Your Next Big Thing: 10 Small Steps to Get Moving and Get Happy

by Ben Michaelis

Ten Steps to Moving Ahead with Purpose! Have you ever woken up in the morning feeling unsure of where your day--or your life--is going? You wonder what else might be out there. You know you deserve more fulfillment from your life. You think to What's next? We've all felt that way at one point or another, but have you ever considered it to be your opportunity to create a life that will leave you more fulfilled? It's an exhilarating prospect to attain that life you desire. But you can't get there alone. Dr. Ben Michaelis's life-changing wisdom will give you the tools and confidence you need to take that chance--and live your life with purpose. Throughout this guide, he provides visionary yet practical strategies, quizzes, and exercises to teach you about your true self. He'll help you pinpoint exactly what you need to realize your purpose and progress toward your goals. Whether you're in need of business or personal guidance, this ten-step plan helps you look forward without fear--so you can achieve joy, passion, and the enriched life you never thought possible.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Psychology, Ebooks

239 pages, Hardcover

First published November 18, 2012

About the author

Dr. Ben Michaelis believes that we are all meant to create. An innovative thinker, world traveler, and clinical psychologist, Dr. Michaelis brings his passion for creativity to his treatment approach in working with people from diverse populations. “By expanding the traditional definition of creativity and helping people to understand that what they create defines them I help people use their instincts to create and play in order to lead more fulfilling lives.”

Dr. Michaelis's treatment approach, which emphasizes the innate capacity and desire for imaginative play, was forged during his clinical internship at Bellevue Hospital and his work with inmates from the New York City Correctional System. He has been in private practice in Manhattan since 2004, working with a diverse clientele, including musicians, actors, writers, entrepreneurs, attorneys, executives, and teachers.

Reviews

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really great, practical book that gets you working on yourself. Not a book you can just read cover to cover- If you want to get the most out of it you need to get stuck into it! Do the exercises and work on yourself.

[Reeby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Your Next Big Thing is a motivational and instructional guide to figuring out what you want out of life and how to get there. It includes exercises for deciding what you want to do and for getting you moving in that direction so that you can meet your goals and live a happier life.

I enjoyed this book and thought the exercises were generally very helpful. It was nice to have specific things to think about and decide on because turning your life in a new direction can often be overwhelming and terrifying. Most of the book was made up of advice that seems fairly common sense in retrospect, but it breaks things down in a way that guides more organically. The book allows for growth as you follow through, each chapter and exercise building on the ones before. Overall this is a very good book for people who are feeling stuck or lost and want to make a change but aren't entirely sure how to go about it.

[Sue Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know how you say to yourself "I'll do xxx when I have more time", but you never seem to actually HAVE more time, so xxx doesn't get done? This book was great in making me see that I do that way too much. It has simple but useful suggestions and tools to get started on your next big thing (whether that be doing something creative, or getting a new job, or whatever) NOW, rather than later. In terms of writing style, I thought Dr Michaelis was both humorous and engaging, and I enjoyed reading the case studies. If you need help in seeing new possibilities in your life, or maybe you already know what you want to do/change but are lacking the confidence to do so, this book will help you take the first step towards doing it.

[Sue Ronnenkamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book and resource for YOUR NEXT BIG THING! I used this book to help guide me with working through ideas and an action plan for my work and purpose after getting laid off a few months ago. I’m in a strange place for a job search at age 64, but definitely am not ready to “hang it up” so dove into this book and the exercises - along with engaging the services of a great career coach. Got far more from this book than I expected and would highly recommend it to anyone at any age or stage of life if you’re thinking about what’s next for you. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

[Shar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very accessible and lots of reader participation in the guise of ubiquitous quizzes. The case studies become tedious fairly quickly but the book is designed in such a way that the reader has the ability to consume what interests them and skip anything that is not resonating with them. A quick and easy read broken into 10 simple steps focused on getting the reader into the right frame of mind to move forward and get stuff done.

[MariWabiSabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The orange font of the book was difficult to read, and the exercises filled 10 pages too many. Some of them were worthwhile for me in particular, such as learning about the inner critic which has so much power over me. It was a decent self-help book that breaks things down into easy chunks. I wouldn't say anything revolutionary came out of it, but it was a quick read.

[Vicky Connelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed to read this book 30 years ago, but the action I would have needed to take would have required so much courage. However, I believe I could have been much happier!

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Getting to the Next Big Thing with a Kick-Ass Life: A Tale of Two Self Help Books

Sometimes, you can get lost in your own life. You feel like you’re in a rut and there it just no way out.

Tell me about it.

I wasn’t going to just sit back and let life continue to pass me by, but I didn’t know how to stop it from happening. So I started to read Your Next Big Thing by Ben Michaelis, PhD. A few days later, I was just looking for another book to read and picked up 52 Ways to Live a Kick-Ass Life by Andrea Owen, CPCC. While it wasn’t intentional to read these two self-help books at the same time, I was interested to see which one would speak to me. Here’s how it went.

Read more of this review: http://beatlebabe84.blogspot.com/2014...

[Zibby Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Your Next Big Thing" was filled with fantastic devices to help anybody who's stuck in their life figure out their next step. It had quizzes and takeaways, and lessons. The fundamental premise is about finding joy no matter your circumstances, even if they can't be changed. Sometimes we are literally just stuck, which can make us miserable. But once you shift that mindset, you can find happiness.

The author recommends that people add some things in their life or finetune their play, purpose, and work. The book had a great section that touched on how to defeat the "inner critic." I also love the author's creative ways he connects with his patients through crayons or art.

To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at:
https://zibbyowens.com/transcript/ben...

[Joselin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a writer so this book was basically written for me. I know it's easy to say, "You just have to do it!" but it isn't that easy or else we'd all have our lives figured out after watching a Nike commercial. But this is a book about motivation - THAT ACTUALLY MOTIVATES!! It helps you find meaningful goals and shows you the path to achieving them - but it does this by not emphasizing the achieving of them. Rather by breaking it down into ten steps, this book basically reminds you that it's about the journey. Movement. This book is about momentum, and then staying in motion. But it's action points are life changing.

Great book.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable and inspiring book, provided to me by the author. It not one to read cover to cover, but browsing it, the reader is sure to find something uplifting. There are lots of examples, not all of which could possibly be applicable to any one person. But that's OK. For one things, they make good reading in any case.

[Hooskadooo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gave this book 3 starts though I really couldn't read it. I won this title as a first reads giveaway but the copy that I received was in blinding bright orange type.