Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently

I'm a girl who changed her major four times in four years. And in the less than 10 years since I graduated, I haven't just had several different jobs, I've had several different this-is-it-I've-found-my-true-calling-and-I-will-do-this-forever career paths. So when I heard about a book that could tell me not just what my personality type is (I love those quizzes), but could tell me how to use that to live a strong, successful life, I jumped on it. Of course, I'm still waiting for the definitive answer of what exactly my Strong Life roles mean, what I should be when I grow up, what will finally make me feel strong, successful, fulfilled. But even though it didn't give me the exact answer I'm looking for, reading Find Your Strongest Life has given me a few more tools for getting to that answer. Buckingham worked for Gallup Organization and has years of experience figuring out what makes people tick. And one trend he noticed in that time is that women, as a whole, are not happy and successful. He says that we're paralyzed by too many choices. Not that he's implying women should have fewer options. Instead, he believes women need to learn how to to about making our choices, how to deal with all the options we have. He suggests thinking back - over the last week, into your childhood, whatever it takes - to find the moments when you feel your strongest. And those are the moments we should, he says, catch and cradle. And then use in our primary and secondary roles (from the Strong Life Test) to create a full an fulfilling life. No juggling. No talk of balance. It sounds a little crazy, not what we're used to hearing. But you know what? I think he might be on to something. (And, for the record, dozens of women who participated in an Oprah workshop with Buckingham seem to agree.) I haven't quite sorted through all the things that I read in this book. But it's making me think. A lot. As for the book itself, I loved that Buckingham used lots of real-life examples of women who have made choices and found their strong lives. I could have done without all the background and build-up in the first half of the book, but I've written enough research papers to understand why he structured it that way. If you want to live a strong life and aren't quite there yet, check out Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently.

Find Your Strongest Life by Marcus Buckingham is a book that every woman needs to read. It inspires you to find out who you are, how you tick, and what you can do with the ticks. Marcus does a great job of cutting to the chase and telling it like it is when it comes to women getting real and discovering their strongest self. I was thrilled to see a Strong Life test. I discovered that my strongest life is found in teaching and creating. Well, I knew that. It was just confirmed by taking the test. As you read the book you will discover facts, read some eye opening research, and see that many women are living a life based on myths more so than truth. Reading the stories of women seeking will help you to see that you are not alone on this journey. As I read Find your Strongest Life, I found myself wanting to get up and get the job at hand done. It was as if Marcus were right there talking to me across the table while we sipped on coffee and tea. He seems to get what women need when it comes to discovery of self! AWESOME FOR A MAN! It was an awesome read for me because I do not believe in multi-tasking. I only have two hands, two feet, and one brain and trying to do it all makes me nutty. It was refreshing to find out that I don't have to do it and that my strongest life comes from finding my place in God's plan and sticking with it. If you are seeking your strongest life, then read Find Your Strongest Life! You won't be sorry.

This latest book by Marcus Buckingham was written because he discovered that women tend to become "less happy" as they get older (which is the opposite of men...shocking!! Do we ever do anything the same?). He starts off by unpacking several myths and statistics that really helped me to see that women (including myself) are aimed at the wrong goal: balance. It's actually imbalance towards the activities that strengthen us that we should be reaching for. Marcus teaches how to focus and find these "strengthening moments" in our lives and fill up on them so that our lives become positive, encouraging and exactly what we long for. He gives an opportunity to take a test that will help you discover your role and I was shocked by mine: Motivator with an Advisor secondary. Motivator? What? Seriously? Not a week before, a woman who I dearly love and learn so much from had told me she thought that encouragement could be my spiritual gift...I'm still reeling that it was what my test said! But the more I looked at the moments that strengthened me and looked at the characteristics of my role as motivator, I realized that this really was what God had designed in me. I had just never looked close enough to find it! In finishing the book, I am finding that this can be so easily applied to my marriage and also to my children. I am starting to see the special strengths in them...and more understanding in these relationships only leads to strengthening them. [...]

Find Your Strongest Life had simple, yet powerful tips for living a better life. They were tips that seemed basic, yet they were ideas I had never considered. I am a young, single woman. I'm not married and don't have kids and this book most certainly had advice just for me. In reading some of these other reviews, I'm confused by people who say this book is just for career women or just for moms - I completely disagree. I think this book has great advice for women of all ages and stages of life. Don't look to this book to answer all your life questions or to be your moral compass, that doesn't seem to be its intent. Look to it for good, practical life advice - for tips on how to live life in a way that strengthens you instead of draining you. Who doesn't need that kind of advice?

Today women are better educated, have better jobs, better pay, more choices about mates, careers ... just about everything. But that has not translated into women being happier. Actually with more choices the opposite is true. Womens overall happiness has been on a steady decline since 1972. This decline in happiness occurs across the board, regardless of whether women have children, how many they have, or how much they earn. Marcus Buckingham is a well known researcher. He has written five previous books which centered around the concept that each person will be happiest when they are working from their greatest strength. Find Your Strongest Life got its start from a three hour workshop with Oprah. The workshop was conducted with 30 talented but unfulfilled women. In his mission statement Marcus says, "My mission is to help each person identify her strengths, take them seriously and offer them to the world." The book starts off by citing 10 myths about women. Here are just a few: As women get older they become more engaged and fulfilled. (False) If women had more free time they would feel less stressed. (False) Having children makes women happier. (children create more stress) At work, women are relegated to the lower level roles. (False) There are ten that Marcus addresses and it is the starting point for the book. The book is in three parts. The first part deals with the paradox of modern life. Women have more but it is not bringing the happiness they thought/hoped it would. Part two is a guide to how to live your strongest life. Here the book goes into great detail in how to identify and live your strongest life. Part three is basically a Q & A section. Most women I know feel over stressed, under-appreciated and unfulfilled. They are trying to juggle too many things. This book is the manual they have been hoping for. It will dispel a lot of false beliefs. There are some very valuable lessons about how to identify your strengths and then start living them. Marcus cites specific examples of women and how they found their strongest life. If you are a woman struggling with: "What's life all about? Do I have to settle for or stay in a job I don't like? Do I have to give up my career for my family?" then this is a must read. If you know of a woman going through trying to find her way in life, get a copy and give it to her. Most people have been taught that to be successful you have to work on your weaknesses. Marcus advocates the totally opposite approach. Identify your strengths and build your life around them. You will only be fulfilled when you work on your strengths. This is your natural state. This is a well written, easy to read book. It is full of great information that any woman should be able to gain insight into their lives and put the advice to work right away. Highly recommended.