never acquired on the way to adulthood, as she defines it.  But Ettus knows that she is not alone.  "Every day we fake it a little bit," writes Ettus, who rightly acknowledges that everyone is plagued by personal knowledge gaps.

To remedy our collective propensity for faking it, Ettus has organized a collection of "how-to" notes around the way most of us life our lives.  She has notes on ways to improve morning life, work life, home life, weekend life and finally our big life.

The suggestions for improved lives come from individuals who have demonstrated expertise within a specific area.   Ettus offers us notes on negotiating from Donald Trump, and advice on listening from Larry King. Financial columnist Terry Savage offers some useful suggestions on balancing a checkbook, and financial planner Suze Orman offers tips on saving money.  Many of the experts Ettus includes in her book are not major celebrities, but their advice is no less illuminating than their better known counterparts.

Under the section of the book entitled "The Big Life," Ettus features advice from noted genealogist Tony Burroughs on creating a family tree.  Burroughs is widely celebrated for his work in researching and documenting the origins of African American families, beginning with his own.  He wrote the best-seller Black Roots" A Beginner's Guide to Tracing the African American Family Tree.  In the book, Burroughs highlights many of the surprises he encountered while tracing his family's origins.  Burroughs has identified relatives that have served in the U.S. military during every major conflict beginning with the Revolutionary War and continuing through to the Vietnam Conflict.

Burroughs has also gained international notoriety.  He recently returned from Israel after taping segments of an upcoming BBC documentary on the ancestry of Jesus Christ. 

If Burroughs can advise the BBC on the ancestry of Christ, he is more than qualified to help less "exalted" individuals trace their ancestry.

"Everyone should create a family tree, for we stand on the shoulders of our ancestors," writes Burroughs in Ettus' handy little guide.  He explains the important distinction between a descendant chart and a pedigree chart, and offers tips for documenting deceased family members.  Burroughs' advice will be helpful to anyone seeking to get a better handle on what Ettus calls "The Big Life."

Ettus' book is just under 350 pages, and most of the advice is clear and straight-forward.  Ettus is to be commended for making the most of her collection of self-improvement tips, but her work is far from complete. Several volumes of advice are needed before most of us can lessen the amount of faking we do everyday.

The End