Most of us want to be happy and comfortable in life, but what if staying comfortable was the very thing keeping us from our happiness? In her second book, Choose Resilience, speaker and emotional intelligence expert Jen Shirkani challenges the notion that comfort always equals good and she inspires readers to break out of their safe spaces to the personal and professional life of their dreams. With the backdrop of her own story of struggle woven throughout, Jen shares helpful strategies for overcoming personal challenges with motivation, optimism and stress tolerance. Readers learn the importance of leaving their comfort zone behind in order to reengage in life and gain more confidence by learning to get comfortable with risk. After working with hundreds of organizations and thousands of employees, Jen has seen the power of emotional intelligence build interpersonal strength, stamina and resilience. This book provides a motivating and inspiring message and helps readers see how maintaining a healthy level of challenge and struggle can enable everyone to be more powerful at work and in every aspect of life.
I am Jen Shirkani and my books are written to help you be more successful in life by leveraging the power of a behavioral science called emotional intelligence or EQ. Ego vs EQ is ideal for executive leaders or business owners who want to learn ways to increase their productivity, have more motivated employees and achieve success. Choose Resilience tells my story of struggle and provides tools to help you get out of your comfort zone to increase your stress tolerance, influence and happiness. Thank you for your interest in my content and I would love to hear from you.
Thank you! I received my copy of the book. My first win.
I was so excited when I received this book and began reading it almost immediately. I read quite a bit before putting it down, feeling ambivalent. On the one hand it's fairly easy to read (as are most self-help books) and on the other it didn't really deliver on resilence as I expected. But before you begin thinking this book is a wash don't be so fast to dismiss it. It's got a sweet story to it. I'll try to be as fair as possible in my review.
I decided to give this book the benefit of the doubt and finished reading it. As I wrote, this is a self-help book, not a peer reviewed study or PhD dissertation or scientific by any stretch. It does have the author's testimony of pulling herself up by her bootstraps using the power of positive thinking and perseverance. The book promises a narrative on resilience, instead it delivers lots of "I did it so can you"narrative. Definitely making it a "You" book.
You will find catchy acronyms, a subtle dabbling in CBT- such as thought errors and reframing- and anonymous testimony. I could imagine attending a conference where she is a keynote speaker with a table at the back of the room selling her book. I would probably take notes and applaud her clever presentation, feeling good about myself, probably because I'm already putting into practice what she presented. The difference would be that she's much more clever at marketing her story than I am.
The downside of the book is that it never reaches it's full potential and speaks only to a narrow audience. Visually, citations make it appear to contain supported content which upon inspection are skimpy on peer reviewed articles and heavy on mainstream articles. I also found very little qualifying content on developing resilience. It missed several opportunities to discuss top stressors and mental health in depth, including the biology of resilience.
The upside, as I mentioned, is that it's an easy read. It's easy to follow and not preachy. The acronyms are useful -I took many notes - and it's believable. It's well organized and motivating. Anyone needing a nudge towards the positive would appreciate this book very much. Anyone needing affirmation and validation that you are more than your problem will relate. I found myself really liking that the simple strategies were attainable, especially the zones table.
I applaud the author for offering her encouraging book and wish her further success. I hope to share her book with parents and anyone needing advice.
So excited to have won my first giveaway!!! This book goes into the psychological side of how to overcome obstacles without being dry or dull. The author gives many real world examples of how to implement her MOST (Motivation, Optimism, Stress Tolerance) theory of coping with tough times. I fully agree that optimism is a CHOICE! Jen even bravely shares numerous of her own not-so-pretty life experiences.
The book is not too long, but not too short. Just when I was hoping for more real-life stories to which I could relate, chapter 7 really pulled all the theoretical comfort zone/confidence zone examples together with several "Super Survivor" stories. This brief section left me wanting more of these encouraging tales! Maybe the next book, Jen??? Already passed my copy on to a friend to read!
Life changing! Choose Resilience by Jen Shirkani, is a motivating book that will help you to have a new positive approach towards life. Remember what your thankful for, turn those negatives into positives and use your negative experiences as learning experiences! This book will help to improve the quality of your life and help you to stay positive. Even when your going through difficult times there is always a happy ending. i highly recommend this book as it will allow you to have a more positive approach towards life! 5 stars won in goodreads giveaway!
Excellent!...do you need to make changes in your Life....tired of your same old job?...etc The first step this book will teach you is to move OUT of your COMFORT ZONE! Step by step.....one example,I always walk the same route to and from work. ...so , one day I took a different route home..and saw a RAINBOW....I would not hsve seen it on my usual route. The author will explain in detail her method and formula...it does take work....but in the end....you will experience your rainbow! Recommended!
I won this book from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review. The subtitle for this book is "break out of your comfort zone". I think there is sound advise in this book for people to get out of their rut and move into success. Success in business and life. There were valuable lessons even if you are shifting onto retirement. What do you want to do with your life and what work are you willing to put in to achieve it?
It is a book about taking chances and going out and risks. How we easily stay in our comfort zone and blame things for our being unhappy. That we need to get out of that one and take risks even if we fail to be well rounded.
An interesting read that provides motivation to change your life.
It was a good read and an eye opener with the idea that being comfortable stands in one's way in the pathway to find true happiness. A great model of useful emotional intelligence skills to copy with what life throws at you.
I recommend this book. I recieved this book as a free giveaway from Goodreads.
I won this in a GOODREADS giveaway. - I know, I know... ANOTHER self help book... but this one seems completely doable... IF you want to. It has loads of actually useful suggestions, advice, examples, and techniques inside. Are you ready yet?
I won Jen's book in one of the Giveaways. I found very educational and also helpful with some personal struggles I have had in my life. Jen is very knowledgeable and can also relate through her own personal experiences. Highly recommended for everyone. Thank you and also for the signing.