How To Begin

I always enjoy and learn from Michael Bungay Stanier’s books, and this one is no exception. With all of the changes the past few years have brought, it is immensely helpful to consider the possibility that at any point we can choose to begin again. A fresh perspective on what life is offering me now, what is calling to me, and how I might begin to articulate where I’m headed and create some actionable steps to get/keep moving. Its value lies in the invitation to actually go through the pages, reflect, write your answers, and maybe even get feedback on what you are discovering. One particularly fascinating exercise toward the end of the book was about who to leave behind on this change journey. Bungay Stanier’s questions are helpful in identifying those who may not support, or may actively interfere with, what you have chosen as your next steps. To add to the whole package, Bungay Stanier’s sense of humor, easy-to-read and engaging style, and his personal stories bring the process to life and make it seem more approachable than many self-coaching books. Well worth the time to not just read the book but to actually use it!

If you are dead serious about doing something different with your life but you don’t know how to get there, How to Begin, and it’s online course version, is the best Road Map I’ve ever used. I discovered the book through the backdoor of the online course and read it as a companion resource while I was working through the fun, thought-provoking and relatively painless process of figuring out my next big thing. I think HTB is just as good, if not better than the Coaching Habit, MBS hugely best-selling book for coaches and leaders. I have pretty much drank the Kool-Aid for all of the MBS work and I’m still in it as I write this. HTB, both the course and the book, have been like finding the Holy Grail for life transformation. MBS himself, is brilliant, an amazing teacher, and a writer whose future works I look forward to consuming with the same evangelistic fervor.

This book came highly recommended by a close friend, so I gave it a shot. Honestly, I didn’t think I needed a book on beginnings … I can start projects on my own, thank you very much. As typified by the hundreds of software projects, manuscripts, and creative art projects all sitting unfinished around my home.

What I found was a roadmap on how to identify what’s important, tease out the resistance, and create a successful foundation for projects that deserve – no, demand – completion.

A great read for anyone who wants to get a solid start to moving forward on their most important life and business projects.

as they plan/imagine their adult lives and career paths.

This generation will not tolerate busy work…which unfortunately school often is for them. This great work book inspires us all to re-evaluate what we are doing with our precious time. It asks the questions and provides interactive maps and humor. A true joy to read and use as a tool for moving forward.”

Quick and practical guide to getting your backside in gear in pursuit of a truly worthy goal. Lots of exercises intended to be done in the book itself, plus real examples. A seminar in a book.

MBS provides a clear, concise, usable framework for uncovering and clarifying your goal, then taking the steps that set you up for action. Creating a Worthy Goal – one that is Thrilling, Important, and Daunting – sounded like a great idea. I was intrigued, especially as I am comfortable setting goals and achieving them. This sounded different – something more than regular goal setting. And it is. MBS has an engaging, delightful style – reading it feels like you are in a conversation with a good friend, who is sharing his own process and challenges he faced along the way, while guiding you on how to set your Worthy Goal. Which by the way, does not have to be a ‘big change the world goal’. It’s also not a one done process. It’s a way to look at commitments you want to make in your life. As a business leader and coach, I recommend this to anyone ready to explore an idea you have or project you have been thinking about and not jumped on or followed through with it yet — you will find yourself energized to get going and make an impact. I did!

I’ve been a MBS fan for a while. His book about coaching questions not only changed my business, but my personal relationships. This time… I needed help reinventing myself professionally and I was feeling stuck and stagnant. I had endless to do lists, but no goal I could come up with was really compelling, gripping, or enticing me to action. Through the candor, humor, and clarity in this magical book, I was able to use the worksheets to draft a WORTHY goal. One that I could be proud of. One that set the tone of my life direction. One that steers the ship when the seas get rocky, so I can find my true north. I felt like MBS was a personal sherpa up the goal setting mountain, and I came out at the other side brighter and better for having read this book (and, more importantly, doing the worksheet work). Thank you, MBS!