In Find Your Strongest Life, Marcus Buckingham declares that there IS a way for women to “have it all”. However, his definition of having it all is not doing it all, but feeling fulfilled and in control in what you choose to do. Buckingham states that by finding and following your strengths, you can better define what you need to live a strong life.

I found the premise of the book interesting - that to be happy and fulfilled in life, it is important to define strengthening moments, those moments in which you feel most alive. He provides an on-line Strong Life Test to help readers identify personality roles in which their strengths help them succeed. After giving the reader various real life examples of women who follow his process, Buckingham states “the secret to success and happiness lies in your ability to know yourself well enough to make strong choices without regret…”

This book gave me many things to think about in how I manage and focus my life. I gained new tools with which to evaluate what is truly important to me and to sift through my obligations, self-imposed and otherwise, to determine what to keep and what to drop or change. However, I also felt that Buckingham often veered off to the trite, indicating that if only we would follow his advice any problem could be resolved with his methods. I am a bit more cynical than that. Overall, if you are willing to overlook what I considered a slightly over-optimistic view point on solving life problems, the basic advice in the book is good food for thought.

Marcus Buckingham seems to really understand the struggles that women face. By understanding what struggles women face he is able to give us a plan on how to make our lives stronger. He gives advice on how to make every aspect of your life stronger: work, relationships, raising children, and personal life.

I think the ideas make sense to some extent, but the ideas he presents go against all popular ideals. But I think that's the point, obviously what we've been told to do isn't working so a different plan of attack may just be what we need. I liked the ideas and have started to try and use them in my life.

It was a fairly well-written book. The information is pretty straight forward and easy to understand. Overall I'd say this was a decent book. ( )