Find Your Strongest Life
Marcus Buckingham
This book starts with the premise that women are unhappier than they were 40 years ago and that we need to find our “strongest’ lives and do things differently so that we are not unhappy.
Marcus cites research findings about women and happiness but to me, the research trained psychologist, I found myself asking what women, what ages?
I’m sure the woman reader of this book is in her 30’s or 40’s and would not be asking those questions. Women in this age range who work, are married and have children are more stressed – I know that in my 40’s as a single parent with a young child I lived and breathed stress.
Why all the stress and apparent dissatisfaction? Although the gap is not as large as it was, working women still do the bulk of home and childcare – making for really long days. And we still have an idea of "having it all."
Marcus offers some useful information about how to be happier and more successful in dealing with the life of work, home and he writes about doing this by seeking and finding your strong moments and accepting what/who you are.
He also suggests not trying to be perfect and creating imbalance in your life – two concepts that I totally agree with. And, in fact, my own recent e-book and articles try to convince new parents, especially moms, to stop trying to be "perfect."
There is very helpful information on how to find your strong moments by looking at what is your “life role” and making the most of what is your strength or are your strengths.
Additionally there are work and marriage-related suggestions for helping women be or feel stronger.
Overall it is a good feeling book and will be useful to those feeling stressed and wondering what is wrong with them. There is nothing wrong with you – you may need to re-think what you call happiness and find those areas Marcus calls your “strong moments.” To aid you, he has a website with his Strong Life Test at: stronglifetest.com