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The Joy Model: A Step-by-Step Guide to Peace, Purpose, and Balance
Management consultant and Christian life coach Jeff Spadafora provides a blueprint for building a life of greater joy and delivers a plan for frustrated believers to become joyful followers. An increasing number of adult American Christians are frustrated. Even as they read their Bibles, listen to sermons, and hang out with other Christians, they become painfully aware that something is joy. As a result, many have given up on their faith being a source of joy, and instead they seek meaning, purpose, and joy through their work, relationships, hobbies, possessions, or even more destructive and hollow substitutes. In The Joy Model, Jeff Spadafora offers a better way, showing readers that joy comes from balancing the practical and spiritual sides of our lives—from the “Doing” and the “Being” of the Christian life. On the spiritual side, he reveals tried and true disciplines that move readers from knowing about God to actually experiencing him. On the practical side, he shows how to transform relationships, attitudes, finances, and work in ways that result in significant increases in joy. Weaving together his own spiritual journey, stories from his experience coaching others, and down-to-earth principles and practices, Spadafora helps readers find the joy in a life that is more vibrant and real than any they have experienced before.
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Published October 18, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 18, 2016
An increasing number of adult American Christians are frustrated. Even as they read their Bibles, listen to sermons, and hang out with other Christians, they become painfully aware that something is missing: joy. As a result, many have given up on their faith being a source of joy, and instead they seek meaning, purpose, and joy through their Christian service, work, relationships, hobbies, possessions, or even more destructive and hollow substitutes. In The Joy Model, Jeff Spadafora offers a better way, showing readers that joy comes from balancing the practical and spiritual sides of our lives—from the “Doing” and the “Being” of the Christian life. On the spiritual side, he reveals tried and true disciplines that move readers from knowing about God to actually experiencing him. On the practical side, he shows how to let our new understanding of God transform relationships, attitudes, finances, service, and work in ways that result in significant increases in joy. Weaving together his own spiritual journey, stories from his experience coaching others, and down-to-earth principles and practices, Spadafora helps readers find the joy in a life that is more vibrant and real than any they have experienced before.
Right in the first chapter of this book, the author says that happiness is circumstantial, but joy is equivalent to peace, comfort and fulfillment. I liked this description, as I think it is a fairly accurate description of both words. The author gives a "joy model" in this book called the M.A.S.T.E.R. plan; Margin, Abiding, Self Awareness, Treasure & Temple, Engagement and Relationships. Each chapter goes over one of these topics, as the author explains how to use these to change parts of your life. Here is a brief breakdown of each one. In the first chapter, Margin, the author explains that we all need to slow down because we've all made ourselves too busy and that we need to make room for change. At the the end of this chapter, there is a sections of questions for you to answer before continuing with the book to help you in re-thinking your life and recapturing your time. In the next chapter, Abiding, the author talks about spending more times with good (i.e. reading the Bible, studying the Bible, meditating on and memorizing the Bible, prayer, silence & solitude, etc.). In the chapter on Self Awareness, the author talks about who you really are, taking time to take stock and making sure that you are aware of the skills and work style you possess. Treasure and Temple talks about generous giving, budgeting, spending less money and identifying needs versus wants. Engagement talks about finding your passion in life and how you can use those passions and even your hobbies to serve God and "find your calling". The last chapter, Relationships, talks about how to make the most out of the relationships in your life.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and I think it could be really helpful to a lot of people. A lot of what is included are things most of us already know we should be doing; slowing down, budgeting, spending more time with God, doing things you are passionate about and focusing on the important relationships in our lives. But the author takes time to explain the readers how some of these seemingly small changes can help us all to find joy, peace, purpose and balance in our lives.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy of this book.
Right in the first chapter of this book, the author says that happiness is circumstantial, but joy is equivalent to peace, comfort and fulfillment. I liked this description, as I think it is a fairly accurate description of both words. The author gives a "joy model" in this book called the M.A.S.T.E.R. plan; Margin, Abiding, Self Awareness, Treasure & Temple, Engagement and Relationships. Each chapter goes over one of these topics, as the author explains how to use these to change parts of your life. Here is a brief breakdown of each one. In the first chapter, Margin, the author explains that we all need to slow down because we've all made ourselves too busy and that we need to make room for change. At the the end of this chapter, there is a sections of questions for you to answer before continuing with the book to help you in re-thinking your life and recapturing your time. In the next chapter, Abiding, the author talks about spending more times with good (i.e. reading the Bible, studying the Bible, meditating on and memorizing the Bible, prayer, silence & solitude, etc.). In the chapter on Self Awareness, the author talks about who you really are, taking time to take stock and making sure that you are aware of the skills and work style you possess. Treasure and Temple talks about generous giving, budgeting, spending less money and identifying needs versus wants. Engagement talks about finding your passion in life and how you can use those passions and even your hobbies to serve God and "find your calling". The last chapter, Relationships, talks about how to make the most out of the relationships in your life.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and I think it could be really helpful to a lot of people. A lot of what is included are things most of us already know we should be doing; slowing down, budgeting, spending more time with God, doing things you are passionate about and focusing on the important relationships in our lives. But the author takes time to explain the readers how some of these seemingly small changes can help us all to find joy, peace, purpose and balance in our lives.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy of this book.
October 12, 2016
[Note: This book was provided free of charge by BookLook/Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for an honest review.]
It is somewhat common in our contemporary world for business coaches or life coaches of one stripe or another to write books promoting their own techniques for developing personal growth [1]. In some cases the experience and insight of the author is distilled into works that inform, entertain, and inspire the reader to undertake efforts of worthwhile personal change. At other times the books are less than the sum of their parts, where the author offers some insight and has something worthwhile to say but ends up seeking to demonstrate his (or her) own originality or creativity rather than genuinely seek to serve the best interests of the reader. When one has read enough of these books one gets the intuition to figure out which of the types of books one is reading, and this book falls into the latter category of books that come with a great deal of hype and promise but end up feeling a bit empty, like an intellectual meal full of empty calories that just lacks a certain something that would make it truly savory and filling. That is not to say that something cannot or should not be learned from this book, only that I was somewhat disappointed upon reading it.
The contents of this book proceed as one would expect with a book that first seeks to prompt discontent with the way things are in one's life and then purports to solve that discontent with a clever mnemonic device that contains several steps with some sort of acrostic title. This book falls clearly into that cliche, starting with four chapters that discuss how we got to where we are, what sort of smoldering discontent we have, reveal our frustration, and point out what is wrong. After this, the author spends the next six chapters giving his "master" plan on how to deal with these frustrations and dissatisfaction and live in joy through living with margins that make room for change, encouraging the reader to abide with the Holy Spirit, have a sense of self-awareness and a knowledge of one's identity, treasure what is worthwhile and not be consumed with envy, engage with the outside world, and develop our greatest God-given gifts of relationships. The last chapter of the book gives a plug for the reader to find a life coach like the author, making this book a bit unseemly in having a salesy touch about it.
Perhaps my dissatisfaction and discontent about the book springs from the fact that it talks about areas of obvious importance and legitimate difficulty of life in a way that makes it appear as if the author is looking to profit from it himself more than actually help the reader of the book. The combination of accurate diagnosis of societal problems that afflict many people, including myself, very deeply, such as struggles with having enough time for rest and reflection, with having deep and productive relationships full of honest and kind communication, and engaging properly with the outside world with a self-serving approach that appears to have been written with the self-interest of the author in mind makes this book seem manipulative and even a bit predatory. Again, if one wishes to read this book, the six chapters of the master plan are in fact quite worthy of reading and applying to oneself, but this book fails in the author's ultimate purpose of providing legitimacy to his work as a life coach because the book was written too much for the author and not nearly enough for the reader.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
It is somewhat common in our contemporary world for business coaches or life coaches of one stripe or another to write books promoting their own techniques for developing personal growth [1]. In some cases the experience and insight of the author is distilled into works that inform, entertain, and inspire the reader to undertake efforts of worthwhile personal change. At other times the books are less than the sum of their parts, where the author offers some insight and has something worthwhile to say but ends up seeking to demonstrate his (or her) own originality or creativity rather than genuinely seek to serve the best interests of the reader. When one has read enough of these books one gets the intuition to figure out which of the types of books one is reading, and this book falls into the latter category of books that come with a great deal of hype and promise but end up feeling a bit empty, like an intellectual meal full of empty calories that just lacks a certain something that would make it truly savory and filling. That is not to say that something cannot or should not be learned from this book, only that I was somewhat disappointed upon reading it.
The contents of this book proceed as one would expect with a book that first seeks to prompt discontent with the way things are in one's life and then purports to solve that discontent with a clever mnemonic device that contains several steps with some sort of acrostic title. This book falls clearly into that cliche, starting with four chapters that discuss how we got to where we are, what sort of smoldering discontent we have, reveal our frustration, and point out what is wrong. After this, the author spends the next six chapters giving his "master" plan on how to deal with these frustrations and dissatisfaction and live in joy through living with margins that make room for change, encouraging the reader to abide with the Holy Spirit, have a sense of self-awareness and a knowledge of one's identity, treasure what is worthwhile and not be consumed with envy, engage with the outside world, and develop our greatest God-given gifts of relationships. The last chapter of the book gives a plug for the reader to find a life coach like the author, making this book a bit unseemly in having a salesy touch about it.
Perhaps my dissatisfaction and discontent about the book springs from the fact that it talks about areas of obvious importance and legitimate difficulty of life in a way that makes it appear as if the author is looking to profit from it himself more than actually help the reader of the book. The combination of accurate diagnosis of societal problems that afflict many people, including myself, very deeply, such as struggles with having enough time for rest and reflection, with having deep and productive relationships full of honest and kind communication, and engaging properly with the outside world with a self-serving approach that appears to have been written with the self-interest of the author in mind makes this book seem manipulative and even a bit predatory. Again, if one wishes to read this book, the six chapters of the master plan are in fact quite worthy of reading and applying to oneself, but this book fails in the author's ultimate purpose of providing legitimacy to his work as a life coach because the book was written too much for the author and not nearly enough for the reader.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress...
September 5, 2018
A helpful book with more cliches than you can shake a stick at.
As with many self-help books, there are about 20 pages of information squeezed into 200. A good article could have covered the information well. The joy model, the balance between being and doing was helpful. The MASTER acronym was good. But then there was a lot of filler material--copious cliches and skeletal accounts of people who made changes, mostly friends or clients of the author whose accounts are not well fleshed out. Fewer cliches and more meat would have made this a four star read.
As with many self-help books, there are about 20 pages of information squeezed into 200. A good article could have covered the information well. The joy model, the balance between being and doing was helpful. The MASTER acronym was good. But then there was a lot of filler material--copious cliches and skeletal accounts of people who made changes, mostly friends or clients of the author whose accounts are not well fleshed out. Fewer cliches and more meat would have made this a four star read.
January 23, 2020
A challenging and inspirational book.
The author says "Joy and fulfillment are the goals of this book".
Makes you reflect on your top 5 values.
Inspires you to list your ideals/dreams: for your career, ministry, relationship with God, other relationships, marriage, parenting, legacy. How does your "real" compare to your "ideal".
If time, money, and failure were no obstacle, what would you do with your life.
"Money often robs us of our joy because we can't connect a revenue stream with our passions and God-given purpose.
The author says "Joy and fulfillment are the goals of this book".
Makes you reflect on your top 5 values.
Inspires you to list your ideals/dreams: for your career, ministry, relationship with God, other relationships, marriage, parenting, legacy. How does your "real" compare to your "ideal".
If time, money, and failure were no obstacle, what would you do with your life.
"Money often robs us of our joy because we can't connect a revenue stream with our passions and God-given purpose.
February 25, 2017
Handy model M.A.S.T.E.R. and four quadrant maturity model leading to the "the Joyful Follower". Enjoyed the stories of personal journey and life coaching. Overall, the theme is picking up with "Half Time" by Bufford left off. Nice update for 2017.
August 17, 2021
Missing link
Great conversation around aligning your life with what you are built to be and do.
Often people can live life numb and never connect to what makes them joyful or at peace.
Jeff offers a warming thought of how to transition from discontent to engaged.
Great conversation around aligning your life with what you are built to be and do.
Often people can live life numb and never connect to what makes them joyful or at peace.
Jeff offers a warming thought of how to transition from discontent to engaged.
November 11, 2023
How to balance "Being" and "Doing", eating and exercising, hearing and obeying... following the MASTER plan...not alone, but in Christian community.
Margin
Abiding
Self-awareness
Treasure
Engagement
Relationships
Margin
Abiding
Self-awareness
Treasure
Engagement
Relationships
April 22, 2024
This is a fantastic book packed with real life practical applications based on the Bible. The Joy Model is not a typical self-help book, but one that takes the reader through a path of discovery to learn what true joy is, beginning with life in Jesus Christ.
May 15, 2017
Too formulaic a prescription for JOY. Not a fan.
June 29, 2017
Great book about joy from a coach who has been helping people experience joy for a number of years. I listened to the audio, but I'll be re-reading this and marking it up. Highly recommended!
December 4, 2019
While I loved Spadafora's M.A.S.T.E.R plan for joy, the book felt like a sales pitch for hiring a life coach, especially the last chapter which really didn't wrap things up as a conclusion should.
January 9, 2023
Meaningful and practical advice to living a more joy filled life!!
February 4, 2017
Should be in your top five
If you're a Christian, you can read many books on how to focus on the right things, but with The Joy Model you don't have to read many books. Just grab this one. Jeff has captured great wisdom in a single volume. Go through it with a friend or a group of friends. You'll want to keep this one close by to refer to often. Put it on your top five shelf.
If you're a Christian, you can read many books on how to focus on the right things, but with The Joy Model you don't have to read many books. Just grab this one. Jeff has captured great wisdom in a single volume. Go through it with a friend or a group of friends. You'll want to keep this one close by to refer to often. Put it on your top five shelf.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews