No Elevator to Everest: Shift from Survive to Thrive through Spirit-Led Self-Awareness

by Will Acuff

A groundbreaking book for Christians who are committed to their relationship with God but are experiencing disillusionment in their faith journey, No Elevator to Everest offers spiritual practices and perspectives that integrate emotional health, self-awareness, and a deeper connection with God’s heart.

Will Acuff shares his vulnerable journey from deep despair to radiant joy in this compelling call for us to move beyond our tired assumptions about God and into a life lived in daily joy. This transformative book offers nothing less than a new way of engaging with Christ, yourself, and others. No Elevator to Everest invites you to
  A liberated self-understanding as you see how Christianity embraces both the knowledge of self and the knowledge of God Encouragement and resilience for your own circumstances as you read one family’s story of experiencing God’s tenderness in the midst of clinical depression, trauma, and disability Daily practices to move you from rare “mountaintop” experiences or stale frameworks to everyday heart-level connections with God Joy that is not dependent on what is happening to you but flourishes from what is happening in you 
With a refreshing emphasis on emotional health, Spirit-led self-awareness, and intimacy with God, No Elevator to Everest guides us beyond mere survival into a life of soul-deep peace and spiritual thriving.
 

198 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2025

Reviews

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very personal account of Acuff's spiritual journey. He tells of many experiences caring for his son and his autistic needs as well as his wife's battle with depression. He shares how he learned to live in the Spirit through Spirit-led self awareness. He shares what he experienced and learned while attending a trauma camp. He relates his own worries and the practical steps he took to work through them. He includes the steps of his breathing exercises, gratitude practices, journaling, stepping into the stories Jesus told, and how he worked through money worries.

This book will be appreciated by people who learn best through reading of another person's journey over objective teaching from Scripture. I recommend it to those experiencing a great deal of stress, such as from intense care giving.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

[Teresa Streit · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m halfway though the audiobook and I want to buy the paperback, so I can highlight passages throughout as well as write some of them down on my whiteboard in my office. So many good concepts for how to navigate struggle. This book is for everyone.

Update: I consider this a guidebook to letting yourself feel feelings, acknowledging and getting curious about those feelings to flesh them out in order to chase more joy in the day.

I will keep this in my audible and listen to it more than once and like more than that.

[Charlie Yielding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every word in this book feels earned. Every story a visceral reminder that sometimes we need to understand our emotions in order to carry a responsibility that was more than we anticipated. Every practice recommended is a lived experience. I have been on my own emotional journey for a decade, and I still picked up several new insights and tools that will help me grow as an individual.

Listening to this audiobook felt like being part of a conversation. I didn't say much, but I was sad when it was over. Thank you for never giving up, and sharing your hard lessons with others

[Zach Pauley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously enjoyed this book if it only took me a couple months. Will writes in a way that you want to stay engaged but it’s not so heady and academic that you can only take a few pages at a time. His last line “there is no elevator to Everest, but there are guides” is solid and true. Eager to start the practices offered in this book.

[Chrissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was skeptical to start but really enjoyed this book. It’s his personal account of some spiritual practices that transformed his relationship with God, himself and his family. Would read again and looking forward to trying some of the things he shared.