If you are fascinated by, or just appreciate, archaeology then there will be something very rewarding for you in Living Your Best Life, but even if you don’t then Excavating your life ‘blueprint’ through Wisdom Access Questions (WAQs) enables you to discover the true person you are, and consequently find the life you are meant to live.
I love the use of metaphors so the comparison of coaching to archaeology was a joy to hold in my mind as I read the book. Scraping away the dirt to reveal the outline (blueprint) and allowing this to come to the surface is an engaging concept. Laura’s three stage approach; The Reckoning; The Doing; and The Being describe how the bones of your life can be found, put together and allow what was supposed to be, to be again. These stages are broken down into ten strategies that are each given a chapter.
There are numerous challenging concepts that emerge and you will need to appreciate that Laura believes that your destiny is, to a greater extent, pre-determined and that wisdom is potentially lost through bad habits that are developed as we grow. However the tools that can restore your ‘blueprint’ to its original condition are, Wisdom Action Questions, Wisdom in Action, Wisdom Writing, and Wisdom Stories.
We might not all have a single pivotal moment in our life that provides us with the stark choice that we have to turn things around, but when Laura was facing hospitalisation for severe depression she somehow summoned the resolve to find her inner wisdom.
The Reckoning stage describes as the process of eliminating the negative energy that is stopping your inner wisdom taking you to the path that leads to the destination you deserve. To move forward Laura suggests you must find out who you want to be, rather than doing what you think you have to do.
Whether it is the pressure of society, the expectations of parents or the demands of our friends there are a range of external influences that can often be seen as the reason we do not achieve inner fulfilment.
Laura strongly recommends that we re-train our brains to recognise the negative beliefs we are holding before gaining an inner perspective and contracting to move forward. The Doing stage allows us to recognise true purpose and attract good things that make us happy.
And in the last stage, The Being, there are strategies for staying on this new course, the protection needed to prevent us reverting to the ‘old ways’ and being content that if it feels right for you then it probably is.
Illustrated by wonderful case studies that bring life to the theory you will never cease to be amazed by the achievements of Laura’s clients once they find their own ‘blueprint’. Don’t be tempted to go straight to Appendix 2 for a list of killer questions – resist that!
Reviewed by Graham Dawson
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