Book Review: Making Good Habits, Breaking Bad Habits by Joyce Meyer

Summary: 
From nail biting to cell phone addiction, procrastination to overspending, bad habits seem to outnumber the good ones. Unfortunately, we pay a price for bad habits that outweighs the immediate gratification that they bring.

In this book, Joyce Meyer starts by examining the nature of habits. The first habit - and most important one to have - is the God Habit. By making it a habit to start your day by reading the Bible and communing with God, asking for His help in your efforts and His strength and sustenance, the stage is set for overcoming the habits you want to break and establishing new ones in their place.

She then explores how to break bad habits by examining the destructive negative behavior patterns.

The author moves on to discuss fourteen good habits and devotes a chapter to each. By the end of the chapter, the reader has a specific roadmap to follow until the behavior has become automatic (the definition of a habit). It's like following a GPS to get you to a new place. After traveling the same route several times, the GPS isn't needed for you to find your destination. The 'habit' of following the right route is ingrained.

Among the habits discussed are:
 
The God Habit
The Habit of Being Decisive
The Health Habit
The Happy Habit
The Habit of Faith
The Habit of Excellence
The Habit of Being Responsible
The Generosity Habit
The Hurry Habit
The Discipline Habit
The Confidence Habit

Release Date: April 2, 2013
Age Group: Adult
Source: NetGalley
Reviewed By: Kelli

Review:
I'm usually not one to read nonfiction or self-help books, but having really enjoyed Esther Lovejoy's The Sweet Side of Suffering earlier this year, I decided to read Making Good Habits, Breaking Bad Habits when I saw it offered on NetGalley.  Who doesn't have a few habits they need to change?  I have several that I wanted to address, and needed a push in the right direction in order to make changes in my life.  

I've never read Joyce Meyer before, but I have watched her preach on television.  She has a very direct manner of speaking, and that translates into her writing as well. If The Sweet Side of Suffering is compassionate guidance in the right direction to change your life, Joyce Meyer's writing is almost like being shaken awake.

Meyer is very forthright and her voice resonates through the pages.  I could almost hear her saying "Wake up!  Change!  Do better!" as I was reading.  There are some people who like this approach and some people who prefer more of a nudge in the right direction.  I generally prefer to be gently instructed, but there are some habits where I needed a real push, and Meyer provided that for me.

The writing is clear, candid, and effective.  I liked how the book is broken up into specific chapters, each chapter addressing one habit.  The reader can choose to read the chapters that interest them, or read the entire book.  The way the book is written also makes it easy to set it down and come back to it later, without feeling lost or having the feeling of needing to catch up on anything.

The one thing I didn't like about this book was that I felt preached to at times.  I don't like that feeling, and maybe it was just me being defensive about my own bad habits, but sometimes I felt like Meyer was "talking down" to me. 

I enjoyed Making Good Habits, Breaking Bad Habits and I'm happy to say that it gave me the tools to make some positive changes in my own life.  I'm glad I read this book and would definitely read Joyce Meyer again.


1 comment:

  1. I love Joyce but yah she can be tough to hear sometimes. Great honest review.

    ReplyDelete

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