Amy Eliza Wong’s new book is called Living on Purpose: Five Deliberate Choices to Realize Fulfillment and Joy. As the title would suggest, the book is something of a positive psychology outlook on how to behaviorally modify and situationally change tactic and routine to achieve better, internally-based results. But rather than keep things kind of quaint, Wong’s new book actually boasts a depth and sense of professional humility that touched me deeply and made me really respond on a personal level to the philosophies she advocates for.
ABOUT THE PROJECT/AUTHOR: https://www.alwaysonpurpose.com/book/living-on-purpose/
The first chapter in particular held a lot of value for me, where she focuses on the first sub-categorical window of parenthood. “Your mortality becomes a focal point because you’re not just living for you, you’re now living for the both of you. After baby, you discover that you’re still free to do the things you enjoyed before baby; it’s just that now you don’t have the mental spaciousness you had before baby. Again, it’s not a bad thing. It’s just really different,” she states in this regard. “…Postpartum depression or not, there was a churning transformation happening beneath my conscious awareness. I was in completely unknown territory without a map. In a void. Maybe that’s why they call it a dark night!…My arms flew out and up to the ceiling. I looked up and appealed to something of unknown origin, ‘I give up. You show me the way.’ The force within me that compelled those words to come out of my mouth is still a mystery. I have no idea what you I was referring to…Now, I can’t give you a one-sentence elevator pitch on what it means to be (titularly) (always on purpose).
That’s because while it’s quite simple, it’s also incredibly nuanced. It’s you living your life your way. It’s you living deliberately, passionately, and of your own free will—which is a reality that you must derive for yourself. And that’s why I’ve written this book: to support you in becoming free of perceptions, beliefs, and patterns that may be in the way of living life more joyously and by your own design. Even if your life is already pretty fantastic, I want even more for you. I want you to wake up each morning excited to sink your teeth into life rather than feeling burdened by it.”
AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Living-Purpose-Deliberate-Choices-Fulfillment/dp/1956072020
It’s this generosity of spirit, coupled with painfully personal analogy and a bastion of expertly articulated common sense techniques, that elevates the read to the next level. Wong is a capable and gifted communicator, plus her ideology is thoughtful, well-rounded, and never feels anything less than sound. But it’s her delivery that’s as masterful as the ideas themselves, plus her never feeling like she’s resorting to out-and-out preaching, as evidenced by the line of text in the aforementioned quote: “It’s you living your life your way. It’s you living deliberately, passionately, and of your own free will—which is a reality that you must derive for yourself.”
That’s a rare thing to find in a book of this categorical nature. Job well done.
Garth Thomas