Customer Reviews

Your Work, Your Life...Your Way: 7 Keys to Work-Life Balance

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I read this book in advance of having author Julie Cohen on a BlogTalkRadio show I host called Back in Force -- a show to help stay-at-home parents transition back into the work force. I needed to read the book to be prepared for the interview. But I didn't expect to actually enjoy it or find it personally useful. I was so impressed. This book is quite unlike many of the so-called self-help books out there. It's highly readable, relatable and practical. Julie lays out the seven key barriers to achieving work-life balance, then provides sensible approaches to overcoming those barriers. I found myself thinking repeatedly, "Hey, this could help me, too!" This is a useful read for everyone, whether you're struggling with work-life balance currently or not, because it emphasizes discovering what is personally important to you. I did Julie's exercise of listing and prioritizing my core values, and it's given me clarity in so many areas of my life. And I wasn't even reading this book for self-help. Best of all, this is not a slog read. I enjoyed it.
LeeAnn Dance

I am a life and leadership coach working with professional men and women who have very busy lives. A common theme that runs throughout my clients' lives is "how do I create my work/life to work FOR ME?" I am now giving this book as a gift to every client who asks that question. Julie Cohen has done an outstanding job not only identifying some of the critical barriers to 'work/life balance', but also providing very concrete and practical ways that busy professionals can overcome these barriers. The book and accompanying workbook provides wonderful tools and exercises that create clarity and assist the readers to truly make their lives work for them. I highly recommend this book!

The author of this book is a life and career coach, and it really shows in the way she "talks with " the reader. I use that phrase because reading this book felt as if I had my own personal coach walking me through the process of taking charge of my self and my life again. It was uncanny how the author addressed all my challenges, fears, doubts, bad habits, and so on. I learned so much about how I get in my own way...and how to stop doing that!
The book is chock full of insights, great questions, plans, ideas, and tons of little gems along the way. I can open to any page and find something that applies to me, followed by a clear, do-able suggestion on how to handle it.
Finally, I like the way that Cohen doesn't insult me by over-simplifying this. She recognizes the complexity and the interconnectedness in work-life balance (physical, emotional, psychological, environmental, relationships, etc) and she doesn't shy away from it, but courageously and effectively takes it all on, working the whole system, weaving it all together. But even as she does that, the tone still feels easy, conversational, and encouraging all the way through.
If I do half of what this book guides me to, then I am well on the way to my work, my life, my way. And with my own personal-coach-in-a-book - I feel like I can do it.