Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot. Max Lucado [Paperback]

Max Lucado (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2005

"Sweet spot." Golfers understand the term. So do tennis players. Ever swung a baseball bat or paddled a Ping-Pong ball? If so, you know the oh-so-nice feel of the sweet spot. Life in the sweet spot rolls like the downhill side of a downwind bike ride. But you don't have to swing a bat or a club to know this. What engineers give sports equipment, God gave you.A zone, a region, a life precinct in which you were made to dwell. He tailored the curves of your life to fit an empty space in his jigsaw puzzle. And life makes sweet sense when you find your spot.

But if you're like 87 percent of workers, you haven't found it. You don't find meaning in your work--or you're one of the 80 percent who don't believe their talents are used. What can you do? You're suffering from the common life, and you desperately need a cure.

Best-selling author Max Lucado has found it. In Cure for the Common Life he offers practical tools for exploring and identifying your own uniqueness, motivation to put your strengths to work, and the perfect prescription for finding and living in your sweet spot for the rest of your life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bestselling author Lucado (Come Thirsty) dedicates his latest book to helping readers discover their "sweet spot"—the job or life calling they were created for. He guides readers on their search to find the unique abilities God may have built into them. First step: "read your life backward" to see where you've been successful and what you've loved in the past. Readers are directed to find their personal "S.T.O.R.Y."—strengths, topic, optimal conditions, relationships and "Yes!" moments. This acronym originates with People Management Inc., whose theories helped Lucado find his own strengths and form much of the foundation for this book. For Lucado, discovering one's life purpose is really about honoring the God who gave the unique abilities in the first place, so he instructs readers not to make decisions based on greed. Instead, he exhorts them to "make a big deal out of God" rather than worrying about their own reputation and to trust God to use their "small beginnings" in his overall purpose. The book contains a "Sweet Spot Discovery Guide" with detailed exercises from People Management to help readers uncover their own personal "S.T.O.R.Y."—though some will want further guidance. As always, evangelical readers will appreciate that Lucado is easy to read while still substantive and orthodox, and many struggling to find the work that's right for them will find this book very helpful. (Jan. 3)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Max Lucado, minister for the Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas, is the husband of Denalyn and father of Jenna, Andrea, and Sara. He is the author of multiple bestsellers and is America's leading inspirational author.

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Word Productions LLC (January 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0849991374
• ISBN-13: 978-0849991370
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (101 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,203,296 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

In just under two decades of writing, Max Lucado has accomplished more than most writers hope for in a lifetime. Most of his books have appeared on one or more best seller lists, including those published by the "New York Times," "USA Today," "Publishers Weekly," and the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA). Aside from hardcover books, Lucado's writings have also been published as children's books, videos, CD-ROMs, DVDs, music CDs, mass paperback booklets, apparel, giftware, bookmarks, calendars, study Bibles, workbooks, curricula, and plush products. In spring 2003, Hallmark/Dayspring Cards launched a new gift card line featuring excerpts from Lucado's writings--and has already sold more than one million cards.

All this success has drawn more than a little attention to a previously low-profile Texas author and minister. Lucado has been featured in a wide range of media, including "USA Today," "Larry King Live," and "NBC Nightly News." He has spoken at the National Prayer Breakfast before the President of the United States. He has traveled with internationally renowned musicians as a special speaker on their music tours, such as the highly successful "Come Together & Worship Tour" (sponsored by Chevrolet) with Grammy Award-winning artists Michael W. Smith and Third Day.

Journey to the Top
Lucado was born in 1955 in San Angelo, Texas, and raised in Andrews, Texas, the youngest of four children. His father was an Exxon oil field mechanic who, Lucado remembers, always smelled of grease cleaner. "It makes it easy for me to see a God who is loving and kind--because my dad was," he says. His mother was a nurse who grew up working in the cotton fields.

Lucado went through a period of rebellion against his parents' values and their God during his teens and into college. But it wasn't long before he found himself drawn back to his roots, back to God. He married, spent time serving as a missionary in Brazil, and returned to the States, where he began working as a church minister and writing on the side.

Secret to Success
From all accounts, Max Lucado is not a man consumed by sales, awards, and achievements. He often turns down media interviews since they impede on family and ministry commitments. He spends the bulk of his week serving as senior minister at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. And he is truly surprised by his own success--more impressed by his one-in-a-million wife and three amazing daughters than by his successful writing career.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful Work, March 18, 2006

By 

David B. Thompson (Carson City, Nevada USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot (Hardcover)

My wife brought "Cure for the Common Life" home from the local public library for me. I've been struggling with my work life for awhile, and she recognized the struggle. And, while it's too long a story to post here (I won't bore you), it's been a time of significant introspection.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Lucado. However, he has an excellent reputation in Christian circles, so I approached the book with an open mind. I'm nearly through the workbook component at the end as I write.

"Cure for the Common Life" is a good piece of work. In it, Lucado outlines how to discover and work toward finding your sweet spot in life. He defines the sweet spot as a place in life where all of your unique abilities are focused on your favorite topics under your optimal conditions with the right people in such a way that you will say "Yes!" I can recommend the book heartily to those looking for the sweet spot in their lives. Let me tell you why.

Lucado approaches the problem from two perspectives, internal and external. To find the sweet spot, one must understand that one fits into a larger context and has unique talents to bring to others. This external position is necessary to understand and accept. While Lucado approaches the external context from a Christian perspective, his statements are consistent with other worldviews.

The internal context requires the individual to do a lot of introspection to discover those things, situations, and actions that make work uplifting. Lucado provides instructions and a set of tools to assist the process. The tools are simple, easy to apply, and work. Some time is required, but the investment is worthwhile.

In the end, you will find yourself with a substantial amount of motivational material from the Bible, plus a list of strengths and a context for those strengths, all in a concise package that is short and sweet. You will have your S.T.O.R.Y. -- your "Strengths, Topics, Optimal Conditions, Relationships, and Yes!" put together in one short bit of writing. It will be up to you to decide how to implement what you learn, but Lucado offers some suggestions for actions to help get you moving.

Did my analysis teach me anything I didn't already know about myself? My honest answer is "a bit." I had a fair grasp of my strengths and skills, some knowledge of the context in which I prefer to apply those abilities, and some understanding of my leadership interests. However, I now have all of those facts in a concise, complete package. I also gained a substantial amount of encouragement from Lucado's writing.

I can strongly recommend this book for those individuals seeking to find the sweet spot in their work life. The book will work for non-Christians who are tolerant of a Christian worldview. It would also make a good gift to another who is facing those kind of life-struggles, perhaps with an offer for some mentoring. There's also a section on working with your children to help them find their sweet spot in life.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lucado is in a Class by Himself!, January 31, 2006

By 

FaithfulReader.com (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot (Hardcover)

A new release by veteran author and pastor Max Lucado usually means one thing: someone else's book is about to get bumped off the bestseller list. Few Christian authors are as prolific as Lucado, and among those who are, even fewer have anything as significant to say as he does. Fewer still say it as well as he does. Yes, Lucado is in a class by himself.

Lucado seldom disappoints, and THE CURE FOR THE COMMON LIFE exemplifies why that is. This is the author at his best, clearly delivering an inspirational message that has substance to it, using language that perfectly illustrates each point he makes. And he seems to do all this so effortlessly that I suspect he has caused more than one budding writer to give up trying altogether as a concession to Lucado's superior skill.

The message of this, his umpteenth book, is clear: God has called you to an uncommon life and a one-of-a-kind assignment as you live out that life. To discover what that is, Lucado offers you a set of tools. Thankfully, this set is not based on the usual psychological tests or personality assessments or spiritual gifts inventories. To find your "sweet spot" --- that place where your passions and talents intersect --- he encourages you to use a method known by the acronym STORY and developed by People Management International. This method involves an analysis of your Strengths (the verbs that describe the actions that have proven successful and satisfying for you, such as "creating" or "organizing"); your Topics (concrete objects or abstract ideas that have fascinated you --- as mundane as "fruit" or as lofty as "wisdom"); the Optimal conditions under which you work (emergency situations, predictable routines, and so forth); Relationships (whether you work better alone, in a partnership, or as part of a team or large group); and your Yes! moments, those times in your life when it all came together, when you felt you had found what you were made to do.

Part career guide but mostly a life guide, CURE FOR THE COMMON LIFE avoids many of the legalistic teachings that Christians hear about their work life. Yes, Lucado believes you should perform the duties of your current job "as unto God," but he also believes that being miserable at work is not exactly a blessing from God. He urges readers to be "uncommon" --- unlike the two-thirds of American workers who toil away in the wrong job. If Lucado himself doesn't convince you to take action, then the statistics he cites should: suicides are most likely to occur on Sunday night, while heart attacks are most likely to occur on Monday morning. One-third of Americans hate their careers. Not just dislike them, but hate them.

Other "cures," all pure Lucado: Don't heed greed. Be a God-promoter. Every day do something for someone else that you don't want to do. Color Christ with the crayons God gave you. (That last one is typical Lucado: a concrete image that helps you remember the point he just made, long after you've closed the book.)

Whether you're a fan of Lucado, a newcomer to his work, or simply someone who has this nagging feeling that you were meant for something very different from what you've known so far, you're likely to find a great deal here that will prove valuable to you. Well worth reading.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring as well as practical!, January 25, 2006

By 

Bruce Henderson (Carson City, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot (Hardcover)

All of Lucado's works are inspiring and Christ-centered. I know of no one as equally gifted both as a writer and as a speaker. Great stories and effective word pictures are everywhere in this volume.

The uniqueness of this book lies in its intense practicality. The last 71 pages make up an actual "workshop" on how one finds their spiritual giftedness or "sweet spot". What is my unique purpose in life? Steve Halliday and People Management International, Inc. walk the reader through steps to answer just that. It is an educational and life-confirming experience.

This is not a book for a quick read and to be put on the book shelf. No, this one drives me to examine and discover the self that God has in mind for me to be. Thanks, Max!