Official Review: The Highway of Life

inaramid · Post by **inaramid** » 17 Mar 2018, 13:59

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Highway of Life" by Kiyoshi Terrell Fish.]

2 out of 4 stars

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“Life is a highway,” so goes the song, but unlike the hopeful singer, most people are neither willing nor equipped to “ride it all night long.” In some circumstances, they don’t know how to. But as author Kiyoshi Terrell Fish relentlessly points out in his book, The Highway of Life, the fundamental problem is one of direction: People just don’t have any idea where they’re heading. This 122-page self-help book, Fish boldly claims, is “an equivalent to hiring an expensive professional life coach” and will help readers discover the “truest purpose” of their lives.

A lot of self-help books toss around many overused buzzwords like motivation, purpose, goals, plans, vision, and destiny. They also have an annoying tendency to overload readers with platitudes like “be yourself,” “you are unique,” and—most damaging of all when hurled to someone at the wrong time—“God has a plan for you.” In the end, many fail to provide exactly what was promised: direction.

In The Highway of Life, Fish approaches the task of guiding readers towards their life purpose through a series of bulleted lists, brief paragraphs, step-by-step courses of action, and various how-to discussions (e.g., how to stay motivated, how to never lose hope, how to overcome depression, or how to forgive yourself and others). As a master’s degree holder in psychology, Fish also discusses the purpose of life from a psychological point of view. In this regard, Viktor Frankl’s search for meaning and Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs give a meaningful spin to the discussion. While some portions of the book presuppose some knowledge of psychology, Fish’s prose is clear enough to be understood. Throughout the work, quotes from various personalities like Eleanor Roosevelt, Maya Angelou, Shel Silverstein, Mahatma Gandhi, and other prominent individuals are interspersed between segments of texts. Provided with so many, the three that stood out to me were:

“The worst things you can do for the ones you love are the things they could and should do for themselves.” ― John Wooden

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

“You're all so busy trying to be tough that you've forgotten how to be brave.” ― K. Towne Jr.

Anyone who has ever felt lost, unmotivated, or just simply exhausted by life’s demands may find something in the book to reignite their will to keep going. It could be a realization triggered by a quote, a lesson (e.g., “the purpose of life is to give, not to get”), a provocative statement (e.g., “Fear is not a sign that you are on the right path. Indifference is.”), or one of the many, many questions that the book hurls at the reader (e.g., “Once you are old, what do you think will matter the most to you?”). The potential to inspire and motivate is undoubtedly great. But in equal measure, there’s also an immense potential to frustrate.

The Highway of Life is all about finding a person’s purpose in life. While the book delivers an overabundance of information on how to achieve this end, the advice is often ambiguous, sometimes confusing or contradictory, and on the whole, disappointingly repetitive. By the book’s second chapter, readers are told that they need to have a purpose, make sense of that purpose, and give purpose to the purpose. In creating a purpose, one suggestion given was to “create goals for yourself.” However, further down, readers are also told, “Remember that your goals have nothing to do with the higher purpose you have set for yourself.” Towards the end of the chapter, readers are again given some “ways to find [their] life purpose,” starting off with a vague, “Listen to your life and what it has to say.” Fortunately, the rest of the list felt more practical and attainable (e.g. “List down the things in life that give you absolute joy”), but such concrete steps are few and far in between.

Goal-setting is repeatedly emphasized in the book, and while the task may sound simple, there are still people who struggle with it. Creating SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals was eventually mentioned much later, in Chapter 7, but examples of well-written goals and their applications to everyday situations would have helped a great deal. In this same chapter, readers are also told to have a “plan in this game called life.” Since the distinctions between “life purpose,” “game plan,” and “vision in life” are hazy at best, the contents may start to tire and confuse some readers. Again, readers are advised to set a goal for their game plan, but how this differs or relates to the goal-setting they’ve already done for their life purpose isn’t very clear.

While not immediately apparent from the book’s description, The Highway of Life also caters heavily to Christians, as demonstrated by an entire chapter devoted to the topic of “why God created you and how people are unaware of their purpose.” In the absence of case studies or examples to illustrate the premise of, for example, how “God’s purpose can’t be undone,” many of the statements may come across as mere platitudes. The quotes do help enhance the text, but the book is overflowing with so many that it sometimes feels more like a collection of quotes rather than a motivational book. At one point, the author offers three pages of quotes on forgiveness, reducing them to just words on a page instead of things that were said because of unique circumstances and situations. I, for one, would be happier to have one or two quotes—for as long as I also get the stories behind the words and perhaps connect them to my own search for meaning and purpose in life.

The Highway of Life may frustrate some readers (as it did me, in several portions), but I’m fairly sure it will succeed in inspiring others just the same. Although this would have merited a rating of 3 stars, 1 star is further deducted for various typographical errors (e.g., To Fail is o Grow, Sometime snot getting what you want, you can take bay [baby] steps, can’t think of away [a way], Spread [Spend] Time with Your Brain), spelling issues (e.g., Dali Lama, things you look forwards to), and structural problems (e.g., “You are not the person that you were yesterday because you are being” – this sentence was left hanging). For these reasons, The Highway of Life gets a final rating of 2 out of 4 stars.

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The Highway of Life
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kwame1977 · Post by **kwame1977** » 18 Mar 2018, 06:48

Discovering the truest purpose of life is the ultimate goal of every human. For this reason, I have marked this book to read later. Thanks for the review.

kwame1977 · Post by **kwame1977** » 18 Mar 2018, 06:48

Discovering the truest purpose of life is the ultimate goal of every human. For this reason, I have marked this book to read later. Thanks for the review.

Sahani Nimandra · Post by **Sahani Nimandra** » 18 Mar 2018, 08:00

I like a good self discovery book but with these typo errors I just cannot take it. If the reviewer gives a 2 stars for this book, I can get the picture. Too bad though I was looking forward to it! Thank you for your review!

Katerina Katapodi · Post by **Katerina Katapodi** » 18 Mar 2018, 11:07

This book of Mr Kayoshi..Fish is certainly a good and useful book to read! it covers many cases of many kinds of people, and how one, evrybody potentially is able to cope with life, and deal with oneself on what's meaning of life, and what meaning should one give to his/her life, according to incidents that happen every day, and on basis of personality one has, the book clearly motivates us to have goals in our life, means to make it more interesting and meaningful, and after a certain age, of ''self-construction'', we can find the ultimate purpose in our life, by giving meaning to what we've encountered so far, and what we'd like to change in this frame.
There are several ways, to improve our life, and yes, by getting older, make a self confession in regard to our acts and goals set.
One can find for example interests to fill our daily life and to avoid depression. If for ex. our desires and dreams are not fulfilled as we've wanted and expected so far, we can still look for changes. If we dream in our adolesence of a good, and tender partner, why this hasn't happened so far, even after 30-35 years old. i think ''God's Plan'' is great in this book. Let's not care very much,as God has a plan for us. HE can tell you ''yes, you'll have what you want, but not yet!''. Then you are called by Him to first self-realization, to become and enhance ourselves and life, in the frame of self-realization, which is a principle, may be the most important principle of ''Existentialism''. Then we get mor wise with the years, and finally when we've obtained wisdom, it's not indispensable any more. This is a truth of Existentialism, that motivates us more to contemplate and meditae than just enjoy our daily life, and love more 'material values'' than moral and spiritual ones. We thus shouldn't worry about our future, and NOT LOSE HOPE, as everything in Universe is created in Wisdom.
The reference also of ''we are not supposed to get, but give'' is a crucial thought of writer of this book, by telling ourselves, when are we more happy? When we get, or when we give? Of course, everyone wants to get, but equally give and even more. Let's not waste our life, but give a true and deep meaning ot it. Let's not forget above all, that happiness derives from our inner being and soul, then we still have time for everything else, in daily life. Learn to respect, to love, to create mutually, and reward will come one day!!..Let's basically not fear turns and twists of life, as the road will finally be smooth..again, as our first day of birth...i give 3 stars to this book, for quality of boof first, but also for the effort of writer..

rfelice · Post by **rfelice** » 18 Mar 2018, 15:08

As you've aptly pointed out, so many "self-help" books have an issue with buzzword soup. If I am going to invest my time in a self-help book, it has got to be a 4 star effort. Quite frankly, if it is not, then the author needs more help than I do.

Thank you for the isghtful review!

Post by **kandscreeley** » 18 Mar 2018, 15:12

I kind of unsure of this one. It sounds rather confusing, and I don't gravitate toward self help books anyway. Sorry you suffered through this one, but I appreciate the information.

inaramid · Post by **inaramid** » 18 Mar 2018, 19:07

Thanks for dropping by, everyone!

kwame1977 wrote: ↑18 Mar 2018, 06:48 Discovering the truest purpose of life is the ultimate goal of every human. For this reason, I have marked this book to read later. Thanks for the review.

It is informative in its own right. I'm sure you'll find something to inspire you here, kwame1977.

Sahani Nimandra wrote: ↑18 Mar 2018, 08:00 I like a good self discovery book but with these typo errors I just cannot take it.

I'm with you Sahani. I hope a future edition will rectify these issues.

Katerina Katapodi wrote: ↑18 Mar 2018, 11:07 Let's basically not fear turns and twists of life, as the road will finally be smooth...

This is one of the book's messages, Katerina. Thank you for summing it up.

kandscreeley wrote: ↑18 Mar 2018, 15:12 It sounds rather confusing, and I don't gravitate toward self help books anyway.

I was very conscious that I kept using the word "purpose"

. I was also confused with some portions of it as the contents seem to switch back and forth, and the distinctions between the terms used weren't very clear.

inaramid · Post by **inaramid** » 19 Mar 2018, 06:49

rfelice wrote: ↑18 Mar 2018, 15:08 As you've aptly pointed out, so many "self-help" books have an issue with buzzword soup. If I am going to invest my time in a self-help book, it has got to be a 4 star effort. Quite frankly, if it is not, then the author needs more help than I do.

Thanks for commenting, rfelice. I think some parts of the book might work well when delivered as a speech or something. That way, the author can expound on the many aspects that I felt were vague.

marsg · Post by **marsg** » 19 Mar 2018, 08:26

Even by the title of the book The High Way of Life can tell start telling you what might be the main aim of the book but in the quick brush of the book yowu won't understand anything thing much as though thought. But thank you for this review which help to explain more of the book to me. Thanks so much I love it..

BeatrixPotter · Post by **BeatrixPotter** » 19 Mar 2018, 08:36

Thanks for your thoughtful review. Sounds it could be an interesting book. I agree though, too many typos and errors are annoying.

stacie k · Post by **stacie k** » 20 Mar 2018, 22:54

It sounds like a lot of thought and research went into this book. I quite agree that personal examples would go a long way in making the message more clear. From your review, it seems to have great potential, but maybe needs a bit more refinement. Thanks for a great review!