Customer Reviews

AdaptAbility: How to Survive Change You Didn't Ask For

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I got a great deal out of two of Ryan's previous books--"The Happiness Makeover" and "Trusting Yourself." I thought that this new book would help me to cope with recent unwanted major changes in my life. It didn't. I still give this book 5 stars because I think its actually a great book--but its not what I needed. I suspect that I misunderstood the focus of the book before I purchased it. It contains very timely and helpful advice--but it is almost entirely about money and career issues. Other kinds of problems are addressed briefly throughout the book--but I really couldn't figure out how the adapting strategies applied to my situation.

So If you recently lost your job, your home, or your savings--this book can probably help you a lot. If you are dealing with a debilitating, incurable illness--or the death of a child--or other life changing experiences that may not be primarily about financial issues, than this may not be what you are a looking for.

I would like to give this book to a friend who is going through job and money worries right now--but I hesitate because the book seems mostly geared towards people who are in the higher economic classes. If you don't own a home, or a car and can barely afford food--you may not relate to people who have to change the focus of the the businesses they own.

I think that this could be a great book if its what you are looking for--but I wanted to write this review so other readers won't make the same false assumption that I made--I was thinking of "adaptability" and "change" in the more general sense, when this book is really more specific to the financial issues of the privileged classes.

M J Ryan has done a great job of outlining how to survive change - expected or unexpected. In a hurry? Reading the table of contents alone will give you more than enough to get started. In itself, it's a step-by-step guide to surviving unexpected change. At 219 pages, this book manages to be both a quick and easy read and everything you need to know to become adept at staying afloat in permanent white water. The book is crisp, clear, and full of useful advise. I would recommend it to both my personal and my executive coaching clients.

Cancer diagnosis? Bankruptcy? Job loss? Suicide of a loved one? Serious depression? Home foreclosed? Child custody battle? -- or other unexpected misfortune? This is the book for you.

M.J. Ryan's "AdaptAbility" is the first book that I would now give any loved one or friend who was abruptly blindsided with some disaster.

In lucid, direct language, and short, bite-sized, but very informative chapters, Ryan dispenses first aid for the soul -- valuable nuggets of information that can be immediately applied to fixing the outer disaster and inner trauma that can drag a person in distress down into a depressed lethargy.

As indicated by the book's title, Ryan's advice focuses on increasing the "adaptability" or "resilience" of people during tough times, giving them many small, effective strategies for changing their thinking rapidly, so they can focus on salvaging what can be saved from the wreckage, and turn their energies quickly towards building a new life.

From "Avoid Shame by Remembering That Difficulties Can Happen to Anyone" to "Create a Story of Possibility," the ideas in Ryan's book speak directly to the deepest personal wounds.

The only reason that I gave the book four stars instead of five, was that I would have liked more direct information on positive psychology in the book -- Ryan uses some of that movement's techniques, but I would have liked to see more of those techniques in the book, and citations to positive psychology books in the resources section. Puzzlingly, there are no citations to well-known positive psychology texts in the resources section, and only a few are cited in the book itself.

But this is a very minor criticism, compared to the 95% excellence of the book.

With todays' turbulent times, we are all being thrust into change we didn't expect or ask for. This book not only equips one with the tools they need to deal with and get through change- it helps your FLOURISH through it. Wonderfully written and truly inspirational, this book is a must for everyone.

I first listened to the book on audio and then purchased the book so that I could spend more time digesting certain parts. Any career these days is full of change and this books was very helpful to me.

I have recommended this book to my friends and my clients. The author nails how to build resiliency in adverse conditions. It is a timely read as it talks about the recent economic crisis.

I found this to be an engaging read. Ryan blends a discussion of scientific research on psychological resiliency and positive psychology with storytelling and personal insights. Laced throughout are sections with very specific and practical advice to those coping with life changes. I recommend this to people who are coping with major life changes and their friends and families. Anyone who is trying to better manager the effects of stress will find this book helpful

I've read through 1/3 of the book and am finding it to be a readable collection of thoughts that I've mostly heard before, but are always good to hear again.

I would like to give a copy of MJ Ryan's new book, AdaptAbility, to everyone I know. MJ Ryan has long been one of my favorite authors, and in this book, she has written about what's most needed right now in this time of so many unbidden changes. I love her writing style: she manages to explain what's happening and give tools for positive coping and change in an accessible, memorable manner. She does the work for me that I would want to do--she thinks deeply about what people in today's world are facing, researches the best of what psychologists, scientists, behavioral experts, and others have to say, adds her own wisdom, insight, and perspective, along with examples from her clients, friends, mentors, family, and her own personal experience that bring her concepts to life, and delivers all this in her lively, readable, open voice. I feel supported by what she has to say and also gently nudged toward growth and change. I have personally benefited from AdaptAbility, and will also recommend this book to my many career coaching clients, as well as to my friends--I can think of several who need this book, right now! Plus, like all my other books by MJ Ryan, I can already see that I will re-read this book several times--her books are like having a personal coach right at hand.