Book Review: Jolt!

Jolt! is a book about change. It is in the genre of the self-help pull you up by the bootstraps mantra that has been around for years. The author provides 25 vignettes that you can use to help deal with change, overcome difficulties in life and in general change your thinking about things to help you get on the right path.

What this book seems to do is offer a solution for those who fell like they have hit a wall in their pursuit of goals. The author even talks about his own experiences with hitting the wall. His change was the loss of a job, but the overall theme is that in any situation where you are stagnate or just content with where you are unless you have a jolt, you will not change.

One of the things that I like about this book is the faith based aspect of it. Instead of it just focusing out what are dreams are it reminds us that we need to understand God’s bigger plan for us and how we pursue it. I also like the short chapter set up. Instead of feeling that you have to sit down and read the whole book, you can read a chapter, think about it and consider how you might apply it. Or maybe after some reflection, you decide it is not for you and you move on to the next. The book setup gives you the flexibility to do this.

While the book at times may seem like a rehash of yesterday’s self-help, I think that it is a very good book for today’s fast paced, technology savvy world that needs short jolts to help them along the way.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255vf: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review The Butterfly Effect by Andy Andrews or better said choices and their enormous impact.

Andy Andrews’ latest book discusses the cause and effect that our choices have. It is a book in the vein of coffee table books, a gift or graduation book or one those little books with leadership quotes in it. It will not take long to read, but will have a significant impact on you, in my opinion.

I believe that Andy’s purpose in this book is to remind us that our lives, decisions, choices, actions (and even inactions) make a difference once way or another. He draws from the scientific theory that a butterfly’s wings flapping in the wind could set off a chain of events that would eventually lead to a hurricane on the other side of the world.

This book is also about what Andy does best, tell stories. He tells the story of the actions of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, a story that I have heard many times at many a motivational seminar. Joshua was a college professor who was enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War. The story focuses on his actions at the battle of Gettysburg. Joshua was told to shore up his end of a long line of troops. His platoon was able to hold off several Confederate attacks, but men started dying and they were low on ammunition. The Confederates were getting ready for their final attack. Chamberlain was down his commanding officers and realized that he was staring doom in the face if he did not do something. He ordered what soldiers he had left to fix bayonets to their rifles and charge. Confused and shocked by the offensive being launched at them, the Confederates started to retreat thinking that the Union had reinforcements. Chamberlin took action and he was able to get the Confederates to surrender while carrying out his orders to shore up the line and stand firm.

Chamberlin is a text book case of every choice or action that we make matters and can have a significant impact on what happens today and tomorrow. If Chamberlain had given up, we could be Confederation nation today. What would that have yielded?

This book is a great pick me up and reminder of the power of persistence and choices. It does focus on the positive side and leaves a little to desire in terms of reminding us that choices we make have consequences too, but I think that it will provide a logical way of thinking about good choices and perseverance.
The book is beautiful with attractive pictures along with a power story. It paints a picture though that some of the things we do could have impact, but in a way that we will never know now or even in this lifetime. This, I think, helps us to rest assured that even if we don’t see our lives making a difference that if we live it with purpose then our purpose will provide new meaning for others.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their Book Review Blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”