Now What?: 90 Days to a New Life Direction [Paperback]

Laura Berman Fortgang (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 7, 2005

A clear and utterly practical 90-day program for discovering a new direction for your life.

In Now What? pioneering life coach Laura Berman Fortgang shares the process that she has used so successfully to help hundreds of clients make major changes in their lives. Whether it's moving on from a dead end job, discovering an entirely new creative outlet, or answering the age old question "What am I meant to do with my life?" this book provides a clear and infinitely practical 90-day program that can help you make major changes in your life.

For anyone who feels drawn toward a life-changing move but is not sure exactly what to do or how to move forward, Now What? provides a concrete process for finding and pursuing a new path in life. Full of inspiring and empowering exercises and tools, this book guides readers-day by day and step by step-through a 90-day process that will lead to true life satisfaction and fulfillment.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Based on the assumption that many people are utterly dissatisfied in their lives, this straightforward volume attempts to help readers find what it is that they truly want and make a plan for getting it. Fortgang (Living Your Best Life) has designed a 90-day plan—with seven weeks (or 49 days) dedicated to discovering what it is they want, while the rest of the days are devoted to making it happen. She opens with a few anecdotes of clients for whom her strategy has worked; then she presents a sequence of chapters outlining week-by-week goals. In week one, for example, the focus is determining what the reader hates about her current situation, because "what you hate gives a name to what you want." In week eight, Fortgang addresses the idea that "fear, doubts, and lack of training are molehills compared to the stopping power of the mountain we call money"; she then offers viable solutions for removing lack of funds as an obstacle, and in week 12, there’s a guide to continuing where the book leaves off. Each chapter contains more anecdotes and specific exercises, which help make the goals practical and tangible and the idea of change seem possible.
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

Laura Berman Fortgang is a nationally renowned speaker and life coach, helping individuals, small businesses, and corporations forge new directions and weather change. Recently ordained as an Interfaith Minister, she lives in Montclair, New Jersey.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher (April 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585424137
• ISBN-13: 978-1585424139
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #340,462 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 60 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Creative Tips to Revise Your Compass May 25, 2004

By Dr Cathy Goodwin TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Fortgang begins with a straightforward premise. In ninety days, you can set goals and begin to move in a new direction. Unlike many books of this genre, Now What does not overpromise. Ninety days won't find you in a new job or a new life -- but you'll have a better sense of where to go and how to get there.

I gave Now What five stars for easy reading and originality. I must admit I expected to find tired advice and exercises, but Fortgang offers mostly fresh ideas. And I agree with much of what she says.

For example, "Your purpose in life is right under your nose." So true! I've seen versions of these life purpose exercises before but she presents them well.

Overall, true to her coaching background, some of the best exercises relate to identifying what you really want to do. "I want to be someone who..."

I applaud Fortgang's definitions of needs and values. Needs are not optional and non-negotiable, e.g., the need for honesty. Values are "the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow." Needs bring out the worst in us when they're not met; values bring out the best.

But Fortgang goes beyond self-awareness, encouraging readers to check reality. She offers good advice for investigating various career fields: Talk to 3 people in 3 fields. And she's not afraid to ask clients, "What would you have to give up..."

Perhaps the very best exercises involve scenario-writing. Describe how your life will be in a year, then six months from now, then three months from now. These steps clarify the need for actions along the way.

Anyone contemplating a life change can have fun with these exercises. They'll help you change your thinking and uncover ideas. My major reservation comes from a warning in Herminia Ibarra's book, Working Identity. Often self-discovery tends to be easier than implementing change. If you're in a comfort zone, you'll need another book -- or a coach -- to get moving, even if you know where you want to be.

And there's a downside of a book that appeals to many people for many kinds of change. You have to take practical, specific tips with a grain of salt. For instance, Fortgang alludes to moving to a place with a lower cost of living -- but this type of move often contains hidden pitfalls. A lower cost of living means fewer options to earn money and less access to resources.

95 of 104 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars What about the average Joe/Jane? November 23, 2005

By Gobi55

Format:Hardcover

Many of the examples the author used were of people who already had more than most people do (money, education, connections, high paying salaries that they are just tired of).

Check out Claire on page 11. She lives in London, wants a second home, is planning a weekend trip to the South of France, has a great job and benefits. Has a nice husband and home. What is her problem? Maybe she needs a shrink to figure out what her unhappiness really stems from but that's another book.

The author should have used cases concerning more ordinary folk. She seemed to be appealing to upper class, globe trotting, burnt out executives who are whining because they feel they are missing out on something. Maybe that cute little pony they didn't get as a child.

Claire...try yoga, buy a pony....get a grip.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Searching for a new life direction? This is the book for you!! August 6, 2006

By Bonnie Thompson

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am a professional life coach and my primary focus is on life purpose and career. "Now What? 90 Days to a New Life Direction" is one the best tools out there for those seeking to find heart and meaning in their lives and work. I have been so impressed with the book that I have recommended it to clients ever since it first came out in hardback. This new paperback edition has even more valuable additions and I continue to recommend it highly.

I have been so impressed with the body of the author's work that I underwent specialized training with her to become an authorized Life Blueprint® Facilitator, coaching individuals and groups through the step-by-step NOW WHAT?(tm) program of intuitively guided questioning, exploration, and action designed to create the foundation for a more fulfilling life.

With or without a coach, this book will help guide you to finding your own "Life Blueprint" and a life of greater meaning, purpose and joy. This is a tremendous gift not only to you, but to the world!