Customer Reviews

LifeKeys: Discovering Who You Are, Why You're Here, What You Do Best

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I took the Lifekeys program through my church and found it very refreshing. I've done Meyers-Briggs before and a few other work-related programs, but this added the spiritual dimension of what's really important to me. When work, personality, and spirituality are all combined, one has a stronger sense of who they are and how they can best find purpose. This was a very rewarding program and the book/work book helped tie it all together.

The LifeKeys program is designed to help people discover their path in life. Whether you are just starting out, in a job you don't really like, newly retired, or just curious about the possibilities, LifeKeys is a great resource for finding out more about yourself and your mission in life.

The authors provide a series of simple tests on interests, spiritual gifts, personality type, values and passions to help the reader discern what God is calling them to. Each activity is simple, although they can be time consuming if done properly.

Many people use this series in a church class: The one I led at our congregation of about 500 members attracted over 30 people to participate. There is a hunger out there for the kind of guidance LifeKeys provides. It is certainly a great program to use in a church context, and the workbook version makes it easy.

LifeKeys certainly is pitched to the Christian community. However, an individual reading the entire text would find it just as easy and rewarding to do on their own.

Develop your own personal mission statement, and use LifeKeys as a guide!

LifeKeys guides readers in discovering who they are and how they can find fulfillment in life. The information gained can be applied to any life choices, including career, volunteer and relationship. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about themselves or going through a period of change in their lives.

LifeKeys does a relevant and wonderful job of guiding those in search of a clear path in life. Through a series of simple but deep and though provoking tests, LifeKeys sets out to help the reader discover who they are and what God is calling them to do. The tests include interests, values, spiritual gifts and personality type, as well as guidance on integrating the gathered information to write a life mission statement.

There is a hunger for books like these in our society... in our church of about 500 members, over 30 people signed up for the LifeKeys class which I led. The discussion was wonderful, and students left satisfied with their experience.

The only drawback to this workbook: If you are using it to lead a class, plan on spending time reading the whole book before you begin, and more time on class planning. For the individual, simply the "LifeKeys" text is more than sufficient... it has all the materials included in this book. But for a group who doesn't want to make the larger investment in many texts, the workbook is a great resource!

The hardest part about writing a personal mission statement is knowing where to start. This book takes you through the process step-by-step in a simple, yet effective way.

With a resemblance to What Color is Your Parachute, but with a Christ-based perspective, Discover Who You Are takes a multi-pronged approach to discerning how you can be a better steward of the gifts, talents and passions the God has given you. The book, which is part of the Lifekeys series, is designed to help you discover your calling. The book is practical, easy to read and full of exercises and self-assessment tools. Discover Who You Are is useful by itself, but it also makes a good resource for a church small group study. A workbook and a leadership resource are also available.
Discover Who You Are's multi-pronged approach begins with assessing your life gifts - what comes naturally to you. These are classified into six areas such as artistic, investigative and social. Next the authors look at spiritual gifts, helping the reader through a series of questions to identify which of 20 God-given gifts they might have, such as mercy, teaching and evangelism. This is followed by a chapter on Meyers-Briggs personality types, with acronyms such as INFJ and ESTP. An exercise on identifying one's values is next, followed by a discussion of finding one's passions. The remainder of the book focuses on service, with applying your self discovery to volunteer opportunities and career choices. These applications include specific sections dealing with different life stages, including first career, midlife transitions and retirement planning.
Some readers may find the book tells them what they already know about themselves and others may still be left with questions when trying to figure out specifically what they were meant to do with their lives. But most will find the journey through this book to be a useful way to sharpen their insights into themselves and better understand how God made them. The book may indeed help one live more purposefully for Him and find deeper meaning in life. jsteenhagen at ActiveStewardship

This book is a life-changing and life-enhancing source of how to use your God-given gifts...a lesson in God's love for us.

God believes each of us is special and this book shows the reader how to uncover (or re-discover) the gifts God has given that make each of us unique. And useful to God!

It is a blessing and a gift!

The LifeKeys material is solid, faith-based "Myers Briggs"-esque material. Its not the deepest personality profile tool you can find, but what makes it great is that it is TEACHABLE by almost anyone. With a little pre-reading and doing the tests yourself, a capable pastor, sunday school teacher, small group leader, or interested layperson could take a group of 5-50 through the material very effectively.

The program has many "options" for you to walk groups through the exercises, based on size, situation, etc. This makes it easy to "customize" the program to your group, your church, etc. The section on spiritual gifts also offers both the "charismatic light" and "non-charismatic" options ;)

I used the material for a weekend retreat, and followed the material's suggestions on which few sections could be covered in a weekend, and my group of 16 were energized, enlightened, and encouraged by the material. They left wanting more!

Good Material, works well in multiple group size/situations, and doesn't require a degree in psychology to be effective in helping people focus on what they are naturally gifted to do vs what skills they have/can acquire.

As a Pastor, I would recommend this material for most churches. The only mistake I made was to save money, I bought only this book, and the Leaders Guide...and no workbooks. I made my own workbooks for people. TOO MUCH WORK! Just buy the workbooks and include it in the price of the class/retreat. Trust me.

As a personal and professional coach, I often use this workbook, in addition to the original Discover Who You Are, when working with people who are making major life transitions, especially career change. I find the material thorough but not overwhelming for people with varying levels of education. Also, the workbook format allows my clients to scribble all they want and keep a record of their thoughts without writing in the margins of the text book (some people dislike writing in their books). The workbook can be pulled out weeks, months or years later to refresh memory and track progress - a real jewel.

Want to know where your skills lie? This book provides questionaires to help you figure out what direction to take with your life's work. The authors write in conversational style and draw you in to a comfortable process of analyzing the experiences that have shaped you, the activities that energize you, and the environments that help you to shine. Whether in a job that you like, or looking for new work, this book is a bonus to any employee or student.LifeKeys: Discover Who You Are