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Summary: This is it -- a plan for living a life you love!
Review: Take Time for Your Life arrived as I was heading to the airport. I tucked it in my bag and read almost all of it on the plane, arriving with a calm, positive outlook that lasted all weekend! What's incredible about Cheryl Richardson's book is that it presents a simple, do-able plan to simplify and enrich your life, with specific "take action" steps. Somehow she makes you feel as if this is the book you'll really incorporate into your life, and the vision of what your life will become is compelling. Checking items in "What's draining you?" and making a "Top Ten Procrastination List" will instantly change your perspective on your everyday life and give you the nudge to rearrange your priorities. Using this book, you will give yourself permission to put "extreme self care" at the top of the list (in a positive kind of selfishness), and free up your energy for dealing with everyone and everything around you. Making an "Absolute Yes List" will help you to say no without feeling negative. Each chapter lists great resources. This is a well-balanced, comprehensive plan for changing your life, presented in a "Swiss cheese" way so that you can immediately start applying parts of it and realize the benefits from the beginning. A must for anyone from a stressed-out professional to a frazzled mom!
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Summary: An action-oriented book for those who have "no time."
Review: Are you tired, stressed out, eating lots of junk food, overdrawn in your checking account, procrastinating, watching lots of tv, turning into a slug, and generally feeling FRAZZLED? If so, you should buy this book and take Cheryl Richardson's advice. If you do, I guarantee that in six weeks your life may not be perfect, but it will be much, much better.I've tried lots of organization books, time management courses, and self-help books that just haven't worked, but Cheryl Richardson's book is different (much like Julie Morgenstern's Organizing from the Inside Out is different and works!) But where Morgenstern focuses on cleaning up the clutter and creating SPACE for a new life, Richardson tells you, in step-by-step fashion how to actually create "the life you want." Richardson recommends reviewing the whole book before you start taking action, and I found it easy to do this in two evenings. Then, at a MUCH slower pace she tackles one area of your life at a time, giving you practical and thoughtful guidance on how to make changes that really matter. My favorite chapters were "Put yourself at the Top of the List," which advocates adopting an "extreme self care" approach by starting a journal, designating a few hours a week for a date with yourself, and making sure that you're taking time for your physical and emotional health. For those of you who feel overwhelmed with that list, Richardson advises taking on no more than one of these tasks a day (and even less than that if you need to). "What's draining you" helps you to figure out the 1001 niggling details of the day that suck the energy from you--even if you're not doing them! Her mantra of "do it, hire it, chuck it" is finally getting me through the 247 unopened email messages sitting in my inbox! I'm still working through the financial chapter (my biggest nightmare), but progress is being made. Sure, we all know that we should exercise, get enough rest, and balance our checkbooks--but how many of us actually do? Richardson's book is the anecdote for the hysterical pace of life in 2000. If you imagine your life differently, I'd try this book out and see if you can't turn that dream into a reality.
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Summary: finding balance
Review: This book is for anyone who works more than 8 hours a day. If you know someone that works more than 10 hours a day - you should tell him or her that they MUST read this book. Cheryl is a life coach that shows people how to organize their lives so that they have a nice balance between all their needs. A person who is spending too much time at the office will likely burn out and not be very successful in the long run. She also teaches that you don't have to do everything by yourself. It may sound so simple, but when you read this book you will see how Cheryl expounds on this idea and teaches you how to have a more holistic approach to life. I highly recommend you reading this book. Zev Saftlas, Author of Motivation That Works: How to Get Motivated and Stay Motivated
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Summary: A Healthy and Very Practical Read
Review: This is a great book. The author, Cheryl Richardson, acting as a coach, gives suggestions to look at our life in a way that can allow us to discover the places where we may have gotten lost, and to reassess our priorities in order to live a life that is meaningful and satisfying. She demonstrates very clearly and with concrete examples drawn from her own clients, how we can easily get lost under the demands that life makes on us, and forget what is most important to us. This book is all about regaining control of your life by taking a good look at what you do, and discovering the places where you sell out on yourself and get lost. I like the simplicity of the practical suggestions: for instance the chapter where she invites the readers to map out a detailed schedule of their weekly activities (including the time spent worrying and feeling overwhelmed!) is a great tool to reveal where you invest most of your time and energy; and the results can come as a surprise! In the same style I find the book Working on Yourself Doesn't Work by Ariel and Shya Kane to be a wonderful introduction to looking at your life in an anthropological way without trying to fix yourself but rather with the intention of discovering who you are and becoming the creator of your own life. This book has been very empowering for me in its simplicity, and has shown me how transformation can happen out of very simple re-adjustments made to my life rather than huge makeovers. The message in both books is simple: "all you need to do is take an honest look at what you do, bring awareness to it, and let go of the behaviors that are not working for you, without judging them". From that place of simple awareness, transformation and incredibly shifts can happen in your life. I strongly recommend both books to anybody interested in bringing transformation into their lives without trying to fix themselves or change who they are, but rather by allowing themselves to be who they are, and to discover the full measure of their true self.
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Summary: Practical, easy to do way to make some changes
Review: I picked up and read this book at just the right time in my life. I have read a lot of self help books, and this one by far is the best for me. I have read the other criticisms that people have posted on the book, and I think they are missing Ms. Richardson's point. I am a Christian, and when she talks about connecting with your higher power, I just substitute the Holy Spirit and Jesus, since that is the source of my higher power. Sometimes we get so caught up in living life that we don't stop and look at whether what we do is congruent with our beliefs. If you follow the easy steps in her book, it will force you to look at how you live your life, and then evaluate if that is really what you believe. If you are not living the life you want, then her book is the perfect way to start getting things back in alignment. Some of us need permission to "take care of ourselves" and direction to balance the checkbook,and whether that makes us weak or foolish is not the point. It takes all kinds in this world to make it go round, and this book will definately help those who feel that their lives have gotten out of control.
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Summary: Book already donated.
Review: This book did not "make the cut" on my bookshelf. I wich Richardson would quit cranking out books... this talented woman should write a definitive guide...
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Summary: Probably the silliest book I have ever read
Review: ... and dangerous, too. Encourages selfishness and egotism (Page 12: "You think selfish is a dirty word".. go on, be selfish.)
Whatever good there is in the American way of life, it didn't come from stuff like this.
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Summary: Warmth, Caring and Pragmatic
Review: Excellent book for anyone looking to learn more about Coaching or just looking for simple answers for creating a better life. Cheryl has a warm and caring writing style. Her experience comes through as she relates the concepts with real-life client stories. The References section at the end of each chapter make this book an Excellent addition to anyone's library. Patrick Rodriguez, Life Coach
StepByStepSolutions.com
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Summary: Selfish is a dirty word
Review: Ms. Richardson misses the essence of life. Our highest calling is to the service of our God, our spouse, our children, our family, our friends, and our communities. If we focus our energies on these priorities, our lives will enrich others, and consequently, ourselves. Isn't our world already filled with enough self-centered, self-righteous, and self-absorbed people? What we need is to balance our lives with a focus on giving, not just receiving; serving, not self promotion; and, loving others, not just pleasing ourselves. If you're really looking for a personal coach, try praying -it's a lot more effective and you'll get real answers from the Coach of life. Why settle for a mediocre coach in your life when you can have a World Class Champion coach. This book is too "new age", simple, and too world view. Instead of ending with a spiritual foundation, we need to start with one.
Rating:
Summary: Live a Life You Love
Review: This is an excellent book, one that everyone should read. The program outlined in "Take Time for Your Life" is realistic and sensible. Step by step the author guides the reader through the process of taking care of your whole self -- by covering topics such as relationships, environment, body, mind, and spirit, work, and money. The author helps you to identify and prioritize the various activities in your life. She then provides excellent guidelines for how to restore balance to your life. This book is really wonderful. It inspired me to re-prioritize my life and it also helped me to carve out time for myself. It was tough putting this book down -- each chapter overflowed with take-action ideas on how to overcome obstacles; thereby helping the reader find a way to live a life you love!
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