Now What?: 90 Days to a New Life Direction

There are a number of self-help books out on the market today and it takes a keen eye and quite a bit of research to separate the ones that are really useful from the ones that might not be so useful for you. I don’t typically read a lot of self-help books, so when I do I am typically fairly critical. Well, I’m happy to say that NOW WHAT?: 90 DAYS TO A NEW LIFE DIRECTION by Laura Berman Fortgang is the latest self-help book that I would recommend. Ever considered that even though life seems to be going along just fine, there’s something missing? Do you feel a hole in your life and have no clue how to find or fill it? Laura Berman Fortgang discusses these issues, bringing to light the fact that many of us are not as happy with our show more lives as we try to convince ourselves we are. Whether it’s a job that you can no longer stand or an aspiration that you’ve been longing to achieve, in NOW WHAT? Fortgang gives us the tools to develop a new path that with the right amount of work and energy should lead us to a more happy and peaceful life.I know that I, for one, have had issues for years trying to figure out what was missing in my life. That’s part of the reason I took up reviewing books. It gives me a sense of pleasure and helped to lift me up to a place I wanted to be. Still, something was and is missing. Fortgang’s plan is a 90 day plan, so I can’t come and tell you that I went through and completed the entire plan yet, but I can tell you that after reading the book and doing as much as I can so far, I do actually feel better about myself and my future. In the introduction of NOW WHAT?, Fortgang has us take a quick assessment that shows us which parts of the book we need to really focus on. She still recommends following the chapters of the book in sequence, but at least this way we can begin to get an idea of where we might be headed on this journey. I found this part to be extremely useful and it was only the introduction! The rest of the book, with stories, discussions, and exercises continued on the helpful trend, creating a book that far surpasses the “self-help” label. Fortgang’s book really involves a plan, a way to systematically change the way we think and behave, pulling us out of the way of helping ourselves. Probably one of the aspects that really made NOW WHAT? a winner to me was Fortgang’s writing. It could have been very easy for her to use flowery words and tell us that everything would be okay. Instead, she is very frank with her writing. She discusses the fact that we might think that making a change will take too long or is too hard. Her response is basically, so what? She admits that yes, it’s going to be hard; yes, it might take a while and it is even possible that her plan might not work for every individual on the planet. Anything that is worth working on, however, is going to take time and energy. I love that Fortgang was able to be so honest and up front with that. It made her and her book much more credible in my opinion. Another fantastic aspect of the book, and one that made it very relatable, were the stories that Fortgang instilled in the pages. Using her many years of experience as a life coach, Fortgang shares with us some of her most troubled clients and some of their biggest successes. Aside from being able to see that change really is possible, we also see that it was really quite difficult for some; however, they overcame their roadblocks to working with the program and in the end benefited greatly. Fortgang also did well with diversifying the stories and examples. I would imagine that there is probably a relatable story in NOW WHAT? for every person out there looking for a change. This was a fantastic book and although it is not the genre that I typically read, I did get a lot of enjoyment from the pages and felt that I learned a lot about myself in the process. These are the kinds of books where you finish it, reflect on what you have experienced and realize how lucky that the collection of pages fell in your lap. I would recommend NOW WHAT? to anyone looking for a change, anyone that thinks they might like or need a change, and anyone that says that absolutely do not need or want a change. It’s amazing what truths about yourself NOW WHAT? brings to the surface and I would not be at all surprised to hear that even those that don’t believe they need or want a change discover something about themselves that they can spruce up a bit. show less

What do you hate? When I saw that opener, I knew it was my kind of book. With all the soul searching, purpose finding, life directing books I've read, they've never really helped me. A lot of this type of books make you create an inventory of your skills, then have you try to match them against a list of occupations. The problem is, a lot of times it's not so mechanical. You probably don't need help in finding what skills you have. But what do you really want, what are you meant to do in your life, and what makes you happy? These are pretty deep questions, the ones I've asked myself for years.

If you are like me, you may not know what you want, but you are darn sure what you don't want. Believe it or not this is a good starting point, show more because by asking yourself what you hate and turn them around, there you have your "wants".

It's not what you do, but who you get to be. This was a big clue. We tend to get obsessed with "what", but is that really as important as "who"? Let me think of an example. I used to work as a secretary. I hated it. But it was the role I was playing, than "what" I was doing. When I'm running my own business, I still have to do plenty of menial tasks. But I'm not miserable, because that's just part of the job and I love who I'm being.

Now What? is a step by step guide to finding your career direction. It gave me a lot of clarity and better understanding of what makes me happy, and where I need to be going. It takes you through where you come from and what you have been through, and help you find clues in them and fine tune a clear direction. Finally, a book that does what it's supposed to do. I highly recommend it to anybody who is not happy with their current job, or where you want to go in your career.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Book-Review---Now-What?-By-Laura-Berman-Fortgang&id=3712631] Book Review - Now What? By Laura Berman Fortgang show less