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Summary: For those who like positive affirmations, this is your book
Review: For books of this type, this isn't bad. I would strongly recommend a book like this should be balanced with one a bit more firmly routed in the real world. "Filling the Glass," while ostensibly a business book covers much the same ground with a more hardheaded practicality. Yet that very hardheadedness makes its ultimately uplifting message far more effective. "Shakelton's Way" is another excellent example--again ostensibly a business book but one that has wonderful insights into improving the qualtiy of your personal life as well. Nothing wrong with positive affirmation--just don't expect them to work without doing the necessary practical groundwork.
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Summary: not what I expected
Review: I am still reading this book and haven't started the program yet. I was very surprised to learn that to successfully complete the program the author asks that you have a partner or create a group, all committed to step by step, chapter by chapter, month by month, go through the book and support each other. I think people should know this before they buy the book! I don't think I would have bought the book knowing this. Maybe I will write another review when I finish!
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Summary: Practical and very helpful
Review: In my experience, one of the biggest obstacles to changing your life is being overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task. If absolutely everything in your life -- your job, your extracurricular commitments, your finances, your health, your domestic situation -- seems out of whack, it's easy to conclude that your problems are too enormous to be solved, and do nothing. This book is a wonderful antidote to despair. The author shows you how to identify the specific parts of your life that are draining your energy and preventing you from achieving your dreams, and she details simple, practical steps you can take to overcome these obstacles. I feel that her priorities are right on: many people (especially women) are prone to let the demands of others rule their lives, so learning to take care of yourself is a crucial first step towards making further changes. I also appreciate her insistence that YOU are the person best qualified to set your own priorities and decide what you can live without. Too many self-help programs start with the premise that you're doing something "wrong" and need to follow someone else's recommendations to overcome it -- but, for many of us, that's how we let our lives get off balance in the first place! Finally, the author's lively style and upbeat tone support her message that this isn't rocket science: you have the ability to put your life back on the right track, and it doesn't require extraordinary intelligence or strength, just making small, specific changes in the way you live each day. I found the book useful as well as fun to read, and I'm looking forward to reading her next book.
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Summary: A Christian Critique
Review: As a Christian, I found that the author's "SpiritualPrinciples" were heavily New Age. While the advice is good andif you read consciously mentally replacing "the Universe"with God and "the Inner Voice" with the Holy Spirit, the 7steps can be useful to better managing your life. Shortly afterreading this book, I found "Reinventing Your Life WithGrace" a 4 tape series from Woman of Faith... This is a ChristianBible based series that I feel would be of better value to a Christianwho is looking to reinvent their life and de-stress.
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Summary: Take Time For Your Life
Review: I love this book. Cheryl Richardson gives us a clear roadmap to take charge of our lives and rid ourselves of the things that drain our energy and keep us from expereincing the joy we all deserve. This book is the perfect handbook to begin the exciting process of transforming our lives.
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Summary: The Power of Reviews!
Review: It is amazing how much you can gain from other people's book reviews. I had an interest in "Take Time for Your Life" and didn't realize how much I could get out of it. I read the review from a 34 year old hotel owner from Germany whose review changed my life. I went right out and bought this book. Through reading this book, I became aware of how to make taking care of myself a top priority; to be in control of what I really want in my life; and to become more active, not letting my life just pass by. Go out and buy this book. It will give your life a boost in the right direction.Another book the hotel owner recommended is called "Working on Yourself Doesn't Work" by Ariel & Shya Kane. This book showed me how to see my mechanical behaviors that were influencing the way my life was showing up. The authors introduced me to a reality that allows me to be who I am and to notice my greatness. Buy this book, too! It also changed my life, it could change yours too!
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Summary: Practical, sensible, and clear
Review: Richardson's book is packed with practical advice to get control of your life. In plain language, she offers suggestions for taking specific steps to be true to yourself, live with integrity, and see your own contribution to problems. I especially liked her test for the quality of your relationships and her tips on building community. "Community makes us whole," she says on page 185. Yes! A terrific book for people who want to grow and be all they can be. ~~Joan Mazza, author of DREAM BACK YOUR LIFE; DREAMING YOUR REAL SELF; WHO'S CRAZY ANYWAY? and 3 books in The Guided Journal Series with Writer's Digest Books.
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Summary: Wow! Wow! and Wow!
Review: This book is like having a personal coach. I've only read one chapter and I'm already making changes in my life. The book requires that you keep a journal along the way, but it's easy and it really helps. I can't wait to create the life I want!
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Summary: Take Time For Your Life
Review: This book is an excellent book for women. It really helps you change your focus to yourself, which is where it should be.
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Summary: Only the Details are New
Review: Vis-a-vis the substance of Richardson's TAKE TIME FOR YOUR LIFE I found virtually nothing new: only the details. The principles enunciated--centuries ago--are a mainline theme of both the Old and New Testaments of Holy Scripture. "Thou wilt keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee." "Cast thy burden upon the Lord...." "Cast all your care upon God." "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon me, and learn of me.... Ye shall find rest unto your soul...." Although Richardson's book makes good reading and certainly is helpful, it seems to me she overlooks the soul in favour of a mad frenzy of gimmicks, reminders, signboards, lists, projects, etc. for the body which in themselves are less than restful. The world Richardson offers comes across as too self-contained, too self-centered, too self-implemented. What's wrong with looking day-by-day to a Power higher than oneself? There's nothing new about that: it's the stuff of which AA and most other rescue organizations are made. The bottom line? One can look to the higher power of God and find established for oneself a living personal relationship that works and keeps on working because it is a reciprocal thing. I am not panning Richardson's book: I'm simply saying she's missed out on something far more powerful and enduring than what she offers here. I go further: better the non-religious should read this book and discover its help, than to read nothing at all.
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