Immense struggle with expectaions and will power
583168
Women, meet your match! there's a thin line between love and hate yet this one woman is holding out way too long. Now thrown in the a scenario where she has to abide to his company can he break the walls erected around her? Will she see the truth before it's too late?  What a read, so enjoyed the journey. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
3017669
A friend recommended this series to me as I embarked on a new leadership journey in my career. I accepted Berkner-Boyt's first two suggestions - practicing gratitude and assuming good intention - easily. But then it gets hard. She reminds readers that we are in control of our own destinies and we need to make the choices that support our goals. I know that as I practice these power moves they'll become a part of who I am and will change the trajectory of my career. Thanks for the kick in the pants!
1798381
Too many of us live in the prison of indecision, fearing to make choices before we have ALL our questions and issues answered. Sometimes its not about having EXHAUSTIVE (total and complete) information but acting in light of the ADEQUATE.
2705101
Power and control are the present day weapons of choice for most.  Choosing to lay them down and embrace weakness would be unthinkable and ridiculous.  But our strength is found there as we follow the way of the Lamb.
3132821
Strong women with good intentions, but different path ideas, can bring about a lot of conflict. Letting go of the notion that we can maintain control of our lives is an idea to let go of and move away from.
Very has a tight grip on her husband's congregation until he suddenly dies. Trying to find her way in these new circumstances, is not only a trial for her, but anyone else in her path.
2555762
As I am reading this book, I am starting to see a pattern but will fully divulge once I have completed the book.  I did want to initiate a response of an uneasiness that I felt reading particular parts of the book.  We have all heard countless stories of success but often times we do not hear of the wake of disaster men leave to reach whatever their goal may be.  Obsessions cause men  at times to do whatever it takes to reach a goal, even if that means loosing his family and friends and often leading to the sensation of never being fulfilled.  I do agree with the power of thought, before reading this book I have experienced its effectiveness.  Placing all your energy and focus, creating an obsession in one area of your life is extremely unhealthy and lonely.... I mean look at Walter White!!! haha, but seriously, same scenario.
1874766
This was very difficult for me. Being a native  New Yorker I am always on the go and in constant motion. I couldn't even imagine that you could "do" nothing. I still struggle... but this book presented a way to BE.
661248
Very interesting theory. It is both thought provoking and a bit depressing to understand that we are provided with certain options to exercise free will in our lives only in so far as we can make decisions which do not prevent the pre-ordained plan from materialising. At the same time we are told that we have agreed to this and if we do not achieve whatever we are supposed to learn in each lifetime then we will have the opportunity to repeat the lessons with increasingly steeper challenges for as long as it takes (and the circumstances under which we will 'agree' to come back will narrow our ability to exercise concious free will) so as to 'force or direct' us to make the right choices. I am all in favour of honour, honesty, love etal but it would be a little easier or even fairer if our entire memory of these arrangements was not erased at birth so that we could feel that there is a goal in mind and not think of things as punishment.
1449552
Work the volume knob, louder, like you meant TO.
get ready to suddenly move... Nah, not me . . .
Yeah, even that nose and brace those toes
crank that mouth, move those lips, and swing those hip-

Darondo lets the meekest of us change who we are,
or who we thought we were ; )
3275091
Just do it.  Don't focus on what you can't have, focus on the outcome & benefits. Such a reward. Great!
3622846
This book was fantastic. It covered much of what I needed to hear and gave me some practical steps to grow in that area. I sincerely want to move from selfishness to servant-love and I believe this powerful book can be a big help with that.

I do wish it would have covered a little bit more in regards to dealing with expectations and disappointment with regards to how to let go of expectations of the other person. For example, how to not be disappointed when your partner fails to do what you expected. That was one of my questions going into the reading which still has not been resolved. Otherwise, this book was very helpful.
3895336
Read it, but be prepared to feel like you must make many changes in your comfortable life. There are people who are not self interested- and I want to be one of them.
4456038
It seems that no matter which way you turn you bump into someone whose life is falling apart.  Maybe we have been living a fantasy for too long, delaying the cost of our consumer oriented society and all the bills are now coming due.  Or perhaps it is our self-centered attitudes that are destroying the very fabric of society.  But it seems that there is misery all around.  We desperately need some guidance in how to cope in these trying times.

This book is an attempt to provide some guidance and answers to what to do when your life falls apart.  The book attempts to give guidance that will be helpful no matter what the source of your problems.  The premise of the book is that no matter whether your problems are economic, health or relationship, following the guidelines in the book will improve your life.

I believe that the book tries to accomplish too much and therefore dilutes part of the message.  The book is not a how to deal with specific losses - such as loss of income, how to put your life back together after a foreclosure or even how to deal with devastating news about a health issue.  The steps or points are a little too general, one size fits all.  In my opinion, the book would be much better or much more helpful if it focused on very specific problems.

Daphne Kingma is a relationship expert and a lot of the advice centers around dealing with and improving personal relationships.  Much of the advice focuses on becoming more spiritual.  I certainly believe that a large part of our problems have their roots in our materialistic thinking.  I believe the process of becoming more spiritual is more involved than is presented in this book.

There is a lot of extremely good advice in the book.  Some of the "ten things" are much more powerful than others.  I think the chapters on: Face Your Defaults, Let Go, Persist and Live Simply are stronger than most of the others.

What you get from the book will depend on who and where you are in your life and what you are looking for.  If you are looking for a "How to recover from the economic disaster" I think you will be disappointed.  If you are looking for better tools to help you cope then you are more likely to find much value in the book.

All in all, there are a lot of great messages in the book.  My biggest issue with the book is I believe it tries to cover too much and therefore dilutes the message.  I would rather see a little tighter focus and I believe the message would be even more powerful.

If you are struggling and looking for some ways to cope, this certainly would be a good read.
4723640
Heavy on the knowledge so bring a notebook and pen. I had the audio book as well and had to get the kindle version to rehash some of the more intricate parts. Take notes and if there are calculations to be done, stop, do them and then keep going.
4459732
Walker's book is a challenging read, in many aspects of 'challenge.' Walker's book follows the intertwinings of a particular family throughout all of known (and unknown) history. Through this device, Walker proposes her own alternate mythology of origin, a state of grace where humans and animals lived in peace until the formation of race and gender caused a fall into arrogance and violence. We see characters of all genders, orientations, and ethnic backgrounds struggling with survival and the difficulty of relationships. This presents the first sort of challenge: it is difficult to read stories of rape, torture, enslavement, and degradation, especially as a white male person of some privilege. But the powerful pull of Walker's writing kept me reading instead of the easy fix of putting down the book and walking away. The plainly ideological bent of the book is what presents the flip side of the challenge: Walker's insistence on her agenda is so forceful at times that it overwhelms her prose and threatens the narrative, which would again make it easy to put the book down and walk away. (Hence the three-star review rather than something higher). I would still recommend this book, difficult as it is in many ways, as a portrayal of the difficulty of human relationships when they are based on hierarchy, greed, and fear - particularly if you're one of the folks on the top side of the heap for now.
3360781
Right away you are likely to have problems with Hell Week by Erik Bertrand Larssen. Who, after all, wants to go through the kind of terrible experience associated with such a title?  Larssen, is Norwegian, a former paratrooper who served in some of the worlds worst trouble spots, and is now a performance consultant, meaning that he helps people and organizations improve their performance largely through mental processes. Central to his approach is the idea of making a commitment to live and experience just one week as your best self. The book is divided into three parts. The author starts with the idea that you can accomplish more in life than you think. Part one is titled Planning and Preparation and focuses on a seven step plan that includes the following:
1. Embrace adversity.
2. Get mentally prepared.
3. Strengthen your mind.
4. Gather feedback.
5. Define your goals.
6. Use visualization.
7. Devise a program.

Part 2 covers the seven days and focuses on mental aspects. Monday is concerned with your old habits, Tuesday, with developing a new habit, Wednesday with managing your time, Thursday with getting out of your comfort zone, Friday with rest and recovery, Saturday with controlling your inner dialogue and Sunday with putting your life into perspective. Part 3 covers actions after Hell Week.

The problem with Larssens ideas is that they are largely an adaptation of his military training experiences, which for most people are irrelevant and can even be harmful. For example, he says you should get up at 5 am and go to bed at 10 pm. This schedule might not work for a lot of people. What is a better idea is to have a specific time you go to bed and get up and that you get sufficient rest.  Another of his recommendations is to stay up all night (on Thursday) and then rest on Friday. This idea might work for college students who pull all-nighters to cram for an exam but clearly will not work for people who have to go to work on Friday. A final example is his advice that you engage in strenuous physical activity well beyond your normal level. Doing so could result in serious injury or at least make exercise so unpleasant that you are unlikely to continue it. A better idea is to gradually increase the intensity of your exercise and as your body adapts you will find you can perform at a higher level. For example I want to run a 5 K in under 30 minutes. My starting point was to walk one mile in 15 minutes. I can now run a mile in 11:13 and will continue each week to build on that pace and extend the distance until I reach my goal.

In sum, the value of this book is in the ideas relating to mental preparation, not the specific physical actions. Making a commitment to change, creating a workable and realistic plan, persistence in following and adapting that plan, keeping records and analyzing the results are all critical to behavior change. The hardest part of this process is getting started. (To have begun is half done.) Thus taking a week to focus on the change you want to make in your life and implementing a plan to achieve your goals is a good idea and using the mental processes suggested by Larssen can be a valuable way to begin this process. But a better name might be Transformation Week and a better idea is to focus on the long term. Thus I recommend this book for its emphasis on mental processes, while at the same time cautioning readers about the behavioral aspects.

Finally, it is interesting that all the previous reviews for this book have been either 5 star or 1 star, I think that my review provides an explanation for this difference. The people who love the book most likely are people from similar backgrounds as the author. The others most likely are not. My point in my review is to take the positives from the book and adapt the behaviors to your personal situation.
1735318
Christian, please know that you are not alone in this. Some of Gods strongest warriors struggle with depression. Find a friend or counselor who can help you. Keep your faith in God and He will deliver you. Just as Jesus promised, He will never leave you or forsake you.