Tuesday, November 23, 2010

How Much More Longer by Steve Elder



book cover

How Much More Longer:
How to get real now about living the life you want
by Steve Elder


ISBN-13: 978-1414114774
Trade Paperback: 130 pages
Publisher: Pleasant Word
Released: January 18, 2010


Source: Review copy through Maryglenn McCombs Book Publicity.

Book Description from Back Cover (slightly modified):
Steve Elder--speaker, wealth advisor, and professional coach--often counsels people about their life goals. His painful experiences with a near-death car crash when he was a teenager and later a bankruptcy led him to ask hard questions about his life's purpose: What is it that you want? And how much longer will you wait to honestly answer that question? With a passion born of deep trauma and tough choices, How Much More Longer will convince you that the time to decide how to live is now.

While the stories in this book will make you laugh, its messages are serious. What do you want? To live a real, transparent, full life, or continue walking on eggshells, failing to confront areas in your life that need attention?

Filled with personal anecdotes, down-to-earth advice, and thought-provoking questions called "On the Road to Real", this book challenges us to take action and claim the life we desire...now.


My Review:
How Much More Longer is an enjoyable read that's part memoir and part motivational talk. The first few chapters were memoir style with insightful comments from the thoughtful perspective of maturity. After that, the style changed into a motivational talk illustrated with funny stories from the author's life. If you can laugh at yourself even when things are bad, then you'll enjoy the humorous style of this book.

The author encouraged the reader to really live life to the full, engaged in every moment instead of just surviving. At the end of each chapter, the author asked a few questions of the reader. They usually were to help the reader figure out what type of life it is they really want to be living.

While the author did mention stories that occurred at his church and said things like "thank God," this wasn't a religious book in the sense that he didn't specifically say things like "look to God for your purpose."

Overall, I'd recommend this book to those who feel like they're existing in a haze of busyness rather than living a full, engaged life and who want to know how to change.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt from Chapter One
"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever." --Lance Armstrong

The first thing I saw was Michelle.

The next thing we both saw was my left index finger, hanging by a strand of skin.

What I did not know was that my new stubby friend was the least of my immediate concerns.

July 9, 1984. The setting was a perfect summer night. I left the country baseball park after watching a couple of games--I didn't play that night, though I did have practice. My teammate Randy asked for a ride out to see friends play because his car was broken down and I was taking him home. Tough break for Randy, as you will see...

I was driving on a small rural road when my little Honda Accord met up with a 1975 Chevelle driven by a drunk driver. In the clash between the two cars, my Honda lost the fight. My passenger and baseball teammate Randy and I awoke to a new reality. Innocence was gone, along with all sensation throughout our bodies. That turned out to be a temporary but welcome reprieve from what was about to become my new teacher--pain.

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