John C. Maxwell

Fan-flipping-tastic book. Definitely "meatier" than I was expecting compared to other Maxwell books I've read, but it really sets the groundwork for basically every other book he's written, so. :)

Highly recommended--just take your time and be willing to do the work! I love that he includes application questions at the end of each chapter; they really got me thinking about how to implement each law into my life not just "someday," but now.

I expected a lot from this book but it turned out to be quite repetitive and obvious. The message that you must not give up under any circumstances (except when you realize that you are doing something you weren't meant to do by God?) was repeated throughout the book, and after this claim you will read some story about someone who has succeeded in life and succeeded after failing repeatedly. Towards the end these anecdotes started feeling quite repetitive as well, although some of them were show more somewhat interesting.

What this book does not tell are those stories where people tried throughout their lives and never succeeded in spite of embracing the teachings of this book. Actually, this book claims that such a scenario is not possible, but I assure you that it is.

The book also seems to claim that there is this small elite of successful people who are successful because they are persistent and never give up. And then there are the rest, who just lie in their misery, blame others of not being successful themselves, whine all the time about the circumstances and do not take responsibility of their actions. I know there are people who are like that, but they are definitely a minority. Most adults who could be considered as "mediocre" are not like that. There are many other similar questionable claims in this book that are not backed by any data, and some claims that are just not true even though they might be inspirational to someone.

I'm not saying that the basic message of the book about learning to embrace failures, learning to analyze the reasons of your failures, taking responsibility and reflecting your own attitudes etc. is wrong, but these are age old teachings that this book makes sound so shallow and naive because of the mediocre writing and repetitiveness that reminds me of some trance-like religious convention. The book was also a very fast and easy read, and many times I found myself thinking if this book was actually written just to make some easy money for the writer, for it has so little of anything actually new or insightful to offer.

Maybe this book is useful, if you are really quite unsure of yourself and need a lot of positive reinforcement, or if you feel like you cannot handle failure at all. But it should not be read as a realistic description about how life actually works. In the end life and success is way more complex than Maxwell claims. show less

Our lives are like a story, there is often the good, the bad and sometimes the ugly that we often want to hide, but overall, the way that we live and what we do is our story. Honestly I had never thought about it in such simple terms until picking up Intentional Living by John C. Maxwell. The great thing is as long as we are alive, we have the ability to shift our story to who we want to be instead of who we might be right now. Instead of living an unintentional life where things just sort show more of happen, we can begin to live intentionally, and choose to make a difference, then it becomes like a ripple effect where we might just influence someone else. Reading Intentional Living will show the reader the simple steps they need to make to start living life with purpose, and one of the simplest steps is changing ones mindset!

This is the first book I have read by John C. Maxwell and if I had to describe it in one word it would be POWERFUL! There is no way to read this book and not be inspired to live the best life you can live. A life without regret, a life where you make a difference. This book motivates and inspires but it also touched a place deep in my heart as I read the stories the author shared. The writing style is so easy to comprehend, and I truly felt like I was listening to Mr. Maxwell speak as I read the book. There were so many favorite passages that i underlined, but the one line that jumped out at me was this " If you give with no expectation of return, you can make a difference and live a life that matters," and honestly isn't that what we all want. Truly a timely book for today's society one that everyone should read. I have found myself rereading certain passages because I truly want to live a life that matters and this book holds the keys to help unlock the potential that lives inside all of us!

A complimentary copy of this book was provided for review. show less

Early on in my ministerial career I consumed John Maxwell books like Tic Tacs. I couldn't get my hands on them fast enough. Each one seemed better than the next.

Whether it was a shift in his writing style or a migration of my own thinking, I drifted away from Maxwell. I often felt that his later writings on leadership principles where too far afield from biblical leadership principles. He seemed to overemphasize vision and goals and almost ignore (at times) the importance of individuals and show more pastoring people through tough times, even if they were incompetent. As a result, I haven't picked up a Maxwell book in quite some time - maybe a decade or so.

When I was given Leadership Gold, I did everything I could to suppress a disdainful sigh. I assumed I would file it away in the "never to be read" stack. Alas, I found myself reading it recently. And it blew me away! I found Maxwell to be self-effacing, humble, people-centered, and, exceedingly wise.

I took Maxwell's own advice and read Leadership Gold in short bursts over a long period of time so as to properly digest it. I'm not ready to say that I was wrong about all of Maxwell's previous works, but I loved this one. Each chapter was insightful. Please don't mishear me: I'm not saying I agree with all of his assertions, but more often than not, he asked questions that stimulated my thinking. I found myself evaluating own leadership abilities. I can honestly say that I will be a more astute leader having read this book.

John Maxwell is back on my radar. show less