The four purposes of life Finding meaning and direction in a changing world

Appreciating life's lessons as opportunities to build important strengths is just one of four distinct purposes in life, according to Millman, best-selling author of The Way of the Peaceful Warrior (1980) and other self-help books. Getting to know ourselves and determining our unique calling is the second purpose, discovering our life path is third, and living each moment to the fullest is the fourth. This title provides a pleasing mix of commonsense advice and profound wisdom along with several entertaining stories about people who have flourished by recognizing that purpose can arise within challenges and ordinary moments. Offering a somewhat novel approach for determining one's life path, this former world-champion gymnast suggests that adding up birthdates can yield numbers that reveal our inner natures, an ancient practice touted in another of his previous works, The Life You Were Born to Live (1993). Here, he skillfully distills wisdom from some of the world's greatest mystics and masters and provides helpful insights for navigating modern life.--DeGrane, Susan Copyright 2010 Booklist

Millman, author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior, shares more of the ideas that are central to his way of life-and well being-in the hopes of leading others onto their true path. Millman's system ("Life-Purposes") is simple: self-examination; goal-making; decision-making; finding a passion; and conscious living. Relying on the words of philosophers both current and historical (Oprah and Kierkegaard both appear), the author finds a new twist for this addition to the genre he knows so well. The "School of Life" he argues, has only 12 subjects, among them self-worth, courage, sexuality, and service. He shares ways to earn a "Pass" grade from that great campus called Earth. Finding a calling is a more profound challenge than advancing career or finding "satisfying" work, and Millman doesn't make this distinction often enough. One purpose finds the author re-imagining the western horoscope; birth numbers can help us reach our life's purpose, he argues somewhat unpersuasively. And finally, despite all the talk of the subconscious mind and mental time leaps, Millman arrives at this chestnut: live in the moment. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.