Change Your Life's Direction

Break Free from Your Past Inertia and Chart a Better Future

Jim Taylor, PhD

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9781538146705
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Personal Success

Jim Taylor explores how to harness the four forces that can control our "life-inertia" and propel our lives in the direction of our OWN choosing: values, self-esteem, ownership, and emotions.

Many people think of inertia as an object at rest will stay at rest unless a force is exerted on it, like a boulder in a field. And people can think of their lives in the same way: static and unmoving. But we aren't "stuck" in one place, as so many express when they are dissatisfied with their lives. Rather, our lives are moving swiftly and inexorably along a path driven by powerful forces—both past and present—that is highly resistant to a change in direction. As a result, small forces, such as a modest insight or a brief "aha!" moment, aren't enough to catalyze significant change in how we think, what we feel, or how we act on or react to our world. In fact, meaningful change can only occur when forces are applied that are greater than the forces that are already propelling our lives. Seeing our lives from this dynamic perspective is the foundation for understanding what it takes to bring meaningful and long-lasting positive change to our lives.

Jim Taylor explores the four forces (values, self-esteem, ownership, and emotions) that propel our "life-inertia," which shows itself through the lens with which we view the world, the emotional reactions we have, the actions that we take, and the relationships that we create. He then explains how to harness those to our own benefit, so that we may steer our lives in the direction of our own choosing, rather than allowing our past inertia or outside forces to dictate the direction our lives take. By letting our values guide us, building our self-esteem, taking ownership of our decisions and actions, and using our emotions as positive fuel, we can break free from our past inertia, take control of our lives, and chart a future of meaning, happiness, success, and connection with confidence, commitment, and courage.

Table of contents

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Hurtling Uncontrollably through Life
• PART ONE  VALUES: THE GUIDANCE SYSTEM THAT DIRECTS YOU
• PART TWO  SELF-ESTEEM: THE PILOT THAT STEERS YOU
• PART THREE  OWNERSHIP: THE ENGINE THAT DRIVES YOU
• PART FOUR  EMOTIONS: THE FUEL THAT PROPELS YOU
• PART FIVE  HARNESSING THE FOUR LIFE FORCES: CHANGING YOUR LIFE INERTIA
• Afterword: Dancing with the Stars: From Unhappiness to Happiness
• Notes
• References
• About the Author