| Title | : | Five Wishes: How Answering One Simple Question Can Make Your Dreams Come True |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1577315987 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781577315988 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 150 |
| Publication | : | First published September 28, 2007 |
“Was your life a complete success?” If not, then “What would be the things you’d wish had happened that would have made it a success?” Hendricks said his deepest wish was for a loving, lasting relationship with a woman. The stranger said, "turn that wish into a goal, and put it in the present tense.” On the spot, Hendricks came up with this goal, "I enjoy a happy marriage with a woman I adore and who adores me. I enjoy a lifelong blossoming of passion and creativity with her." This goal helped him create his marriage to Kathlyn, the date he'd taken to the party, and during the past 27 years they've become well-known relationship experts and co-authors of 9 books together. This short, focused book shows readers how to discover their own five wishes for a fulfilled life (as well as to read the stories of all five of Hendricks's wishes). Neale Donald Walsch's thoughtful foreword explores the power of this approach and explains why he insisted Hendricks share it with others.
Five Wishes: How Answering One Simple Question Can Make Your Dreams Come True Reviews
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Okay, I haven't written a review for ages, but I need to justify why this book gets 5 stars. There are many other books on a similar vein out there, and I've read a few.
5 Wishes is simple, it is not contrived, and each step is plainly made and easily followed. Reading it I can feel some of what he is saying flow over me, and I'm getting those occasional twinges of excitement which are all too rare as I become more cynical. Reading 5 wishes let me be innocent again, and ready to accept the changes into my life I need to make so when I'm asked the question at the beginning, I can say "Yes."
If you're in a rut, read this book. If you are not feeling satisfied with life, read this book. If you are not totally happy and connected with yourself, with the joy of living and with the rest of creation, you need to read this book.
If you've just read this review and think it is sappy, then you most definitely need to read this book! And get that rod out of your arse! ;-) -
five wishes asks the question: picture yourself on your deathbed. did you accomplish everything you wanted to accomplish? if not, what were the things that you regret not doing?
it's not really a "how to live the life you always wanted" book, but it brought things into clear perspective for me: if you're going to regret things on your deathbed, well, why the heck are you living life that way?
speaking of wishes, i wish all business books were like this -- i read it in less than an hour, got the core idea, and have been able to apply it in a day since finishing it. -
A great read for people looking to make changes in their lives- positive, life-affirming changes. While this book doesn't reveal anything that isn't ultimately common sense, it does draw attention to things that we may forget or not even think about in our busy lives. This book has taught me to slow down and think about what I want to get out of my life and while five different goals doesn't seem to be enough, it's a start. I recommend this book to people looking for a simple way to make a difference in their lives, one that is powerful but yet unobtrusive.
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Having just read The Big Leap and gone completely nuts about it, I'm now reading everything else I can get my hands on by this author.
This is a really good book. If you've never thought about what's most important to you in life and how you'd see your life from your death bed, this is a very personable, approachable exploration of that. The idea is to consider yourself from your death bed, looking back on your life. Would you consider your life a success? Why or why not? What's missing that you wish you'd done or achieved?
I've thought about it quite a bit, but the structure provided by this book still helped me get clear on some things I had never quite been fully conscious of before. That's a win for sure. Honestly, I'm not sure why it doesn't feel like 5 stars to me. I guess I would have liked to see more examples and more guidance on action steps. In some cases, they're pretty obvious, but for more abstract wishes, I'm at a loss as to how to make them happen. I guess it will come to me in time if I keep trying to figure it out.
Note: once you have your wishes figured out, you'll want to revise them from time to time. If you're thinking of removing one, first ask yourself, "If this wasn't hard, would I still want it?" If the answer is yes, stick with it.
I can't imagine anyone really wants to know this, but since I wished for more examples while reading this book, here are my answers/homework:
The main reason my life was not a total success is because I didn't:
- figure out who I was and fully accept and align with it
- experience real, deep, lasting love on a long-term basis
- earn a living in my zone of genius
- find peace and happiness regardless of the situation
- throw myself fully into life as if I had no fear
- figure out my "big why" and live it
Rewrite 1:
For my life to be a total success,
- I wish I'd understood, fully accepted, and aligned with myself completely.
- I wish I'd experienced real, deep, lasting love over many years with the same person.
- I wish I'd learned to earn a living in my zone of genius.
- I wish I'd been able to find peace and happiness in any situation.
- I wish I'd thrown myself fully into life as if I had no fear.
- I wish I'd known my "big why" and lived it.
If I'd done these things, I'd consider my life a success.
Rewrite 2:
My life is a total success because I now understand and accept myself completely and live in full alignment with myself.
It's also a success because I'm now experiencing a real, deep, lasting love with Rick. I'm enjoying a lifetime of facilitating each other's growth together.
And I'm now earning a living in my zone of genius.
And I'm now experiencing peace and happiness regardless of the situation or circumstances.
And I'm now throwing myself fully into life as if I had no fear.
And I'm now clear on my "big why" and living by it.
Action steps:
1. Read Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha
1, 4, 5, 6. Meditate daily for 5 min.
1, 4, 5, 6. Find a soft bong timer for phone or 5-10 min. ocean waves audio
3. update Elance portfolio
3. build website
1, 4. clear out old incomplete tasks
5. rejection game
4. get enough sleep
1, 4, 5, 6. re-read How to be Happy, Getting Unstuck, Beyond Fear -
Once again a super fast read. It opened my eyes to a different way of thinking and if nothing else a great conversation to have with others instead of small talk. Some of the things he wrote I disagreed with but all in all not bad. I have always disliked the rollercoaster of emotions in relationships and the author had interesting insight on how to not have so many lows in relationships. He said that "....perhaps we sabotaged our good feeling because we simply didn't have much practice feeling good for any substantial length of time. The history of humanity, as well as our personal histories, teaches us alot about adversity and how to deal with it but very little about how to feel good and maintain that feeling." To learn more read the book....around page 73.
Lastly, I will share one of my wishes with you...which is actually one of the authors wishes...to savor every moment along the way in life. I want to savor the moments I am in rather than wish I was someplace else, or be thinking of what I could be doing instead. I want to feel...there is no place I would rather be...than for example...listening to my child tell me how she is going to dress her stuffed animal up in a pink shirt...really listen and be happy she is talking to me...rather than thinking...okay hurry up tell me what you want to say...b/c I really want to finish writing this review. I am really going to work on this...and I am happy to say I have already started! -
It's a short book and I could relate to it well. It's about what five wishes the author would want granted/what five things he would change if he were on his deathbed. I could use work on what the other refers to as "pure consciousness" and feeling like all people and things contain God within them. I already think that, but I can turn into an incredibly angry person, sometimes over stupid stuff. Though if someone is sorry (or at least says so) I always forgive them. I don't have a lot of "incompleteness" in my life, because I get really agitated if things aren't complete (I'm also the opposite of a procrastinator usually). This definitely extends to human relationships. I tend to be open about my feelings and try to fix interpersonal problems.
The author says if something is bad for you or you don't like it (and don't have to deal with it, just leave it behind. This is a problem for me. I need things to work out and feel whole, so I hate giving up on people or things. I have trouble letting go of things that aren't good for me. This allows me to continue my obsession and anxiety and depression. I don't like feeling that way at all, I just haven't found a good way to let go yet. Aspects of this book triggered negatively feelings in me, but a lot of it was simply familiar and the author's wishes were similar to what my own would be. -
I saw the movie (yes, there is a movie) first and wanted the book to remember the important concepts. Not earth-shattering enlightenment, but a practical and reasonable question to ask yourself when searching for your reason for being.
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This is a great New Year's Resolution book. It really got me thinking about what is important in my life and how to make that the priority of my daily actions. I made two wishes and than wrote the tools I need to make them come true.
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ReedIII Quick Review: Simple, yet powerful, usable concept to put focus into your life. Imagine your deathbed; “Was your life a complete success? What would make it a complete success?” The ending includes examples how the concept works and aids self-reflection.
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Short book- ponders the question "If you were on your death bed, what aspects of your life would you wish had been different." Then he encourages you to make those changes now so you can die with no regrets. His claim- "you can make all your wishes come true."
A bit hokey, but well written. -
Starting at the end and working backwards has been great life advice for me.
I would be a better friend of the book if it were written with less hokiness and left out any mention of astrology.
Carl Kruse
Miami -
I found this book thought-provoking and a little challenging. Although I haven't done the suggested exercise, I nevertheless found that I have shifted my perspective on my values as a result of reading the book. I'm sure its influence will stay with me, in a positive way, for a long time to come.
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I wasn't impressed with the book as the anecdotes were predictable and redundant.
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A good reminder that if we want to be happy and successful in this life we have to work for it! It was a Nice short listen.
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So thought provoking. Such a simple task that has changed me forever. This is the secret to a fulfilled life. Thank you, Gay!
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Absolutely phenomenal! Read this and do the exercise - it will change your life!!!
Very quick read. -
Decent framework to reflect on the end of your life, but I wish it was slightly longer with more examples.
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life changing book
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One simple question completely changed Gay Hendricks life. What was the question? How did this amazing transformation take place?
Five Wishes tells the story. The living changing event started out rather uneventfully enough. The author had committed himself to going to a party that he would have really liked to decline. The notion of sitting by the fire reading a good book seemed far more attractive than trying to create small talk all night.
Fortunately, he did make it to the function because it became the stage of a very important conversation. He met a man who engaged him in "big talk" which involved one question. "...if you were on your deathbed... Was your life a complete success?" This one question then led to an exploration of what would have made the Gay Hendricks' life a success. He then had a place to begin making real changes.
Five Wishes asks the question that we all unconsciously fixate on but never really spend any honest time working through. Really, we all have two choices. We can continue to be unhappy and bitter about all the things we don't have or we can gather the courage to make our lives resemble the life we had hoped to lead. What's your choice? -
When Five Wishes by Gay Hendricks arrived, I started at the foreword by Neale Donald Walsch and the book swept me to page 63 before other work demands forced me to put it down with great reluctance. I finished it the next day, followed the action steps he lays out, and suddenly my life was very clear. I knew what was absolutely of primary importance to me and what wasn’t, and had a pretty fair idea how to actualize the things that were important. The rest would take care of itself, falling away as needed.
For more review:
http://www.bleepingherald.com/dec2007... -
This is a clear, straightforward book in the way that many self-help types of books are not. It does the simple task of telling a story that outlines a process for making your dreams come true, and then providing the structure for you, the reader, to follow that process.
It's not excessively rooted in magical thinking, which is a good thing. The wisdom is plain and unvarnished, which is also a good thing. And it's a quick read, which is an excellent thing. To my mind, the ability to avoid excessive complication of this subject matter is a skill worth knowing. -
Perfect way to start the new year
Great book. Second time I've read it. For anyone who needs direction in their life. Or anyone who wants to dig deep and discover what their next step is. -
این کتاب و توصیه هاش رو خیلی دوست داشتم. اونقدر کاربردی بود که منو واداشت در آخر تمرینات کتاب رو انجام بدم.
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Easy to read, promotes self-reflection
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A quick, easy read. The power of intention can help manifest dreams, wishes, and goals.
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It made me think..
