You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
308 reviews for:
The Next Right Thing: A Simple, Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions
Emily P. Freeman
4.22 AVERAGE
308 reviews for:
The Next Right Thing: A Simple, Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions
Emily P. Freeman
4.22 AVERAGE
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
This book should be required reading for everyone. Emily gently and humbly leads and guides with a steady hand through the confusion that can arise in the midst of decision making. She is practical but quirky. Funny but sincere. I found a kindred spirit and a soul sister who can definitely give your soul room to breathe. This book was therapy without the couch, and a gentle push for my brain, heart and, yes, soul. Absolutely practical and endlessly applicable, you will highlight, bookmark, and stain the pages with tears, reread it and then annoy everyone you know about how they have to read it! Grab more than one copy, you will be passing it out for sure!
There’s nothing revolutionary here but this book was filled with several great reminders about how to do the next right thing in your life. From choosing when to say no to who you ask for advice, this book is filled with practical takeaways that will help you determine your next steps.
I have long heard the name of Emily P Freeman in the podcast circles I listen to. I did enjoy her demeanor and insight. I think I will add in her podcast to my rotation and see if that enhances my enjoyment of the book.
I have long heard the name of Emily P Freeman in the podcast circles I listen to. I did enjoy her demeanor and insight. I think I will add in her podcast to my rotation and see if that enhances my enjoyment of the book.
Emily’s wise words give me gentle nudges to pay attention and consider how I approach life and decisions. I am viewing my ways with fresh eyes and feel like she really has helped give my soul room to breathe.
3.5 stars. A helpful read in a time with a big decision looming before me. Kindle tells me I highlighted 113 passages, and in re-reading them, it feels like Emily P. Freeman was literally inside my head, writing down my own thoughts in her book. It's helpful, if eerie, to feel that seen.
While on the whole the book was maybe a little too Jesus-y for me, I did get a lot of validation, some good advice, and even a good prayer or two out of the work. Specifically:
- The concept of becoming a 'soul minimalist' and cleaning out your 'soul clutter' in order to be able to hear yourself think made a lot of sense for where I was at. I was feeling so jumbled I couldn't see straight let alone tackle major life choices.
- The idea that longing is the key to growth and that it often lives next door to grief struck me, because within a lot of grief and indecision, I also had longing that I was trying to push down.
- The nudge to not let fear be a reason you make a decision was much needed. I have a tendency to do just that.
- To know that peace and clarity don't always come before a decision was a relief in some ways. Knowing it was only after a decision that Freeman felt confident in it helped me not feel so unsettled.
- The idea of making your decisions based on desire rather than any other expectation or rule was freeing. It helped me to stop feeling guilty for the outcome I desired.
- Crowdsourcing advice is meant for helping you execute a vision. If you don't have a vision for what you want in your life, you shouldn't be asking others for help. And if you don't have a vision, you need to sit with yourself until you do.
- If something looks like a great opportunity, make yourself ask "A great opportunity to...what?" It should actually be a good opportunity for you to achieve a specific thing before you take it.
- "If the person you are trying so hard not to disappoint will be displeased by a no, they'll eventually be disappointed even if you say yes" - Lysa TerKeurst, The Best Yes. BOOM.
- The idea that knowing what you want is actually a gift to everyone in your life...that was profound to me.
While on the whole the book was maybe a little too Jesus-y for me, I did get a lot of validation, some good advice, and even a good prayer or two out of the work. Specifically:
- The concept of becoming a 'soul minimalist' and cleaning out your 'soul clutter' in order to be able to hear yourself think made a lot of sense for where I was at. I was feeling so jumbled I couldn't see straight let alone tackle major life choices.
- The idea that longing is the key to growth and that it often lives next door to grief struck me, because within a lot of grief and indecision, I also had longing that I was trying to push down.
- The nudge to not let fear be a reason you make a decision was much needed. I have a tendency to do just that.
- To know that peace and clarity don't always come before a decision was a relief in some ways. Knowing it was only after a decision that Freeman felt confident in it helped me not feel so unsettled.
- The idea of making your decisions based on desire rather than any other expectation or rule was freeing. It helped me to stop feeling guilty for the outcome I desired.
- Crowdsourcing advice is meant for helping you execute a vision. If you don't have a vision for what you want in your life, you shouldn't be asking others for help. And if you don't have a vision, you need to sit with yourself until you do.
- If something looks like a great opportunity, make yourself ask "A great opportunity to...what?" It should actually be a good opportunity for you to achieve a specific thing before you take it.
- "If the person you are trying so hard not to disappoint will be displeased by a no, they'll eventually be disappointed even if you say yes" - Lysa TerKeurst, The Best Yes. BOOM.
- The idea that knowing what you want is actually a gift to everyone in your life...that was profound to me.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I downloaded this on impulse from Prime Reading. I don’t know what I expected, the usual gap between downloading and actually reading having erased any memory of those expectations. This was a Christian meditation on what it means to decide. There was some loveliness here. And a few things that were not for me - easily enough set aside. Overall a good reminder of what is important.
“If you feel stuck in a hopeless place today, I don’t want to rush you to joy. Maybe you need to spend a little time letting the darkness do what darkness does—nourish, strengthen, and hold. The darkness can invite us into a mystery, a place where we don’t know the answer. We know that seeds need to bury down deep in the ground, sometimes for a long, long time. Eventually, those seeds will break open and take root. But first they have to settle into the darkness. Still, that seed carries within it a narrative of hope. It just hasn’t lived into the whole story yet.”
“If you feel stuck in a hopeless place today, I don’t want to rush you to joy. Maybe you need to spend a little time letting the darkness do what darkness does—nourish, strengthen, and hold. The darkness can invite us into a mystery, a place where we don’t know the answer. We know that seeds need to bury down deep in the ground, sometimes for a long, long time. Eventually, those seeds will break open and take root. But first they have to settle into the darkness. Still, that seed carries within it a narrative of hope. It just hasn’t lived into the whole story yet.”
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Emily Freeman's book The Next Right Thing is exactly the next right thing I needed to read! I have issues with decision-making.
Example: We were new in town. I was at the grocery store with my 14-month-old. I was trying to get my cart down the aisle but two women going in the opposite directions paused to chat about Saturday's soccer game. When I was finally able to approach the cereal section, I was so overwhelmed. Maybe it's just me, but there used to be only a handful of cereal options. On this particular day, they seemed to have stocked up on every option available on the planet. I had no idea what I wanted.
I'm generally a people-pleaser so I tend to overthink the choice that would make the most people happy. Then I mull over what would happen if it ends up being the wrong choice. So many people would be impacted. I'm thankful for Emily's gentle and guiding words to help me better understand how to make that next decision so that I can be at peace with the decision-making process and the choice no matter what the outcome. How can we prayerfully discern where God wants us to be in the big and small decisions? The Next Right Thing is the perfect resource to make things easier.
Example: We were new in town. I was at the grocery store with my 14-month-old. I was trying to get my cart down the aisle but two women going in the opposite directions paused to chat about Saturday's soccer game. When I was finally able to approach the cereal section, I was so overwhelmed. Maybe it's just me, but there used to be only a handful of cereal options. On this particular day, they seemed to have stocked up on every option available on the planet. I had no idea what I wanted.
I'm generally a people-pleaser so I tend to overthink the choice that would make the most people happy. Then I mull over what would happen if it ends up being the wrong choice. So many people would be impacted. I'm thankful for Emily's gentle and guiding words to help me better understand how to make that next decision so that I can be at peace with the decision-making process and the choice no matter what the outcome. How can we prayerfully discern where God wants us to be in the big and small decisions? The Next Right Thing is the perfect resource to make things easier.
As a fan of her podcast, the way she writes and the way she speaks, it's no surprise to me that I LOVE The Next Right Thing. Emily gently suggests the ways we can clear out the clutter of our lives and get down to the things we really love. It's there, in clarity, that we can make decisions about our life. I love Emily's style and loved this book!
(I received an advanced copy of this book)
(I received an advanced copy of this book)