Review by KacieLW -- From Drift to SHIFT by Jody B. Miller
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KacieLW
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- Latest Review: "From Drift to SHIFT" by Jody B. Miller
Review by KacieLW -- From Drift to SHIFT by Jody B. Miller
[Following is a volunteer review of "From Drift to SHIFT" by Jody B. Miller.]
3 out of 4 stars
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From Drift to Shift by Jody B. Miller is a non-fiction book which is written as self-help or personal growth. The author wrote this book with a mixture of her own inspiring advice and stories about her own life, as well as stories from other people who have gone through a “shift” of their own. The “shift” refers to the either small or drastic shifts that people go through in life. Sometimes those shifts are large, sometimes small, and sometimes people go through many, but they always change people’s lives.
The main point of the book is the shift that occurs in people’s lives when they go from drifting along, to shifting their thoughts and their lives to live a much happier and fulfilled life. Each of the actual chapters in the book are stories from other people. Miller tells the stories in both a storytelling way, as well as citing sources and giving facts and statistics that relate to the story being told. The stories describe individuals who have had a difficult upbringing or other hardships in their life, and the events leading up to them having a shift (or many) in their lives. The end of each chapter has a list of main things to take away from that chapter. Towards the end of the book, there is less storytelling and more expanding on the idea of shifting, being happy, and living a fulfilled life, as well as advice on how to do so.
I found the chapters and sections with actual advice on shifting and happiness to be the most interesting aspect of the book. Although, the stories were absolutely inspiring, I found some of them difficult to read. For one thing, they were not stories that I could relate to my own life, so I found them less inspiring than I surely would have if I was at a different place in my life. I did however, really appreciate the chapter takeaways at the end of the chapters because it helped to understand the main points of the particular individual stories. The other reason I found the stories difficult to read was because a few of the stories were very graphic in what was going on in the person’s life, which is not what I was expecting. One of the stories is about a woman who had cancer several times in her life, and another story was about a man who had a skydiving accident. I appreciated the stories and I am glad that I read them, but there were certain aspects of these stories that were described very graphically and I found myself feeling a bit sick.
There are quite a few quotes in the book, as well as quotable lines from the author herself. I found this aspect of the book very enjoyable and it was partially why I enjoyed her inspirational advice parts of the book more than the stories. Another part of the overall theme was, “why do we stay in professional and personal situations that we loathe?” (pg. 21). Several of the stories did focus on this and that was another aspect that I appreciated. When I began reading this book, it reminded me a lot of books like The Secret by Rhonda Byrne or The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. Some of the sections were written in a way that encouraged the reader to find happiness and some ideas on how one would do that.
Overall, I gave the book a 3 out of 4 stars. I really enjoyed most of the book and it was well written. This book would be really good for people who are in their late thirties or older, and are interested in reading personal growth or self-help books. The stories in this book are about people who are around that age or older and I think that those people would be able to relate to the stories a lot more. I am in my 20s and although I found the stories interesting and inspiring, I couldn’t really relate to the people and their circumstances. Besides being inspiring, Miller did a great job of encouraging the reader to ask themselves difficult questions, which if done by the reading, could very possibly inspire a shift in their life.
******
From Drift to SHIFT
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3 out of 4 stars
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From Drift to Shift by Jody B. Miller is a non-fiction book which is written as self-help or personal growth. The author wrote this book with a mixture of her own inspiring advice and stories about her own life, as well as stories from other people who have gone through a “shift” of their own. The “shift” refers to the either small or drastic shifts that people go through in life. Sometimes those shifts are large, sometimes small, and sometimes people go through many, but they always change people’s lives.
The main point of the book is the shift that occurs in people’s lives when they go from drifting along, to shifting their thoughts and their lives to live a much happier and fulfilled life. Each of the actual chapters in the book are stories from other people. Miller tells the stories in both a storytelling way, as well as citing sources and giving facts and statistics that relate to the story being told. The stories describe individuals who have had a difficult upbringing or other hardships in their life, and the events leading up to them having a shift (or many) in their lives. The end of each chapter has a list of main things to take away from that chapter. Towards the end of the book, there is less storytelling and more expanding on the idea of shifting, being happy, and living a fulfilled life, as well as advice on how to do so.
I found the chapters and sections with actual advice on shifting and happiness to be the most interesting aspect of the book. Although, the stories were absolutely inspiring, I found some of them difficult to read. For one thing, they were not stories that I could relate to my own life, so I found them less inspiring than I surely would have if I was at a different place in my life. I did however, really appreciate the chapter takeaways at the end of the chapters because it helped to understand the main points of the particular individual stories. The other reason I found the stories difficult to read was because a few of the stories were very graphic in what was going on in the person’s life, which is not what I was expecting. One of the stories is about a woman who had cancer several times in her life, and another story was about a man who had a skydiving accident. I appreciated the stories and I am glad that I read them, but there were certain aspects of these stories that were described very graphically and I found myself feeling a bit sick.
There are quite a few quotes in the book, as well as quotable lines from the author herself. I found this aspect of the book very enjoyable and it was partially why I enjoyed her inspirational advice parts of the book more than the stories. Another part of the overall theme was, “why do we stay in professional and personal situations that we loathe?” (pg. 21). Several of the stories did focus on this and that was another aspect that I appreciated. When I began reading this book, it reminded me a lot of books like The Secret by Rhonda Byrne or The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. Some of the sections were written in a way that encouraged the reader to find happiness and some ideas on how one would do that.
Overall, I gave the book a 3 out of 4 stars. I really enjoyed most of the book and it was well written. This book would be really good for people who are in their late thirties or older, and are interested in reading personal growth or self-help books. The stories in this book are about people who are around that age or older and I think that those people would be able to relate to the stories a lot more. I am in my 20s and although I found the stories interesting and inspiring, I couldn’t really relate to the people and their circumstances. Besides being inspiring, Miller did a great job of encouraging the reader to ask themselves difficult questions, which if done by the reading, could very possibly inspire a shift in their life.
******
From Drift to SHIFT
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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Latest Review: "From Drift to SHIFT" by Jody B. Miller
