Chazown: khaw-ZONE - A Different Way to See Your Life [Turtleback]

Are you as happy as you want to be? If you were lying on your death bed and knew that time was running out--and also knew that your "doing" days were over--what kinds of thoughts would be running through your mind?

This might be a poor way to start a review for a book that I really, really want you to read. I hope not. I hope it rings a responsive chord. In 1991 I had a heart attack, and for 48 hours, I did not know whether I'd live or die. Those hours were filled with regrets--a realization of great hopes unrealized.

I got a second chance, but this book made me realize that I still have many hopes unrealized. After reading the book I now know why--and what to do about it. Chazown is from the Hebrew and it means "vision."

God has a unique plan or vision for your life, but do you know what it is? Do you believe that the God of the universe could have a plan or vision that fulfilling it would bring you more happiness, joy, and peace than you thought imaginable? More than your own plans even?

Groeschel lays out a way of finding that vision and acting on it that revolves around three knowable things, things that will take time to explore:

Your core values: What do you get passionate about? What gets you righteously angry when it is violated?

Your spiritual gifts: What are the things you do noticeably well, and love to do?

Your experiences: These experiences, both good and bad that make you who you are today.

The book lays out step by step how to focus and clarify these three things and identify where they converge. The author provides downloadable forms and a journal to help you with the thinking needed to find the answers to all the questions. It is a process, not a crash course--but a worthwhile process. It is simple, but not easy.

Armchair Interviews says: This is a challenge to you. Get this book if you are ready to maximize joy, peace, and happiness!

Everything about this book works! Good job marketing team!

From the moment I saw it on the shelf to opening the first few pages, I knew I'd found a book I could read, follow, and enjoy. It's so obvious that the book would work for an "addhd-ddd" like me that I had to have it no matter what it was about.

Each chapter of the book is set as to entertain those with a short attention span but much more likely to simply convey concepts that , run together, would be too difficult to apply to your own life. The multi colored pages, font disposition, and appropriate smatterings of art all accent the learning experience.

As much as I enjoyed all of the things mentioned above (yup, this book is intended to teach) this is about getting focused on your meaning, purpose or calling and taking the steps to realize God's dream for your life. Not only do we have dreams for ourselves, there is that specific and very special purpose (call/dream) that has been woven into the very fabric of our living. Too many people are bereft of any understanding of their "call" and therefore live a life of searching and struggling and missing the dream dreamt of us all.

If you know where you're going with life, this is a great book to work through with a struggling friend. If, like most people, you're trying to find your passionate dream to live out but a little unsure of your purpose in life, this eye catching little book will add great benefit to the search.

It is very difficult for an "outline" or "set of disciplines" book to not become a formula for growth work, which almost always results in the reader relying on the formula for growth instead of God and their love of and desire for God.

Groeschel avoids this mistake and has written a wonderfully clear and concise approach to achieving what you really want out of your life with the amazing thought that, wait for it, it might actually entail you taking this stuff seriously and making it a priority. What's amusing is that despite the fact that deep down we all know this, we either forget or disregard it. But Groeschel won't let you any longer.

The writing style is very conversational and light, which is why some individuals can correctly criticize the book for being a bit "surface-level" however this is not a book aimed at getting you to really contemplate and assess your beliefs but is more focused on equipping you to achieve an active growth through doing and planning.

In fact, planning for growth is the key message of this book, as the book's key verse echoes, if not screams, "Where there is no vision, the people perish (are unrestrained in other translations)," - Proverbs 29:18. I actually prefer the unrestrained translation because it hits closer to Groeschel's message, "Growth rarely, if never, happens by accident."