The Hard Questions for an Authentic Life: 100 Essential Questions for Tapping into Your Inner Wisdom [Hardcover]

Susan Piver (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2004

A thought-provoking guide to approaching life’s questions and transitions with presence of mind and integrity from the New York Times bestselling author of The Hard Questions: 100 Essential Questions to Ask Before You Say “I Do.”

The Hard Questions: 100 Essential Questions to Ask Before You Say “I Do.” took a revolutionary approach to prenuptial counseling in a provocative questions-and-answer format that encouraged readers to uncover their own unique truths. Taking this breakthrough approach to an even broader audience, The Hard Questions for an Authentic Life challenges readers to independently explore their deepest beliefs about relationships, friendships, family, work, money, creativity, and spirituality. The responses they uncover become the building blocks for a revitalized life that is lived with a sense of ease and confidence. Most important, The Hard Questions for an Authentic Life gives readers the renewed emotional strength necessary for coping with life’s many inevitable transitions. The Hard Questions for an Authentic Life marks the start of an important revolution in self-help publishing, one that at last enables us to find the answers—and the experts—within ourselves.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Susan Piver is a deeply intuitive and innovative thinker. She has both tenderness and acuity regarding what concerns us. I could not recommend her more highly.” (Julia Cameron, Author of The Artist’s Way and The Vein of Gold “The Hard Questions for an Authentic Life is a new kind of self-help book, one that teaches you to rely on your own inner wisdom as your guide. It will help you navigate beyond cultural messages about happiness to a genuine and lasting sense of well-being.” (Andrew Weil, M.D., Author of Spontaneous Healing and 8 Weeks to Optimum Health)

About the Author

Susan Piver is the author of The Hard Questions: 100 Essential Questions to Ask Before You Say “I Do.” She was also a writer, producer, and marketing specialist for the entertainment industry for more than a decade before launching Padma Media, which creates special book packages for bestselling authors.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Gotham (January 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592400426
• ISBN-13: 978-1592400423
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #689,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Susan Piver is the New York Times bestselling author of six books, including The Hard Questions: 100 Essential Questions to Ask Before You Say "I Do" and the award-winning How Not to Be Afraid of Your Own Life, chosen as best spiritual book of 2007 by Books for a Better Life.

Piver teaches internationally on love, creativity, meditation, and spirituality for actual humans with relationships, jobs, deep yearnings, depressions, triumphs, bad hair days, and a multitude of ridiculously petty grievances. She teaches from personal experience.

Piver has been a practicing Buddhist since 1995 and graduated from a Buddhist seminary in 2004.

Her new book is The Wisdom of a Broken Heart: An Uncommon Guide to Healing, Insight, and Love, published by Simon and Schuster in January 2010.

Piver has written for Body and Soul, SELF, Oprah magazine, Buddhadharma, and the Shambhala Sun and is regularly featured in the media, including appearances on Oprah, Today, The Tyra Banks show, CNN, and in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Time, Money, and others.

For more information, visit susanpiver.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE QUEST FOR AUTHENTICITY, January 17, 2004

By 

Robert Batson (HARTFORD, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hard Questions for an Authentic Life: 100 Essential Questions for Tapping into Your Inner Wisdom (Hardcover)

In this book the reader is encouraged to discover his/her authentic life by a. focusing on "the Present" and by. by working through the 100 questions in order to analyze one's life and formulate appropriate strategies for ,living authentically. Her introduction outlines her quest for authenticity and her discovery of "being present" as her way of manifesting an authentic life. She suggests four principles to help: the courage to listen with an open mind; the willingness to feel discomfort, focusing on what is happening and being present, that comes through daily meditation. The subsequent chapters deal with the different areas of one's life: Family, Friends, Intimates, Work, Money, Creativity and Spirituality. Each chapter has a brief introduction and 10-15 questions, with space for writing down answers. Her "Afterward" lists question one can ask at the beginning and ending of each day.
Especially helpful was her anecdote about the questioning she did with her fiancee about the life they wanted once married. Her insight was that the questioning process brought them closer together, even as the answers changed over time. Also helpful was her insight that questions asked with genuine curiosity are more likely to be answered than those asked with hostility.
She encourages people to work through the questions slowly and thoroughly. Her questions in the chapters "Family" and "Friends" encourages the reader to identify his/her own needs, and ways the reader can be more giving to relatives and friends. Her insight: "You choose you friends because you can't choose your relatives." Friendships help family relationships run more smoothly. She encourages the reader to look for areas where forgiveness is needed and to spot patterns that began in the original family that repeat in future relationships,
While her anecdotes added a lot, her analysis of the questioning process could have been more thoroughly thought through. The sentence describing her epiphany on p. xviii would have read better with a colon (:) after the word "present". Also, with no bibliography or footnotes, I was left wondering where she got her ideas. The insights, and the book's overall clear style make this a worthwhile read whether or not you work through questions. One might feel inspired to ask his or her own questions.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Handbook, January 7, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hard Questions for an Authentic Life: 100 Essential Questions for Tapping into Your Inner Wisdom (Hardcover)

This book helps you ask important questions about your life, who you are, and where you are headed. Susan doesn't give you answers, She shows you how to ask and discover for yourself. We don't need more books of advice, we need more aids at self-inquiry. This book hits the nail on the head. Highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Charmed and Delighted, September 13, 2008

By 

Suzanne Kyra (Belcarra, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hard Questions for an Authentic Life: 100 Essential Questions for Tapping into Your Inner Wisdom (Hardcover)

The Hard Questions for an Authentic Life is useful for any couple in a committed relationship, but is particularly valuable for couples who are considering marriage or looking to plan for the future. According to Piver, this book is ideal for any couple looking to connect "emotionally, spiritually, physically, intellectually." Beyond this, The Hard Questions is an excellent tool for promoting personal growth and understanding. The questions detailed in this book not only give new insight and understanding into your partner and your relationship, but also encourage individual reflection.

While the foundation of The Hard Questions is simple - "You speak. You are heard. He speaks. He is heard. And on it goes." - putting this mantra into practice can often prove to be very difficult. Piver provides a simple step-by-step guide that aims to help couples incorporate this principle into their actions and discussions.

The focus of the book is on encouraging couples to create an open dialogue in which they can discuss all facets of their lives and their futures. Piver asks the reader to consider a series of "hard questions" that explore each person's beliefs, biases, opinions, and expectations. The questions range from the delightful (What is my wildest fantasy about our home?) to the practical (Who does long-range financial planning? How is life insurance secured? Who are the beneficiaries?)

Throughout her book, Piver stresses that these questions - and the relationship in general - must be approached from a place of honesty, love, and support. The purpose of the questions is not to test whether you and your partner are compatible, but to encourage communication and discussion that will help build the foundation for an open, honest, and lasting relationship.

Overall, I was charmed and delighted by The Hard Questions. While it tackles some of the most important - and uncomfortable - relationship issues, at just over 100 pages it's hardly intimidating. Its simple format and clear objective can help add clarity and direction to difficult discussions. Piver's own experiences and reservations add humanity and accessibility. A valuable, enjoyable, and thought-provoking read.