Homestead Life - Reviews

Live Your Life: 14 Days to the Best You

Book cover - Live Your Life: 14 Days to The Best You

Book cover - Live Your Life: 14 Days to The Best You
Book cover for Live Your Life:14 Days to the Best You by Dr. Ann LeFevre.

‘Live Your Life: 14 Days To The Best You’

by Dr. Ann LeFevre, PHD, LCSW, CMT

On occasion I am asked to review a book that really interests me, and ‘Live Your Life: 14 Days To The Best You’ is one of those books. The Cadence Group sent a free copy in the mail for me to review. I admit I was relieved to see it isn’t a gazillion pages long.

I don’t need THAT much help, do I? Let’s read some bits from the back cover…

“Do you feel like you’re stuck in a rut? Overwhelmed by stress? Struggling to generate the momentum needed to improve your circumstances?”

I’m listening… (This is my inner Lisa speaking, btw.)

“Live your Life: 14 Days to the Best You is a transformative resource for exposing your mental blocks and building a bridge to success. Through daily lessons and easy-to-follow action items, Dr. LeFevre will guide you along the path of self-discovery, growth, and acceptance.”

Hmmmm, sounds interesting…

I will admit that at first I hesitated. There is a tendency in homesteaders to take the do-it-yourself approach to extremes, am I right?! When it comes to addressing my own personal growth, I often have that same mentality.

Hey, I can handle anything life throws at me on my own, thank you very much. Be quiet, inner Lisa…you could use some help!

But, you know what? It’s hard to see ourselves and our issues from a new perspective…and I think we all could benefit from taking a step outside ourselves so we can re-evaluate and make changes for the positive. And yes, this applies to homesteaders too. You can’t be self reliant if you can’t rely on yourself, after all.

Okay, okay…let’s get started…

Guess what! As I read through ‘Live Your Life,’ I started getting ideas for ways to apply the advice and suggestions in my own life, to my blog, and to my self sufficiency goals too. Ideas for new posts sprang to mind, as well as ideas for encouraging others to be more self reliant.

Hang on…we’ll get to that…

Dr. Ann looks like a nice person to get to know…I hope she doesn’t mind me calling her Dr. Ann. She doesn’t look like she would mind.

First, Let Me Tell You About This Book…

Dr. Ann LeFevre isn’t preachy, she’s down to earth, her book is easy to read, and she offers a helpful, common sense approach to rethinking your goals and lifestyle. In addition to these good points, I was able to sit and read a chapter in my spare time with no problem. It was easy to glean meaningful insights on the very first reading. This is not a stuffy, fluffy, or militant book.

I don’t like stuffy, fluffy, or militant books…

The author begins each chapter, or day of the program, by sharing her own experiences and then applies that to an approach for making change in your own life. Once the problem or need is explained, she has a short section called Thinking Points (questions to ask yourself, new ways of thinking about your problem or need) and a final section titled Action Items, with specific challenges or exercises to try.

At first I wondered about the claim of ’14 Days to the Best You.’ Can I really become the best me in 14 days?

Snort! Me? Listen, I’m not even half the way there and I am no spring chicken...

It sounds like a lot to expect in 14 days, doesn’t it? For the reader who is genuinely interested in making positive changes, 14 days is a beginning time frame. The ideas discussed in this book are really intended for jump starting change that should last your lifetime. I didn’t take the full 2 weeks to read the book. Some days I read two or tree chapters, other days I didn’t find time to read any.

Hey, we had family visiting! But I did read through the entire book and I gave all of it careful thought. And yes, I learned some things. For example, I learned that…

 

I Am Far From Perfect!

No, Dr. LeFevre didn’t inform me of this…I’ve known that all along. I just wasn’t all that sure what I needed to change in my life and she helped me figure some of that out. Fortunately, not every chapter (or day) brought a new revelation about how messed up I am much work I need to do. 🙂

However, I did find helpful ideas for my personal life in each chapter. I won’t bore you with all of the details. Let me just share some ‘takeaways’ I found valuable for Lisa Lynn, the self reliance blogger…

Day 1 – Silence the Voices

I have nagging voices telling me I’m not good enough. But at least they’re only in my head!  There are some pretty amazing people out there blogging about similar topics to mine and I often feel intimidated by their awesomeness. But, you know what? That’s ok! I’m happy for them and I am glad to learn from their posts. Ok, I still struggle with those feelings and then I remind myself that there are people who seem to enjoy reading my blog too, so it’s all good. Thanks, Day 1!

Day 2 – Stay the Course

I don’t always finish what I start. Sigh. You’re learning a lot about me, aren’t you? I often start out with grand ideas that fizzle. If you’ve been following my blog for a while you may have noticed times when i didn’t post very much. I even considered just giving up and deleting it from the internet. I’m glad I didn’t, because I’ve put a lot of work into it and I’m excited to be writing and sharing again. Thanks, Day 2!

Day 3 – Start Somewhere, Anywhere

I get overwhelmed sometimes. Our house needs organizing and de-cluttering, rooms need painting, animals need feeding, garden needs weeding, everything needs cleaning, and old posts on my blog need updating. Yep…I’m sure you know the feeling! But, you know what? Instead of spending hours on Facebook, ignoring my to do list, I’m tackling it…one task at a time. I’m sure I’ll never be done, but that’s okay…I just do what I can each day. Thanks, Day 3!

Let’s fast forward a bit…

Day 6 – Let It Go

I save stuff. Oh, I’m not a hoarder, but I do have trouble letting go of items. When I was a kid we didn’t have a lot, and that’s okay. We had what we needed and it was a good lesson not to get whatever I wanted. But I went the opposite direction for some time and bought more things than I needed. Now, I’ve never been extravagant, but I collected stuff…chickens, gloves, tools, seed packets, baling twine, feed bags, loose screws…you get the picture.

I’m learning to let go of stuff. If I can recycle something or find a new home for it, I do. I still have a lot of stuff to go through, but my mindset has changed and I’m not accumulating things anymore. Well, I do have an order of chickens coming next week…but I’m getting better. Thanks, Day 6!

Day 8 – Look For Opportunities & Day 12 – Take A Risk

These 2 days go kind of hand in hand for me. I’ve always had a problem with taking risk and looking for opportunities. Looking for new opportunities means putting myself out there in a position where I could fail…that’s risky! It would be easier to just stick with what I’m doing, and not failing in.

I don’t like failing…

I have been working on this aspect of my life for some time. It wasn’t easy for me to start blogging! You all just might find out that I’m human. 🙂

Well, I guess the cat is out of the bag now…

I’m not usually a very public person. Actually, I’m an introvert. So putting myself out there on the internet was pretty risky and I’m a teeny bit proud of myself for going through with it. It is also a big opportunity. I’ve gotten to know some pretty cool people! And I’m working on business ideas to help supplement our income. It’s all pretty amazing…and risky. So I have to suppress those inner negative thoughts and remind myself that I can do this.

Yes, I can do this…Thanks, Day 8 & Day 12!

So There You Have It…I’m Human & Sometimes I Need Help

Even though I tend to think I can do it all on my own, I really enjoyed reading a helpful book…maybe because it’s a self help book. The short chapters and helpful suggestions worked very well for me. I came away feeling like I can do this. Lisa Lynn the self reliance blogger has learned a lesson!

I don’t always learn my lesson, but when I do, I learn it the hard way. Wait, that’s not me anymore? Well, I’m guessing I still have a few hard lessons in store for me. 

Not every day of the program was super applicable to my life. But we are all different and you are likely to find different ideas more helpful than I did. What you will find is an easy to read book with down to earth advice that is very non-judgmental and simple to customize to your needs.

I plan to read this book through again, at least one more time. There are chapters that I feel I really need to read again in a week, and then a month, and then maybe again in a year. Which is tough, because I also have several people in my life who I think would appreciate the book…and I want to send it to them too.

 

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book, but all opinions are my own.

Oh yeah, remember those ideas for new blog posts and ways to help others become more self reliant? I’ve decided to challenge myself to be more self reliant for the month of May…stop back and see what I’m up to!

 

I shared this 🙂

Oak Hill Homestead

2 Comments on “Live Your Life: 14 Days to the Best You

  1. Wow, that inner Lisa Lynn you have going on sounds a lot like the inner me I have going on:-) Thanks for the book suggestion, will have to take a peek and see what I can find.

    1. Lol! Glad I’m not the only one! Hope you enjoy the book…I have been picking it up again and just reading a chapter every now and then when I get a chance. 🙂

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