Book Review

4 Out of 4 Stars – New Review of ‘The MISOGI Method’

[Following is a volunteer review of “The MISOGI Method” by Jody B. Miller.]

 

Book Cover

4 out of 4 stars

Jody B. Miller hypothesizes that if you try to do something way outside your comfort zone, you are more self-actualized than you were when you started. Dictionary.com provides this definition for self-actualizing: “The achievement of one’s full potential through creativity, independence, spontaneity, and a grasp of the real world.”

Miller is a go-getter person and has thought long and hard about the ancient Japanese purification ritual called MISOGI – standing naked in a stream of ice-cold water. She has developed a modern and more suitable method for the time. The MISOGI Method is written in an easy to read, conversational style. It includes Miller’s revelation that she believes her personality was developed by playing outside as a child with no adult’s present. The kids were inclusive, and everyone was welcome to play – they were needed to play. She says they negotiated what games to play and who would have the starring parts, which all contributed to learning life skills of evaluating risks, visualizing, and innovative thinking.

Miller mentions sardines and hopscotch, which were two of my favorite games back in the day. The book contains a thorough description of Miller’s street-playing childhood and how she came to develop her MISOGI Method, which is an entertaining story in its own right. It includes many interviews with people who practice Miller-style MISOGI and records the effect it has had on them. She spends some time defining the difference between traditions and rituals because in discovering what is important to us, we come to know ourselves better. She provides work-sheets at the end of each chapter to encourage the reader to undertake some self-assessment. She suggests that writing by hand increases your intelligence, memory, creativity, and allows you to analyze, amplify, and consider.

To begin with, you need to know yourself, and then you can decide what your grand adventure in life will be. Even if you do not finish your MISOGI, like climbing Mount Everest, you will still gain the benefits. Miller is an Application Theorist and utilized her professional skills to design and develop The MISOGI Method: doing historical research, she discovered that play is vital in promoting feelings of achievement. She was able to maintain, preserve, and add value to digital research data in relevant studies. Miller also uses her own and other’s experiences of positive change.

I enjoyed learning about the MISOGI Method and realized I had a MISOGI experience when I joined the OnLine Book Club in 2018. I had always wanted to write, but my grammar was non-existent, and I had lived all my life, believing that writing was not for me. But with much trepidation, I started writing book reviews over a year ago, and now I write with confidence and feel empowered.

I rate The MISOGI Method 4 out of 4 stars for its enthusiasm, excellent writing, and clarity of thought. I do not rate it 3 out of 4 stars because of the superior and thorough research, and the masterful printing and layout of the book. I only found one small error, and believe the writing to be professionally edited. I found nothing to dislike. I recommend it to everyone over the age of twelve as we all want to become self-actualized and be the best that we can be. – Abacus

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The MISOGI Method
View: on Amazon

Thank you, Abacus. The Misogi Method is where ‘happiness begins’ and ‘happiness is defined,’ for so many. I appreciate your review.

4 out of 4 Stars Review of ‘The MISOGI Method’

[Following is a volunteer review of “The MISOGI Method” by Jody B. Miller.]

Book Cover

4 out of 4 stars

By Gabriela A.

The MISOGI Method – A method for a better life

Jody B. Miller, the author of the book, inspired by her life discovered a method to bring happiness in work and life.
The book is about this method, called MISOGI. Everything is explained very clear, step-by-step.

The book is very well written and has five parts. Part one explains, “What is MISOGI and where does it come from”. Part two presents “The benefits of a MISOGI”. Part three outlines “How to find your MISOGI”. Part four instructs you, “How to do your MISOGI” and the part five teaches, “Making it last”. Moreover, the book contains MISOGI interviews and TEDx Talk transcript.

The author discovered that “having free time to play can set you up for an exciting journey of exploration, learning, reflection, discovery self-reliance, mathematical and business prowess, emotional intelligence and openness to what the world has to offer.” Based on this idea, Jody B Miller researched and developed “The MISOGI method” several years and implemented in her life with excellent results in health, work and relationships.

Inspired by an old Japanese ritual, called MISOGI, Jody B. Miller adapted and evolved a new, modern MISOGI method. The MISOGI has rules and is something that every person can choose to be changed for the better and for the long run.

As an Application Theorist and using examples from her life, the author convincingly explains the method to increase the level of happiness, joy and love, the MISOGI method.

To understand better who you are and who you want to become, the author invites you to write your own reflections, in special places in the book. In this way, the book is an instrument to do MISOGI.

If you want to find happiness and your purpose in your life, then you should choose to do a MISOGI. That means that you need to accept challenging yourself outside the outer most limits of your comfort zone.

To find your MISOGI, you must go through a transformation process, to know you, to accept you as you are and to love you. The author guides you and helps you to understand you and find your MISOGI.

It was a pleasure to read this book and I recommend it to anyone who wants to have a better life and wants to become a better person. This is the reason to rate this book 4 out of 4 stars.  – Gabriela A.

4 out of 4 Stars – Review of ‘Drift to SHIFT’

“Miller explains five factors that assist people to transform their suffering into a positive change as hope, personal control, social support, forgiveness, and spirituality. Miller shares the narrative of several men and women who experienced gut and heart wrenching pain alongside insurmountable obstacles but were victorious in the long run.

I found each story to be emotionally moving; the pain described whether emotional or physical was easily palpable. However, the magnanimous decisions made by the individuals who had experienced the insurmountable obstacle never failed to amaze me. Miller’s sharing of Andy Wirth’s mishap during a skydiving adventure cured me of my fleeting wish to one day go skydiving just for fun. I loved every story shared in this book. I appreciated the summary of takeaways that the author provided with each chapter.

The book reads as a well-edited text. The readability of the book flowed seamlessly despite one or two minor grammatical errors. Without hesitation, I rate Jody B. Miller’s From Drift to Shift a page-turner that earns 4 out of 4 stars. It is a thought-provoking, inspirational, easy-to-read book. I would recommend this book for readers who enjoy reading memoirs, inspirational and spiritually uplifting narratives. One of keepsake many keepsake sentences I would cherish from this text is, “Live a life of love and joy regardless of what you have to face.” – P.R.

Reflections on The 10X Rule and The 5-Second Rule – Both Bestsellers

I read Grant Cardone’s book The 10x Rule, because I thought it might be similar to my newest book, The MISOGI Method. And while Cardone promotes going for 10X the goals you set out for yourself, his book relates it to everything you do. I think this is admirable and inspirational, but I’m not sure I can 10X everything in my life, all at once. And I’m not sure I equate it with success or failure. Life is not black and white. It always comes at us in shades.

I prefer to unplug and listen to the inner me to find the one big reach that can change my life for the better. And then go through the MISOGI Method process of pursuing that reach. The cool part is, that even if you don’t fully achieve your MISOGI, you haven’t failed.

Step one is to unplug and reflect. Our truest desires often develop when we played, unsupervised, as a child. When we go back and tap into that freedom, we often find what we really love most, and too often have set aside due to parental or societal expectations, money or self-imposed pressures. It requires reflection and intuition.

Which brings me to The 5-Second Rule by Mel Robbins. When I was chosen from a long list of applicants to deliver my TEDx talk, the organizers told me I reminded them of Mel Robbins. Well, she’s much more animated on stage than I am, but I loved the compliment.

Mel’s main message is to make big decisions in 5-seconds or you won’t make them. She talks about gut feelings. Cardone says do 10x as much. One follows instinct or intuition, and the other big leaps.

My book, The MISOGI Method wants you to find that One. Big. Thing. that you can go for to transform your life for the better. It won’t happen in 5-seconds and it won’t require you to 10X everything you do. But once you’ve found your MISOGI, the results will last much longer than 5 seconds and you will probably end up doing 1000x what you thought you could.

You’ll realize the possible in your life….and then you’ll probably want to do another one.

I know you’ll enjoy The 10x Rule by Grant Cardone, and The 5-Second Rule by Mel Robbins, and if you’re anything like me and love Self-Help, Transformational and Motivational roadmaps, then consider grabbing my latest book The MISOGI Method, you won’t be sorry.

Book Review of The MISOGI Method – The WAY to Achieve Lasting Happiness and Success

“Are you unhappy, stressed, or just plain bored with your life? Are you stuck in your comfort zone and wishing that you could get more out of life? If so, The MISOGI Method by Jody B. Miller is the book you need to help break you out of the ho-hum and help you achieve your dreams.”

“A MISOGI can involve your career, an athletic feat, or even one of your passions, such as art, nature, culture, etc. It should be something that feels crazy and scary, but at the same time, thinking about it should be exciting. The benefits of a MISOGI? According to Miller, achieving a MISOGI, or even coming close, will help you feel more alive, happy, and at peace with the world around you. By taking such a radical step, you expand your comfort zone, so striving to achieve more comes easier to you in the future.”

“Each section has clearly laid out details, examples, and exercises to go through to complete each step necessary to achieve your MISOGI. In some cases, there are multiple choices of ways to complete a task, since different methods may work for different readers. There are places to record your progress and your reflections after completing each step. Included along with the text of the manual are transcripts of several interviews that Miller has done with people who have completed various types of MISOGIs, as well as the transcript of Miller’s TEDx talk regarding her MISOGI method. A large list of resources is included at the end of the book for the reader who would like to do further research.”

“Throughout the book, the author uses a friendly tone with lots of personal asides, which makes the book feel more like a conversation and less like a lecture. I think the tone worked well for the subject matter. Miller’s attitude is positive and encouraging that anyone can conceive of, complete, and benefit from their own MISOGI.” 

– Una M.

 

Book Review of ‘Drift to SHIFT’

In the self-help book From Drift to SHIFT: How Change Can Bring True Meaning and Happiness to Your Work and Life, author Jody B. Miller begins by asking the reader a lot of questions. “Why do we stay in professional and personal situations that we loathe?” or “Why are you in your current job and not in the career of your dreams?” These are the sort of questions people might ponder from time to time, but without much direction or resolution. This book offers guidance on how to find the answers to those questions with the hope of changing readers’ lives.

In typical genre fashion, the author illustrates the salient points of her “SHIFT” plan with stories, either personal experience or experiences of someone she knows. However, these are not your typical scratch-the-surface examples. Each chapter is rich in detail and reads more like a novel than a case study.

The book concludes with several posts from Miller’s blog. My favorite was “Meet Someone New Every Day: A 6-Day Experiment”. As a self-described curious person, Miller sets out to meet someone new every day for six days to “listen and learn”. All of the people she struck up conversations with responded in a friendly manner even though sometimes she puts her foot in her mouth. It does sound like a fun project, although definitely easier for natural extroverts to take on. Her final “Takeaway” from the six days is, “Happiness is about connecting with others.” That simple maxim truly is at the core of what human beings need.” – Lisa L.