Steering by Starlight: Find Your Right Life, No Matter What!

  Author:    Martha Beck
  ISBN:    1594866139
  Sales Rank:    1855
  Published:    2008-04-01
  Publisher:    Rodale Books
  # Pages:    256
  Binding:    Hardcover
  Avg. Rating:    5.0 based on 18 reviews
  Used Offers:    9 from $11.97
  Amazon Price:    $14.52
  (Data above last updated:  2008-08-14 00:59:42 EST)
  
  
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Steering by Starlight: Find Your Right Life, No Matter What!
  
In the tradition of her bestseller, Finding Your Own North Star, Oprah Magazine columnist Martha Beck reconnects readers with their best destinies. Described as one of the best-known life coaches in America in media such as Psychology Today, NPR, and USA Today, Martha Beck has demonstrated a rare gift for helping people whose lives have gone off course find their way back to authentic, rewarding lives. Now, in Steering by Starlight: Find Your Right Life, No Matter What!, Martha Beck describes the step-by-step process she uses with her private clients to help them navigate the terrain of their best lives. Bringing together cutting-edge research in psychiatry, neurology, and related fields in an accessible, substantive, original way, Dr. Beck offers powerful new methods for solving the problems that beset ordinary people. Using her trademark wisdom, empathy, and engaging style, she connects readers with fresh, never-before published strategies that have proven most effective and efficient for the hundreds of people she has coached. For readers who have found their North Stars, this book will be an invaluable tool to stay the course and overcome obstacles.For those who still feel adrift, it will provide a way to find true North and follow the path of best destiny. Dr. Beck identifies three stages along the path to recapturing a satisfying life:-'the stargazer' helps readers understand why it's so easy to lose themselves and offers strategies for sighting their North Star-'the mapmaker' uses this newly clarified perspective to evaluate one's situation and plot a course for upcoming years-'the pathfinder' discusses the adventures that may be encountered as one travels along this new life course Whether it's seeking better relationships, more focused career direction, the achievement of specific fitness goals, or a more harmonious lifestyle, Steering by Starlight's colorful anecdotes, case studies, and exercises will point the way.
                  Reader Reviews 1 - 17 of 17                 
  
  
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08-12-08 1 (NA)
(Hide Review...)  Could not connect with this book
Reviewer Permalink
I read a lot of books on self help and creating awareness but I could not connect with this book at all. I tried the exercises Martha gives but many of them did not resonate with me. I guess I'm further in my spiritual development and have moved out of my self loathing or feeling angry about everything.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-08-14 01:03:08 EST)
08-12-08 5 (NA)
(Hide Review...)  The Best Ever!
Reviewer Permalink
I've read practically all of Martha Beck's books and this is one was amazing. I managed to read it in a couple of days with a very busy schedule. This book's exercises were simple to do but were very powerful. You'll know what I mean if you actually do them instead of just reading them. I wish I could give this book to everyone I know, well maybe to the people I know that like books like this! Maybe it is you!
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-08-14 01:03:08 EST)
08-05-08 5 (NA)
(Hide Review...)  Coach to Coach
Reviewer Permalink
Steering by Starlight is the book I wish I had written. Martha Beck's style of writing reads easily and she acknowledges the breakdown stage in the process. I recommend this book to all my clients.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-08-13 01:03:07 EST)
07-29-08 4 (NA)
(Hide Review...)  Give THIS audiobook a try.
Reviewer Permalink
I found this audiobook to be enjoyable to listen to as read by the author. Her wit and intelligence is ever present. Beck is a wonderful and thorough teacher who explains the reasoning behind weight gain and loss in healthful and encouraging ways. I have read many books and articles over the years and found Beck's about the most complete and realistic manner to go about a healthful change in one's life.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-08-06 01:03:33 EST)
07-26-08 5 (NA)
(Hide Review...)  Martha does it again!
Reviewer Permalink
Steering by Starlight is brilliant and I am on my way to my "Right Life." Beck's wit and clever descriptions and Marthaism's never cease to amuse me.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-07-30 01:06:07 EST)
07-15-08 5 (NA)
(Hide Review...)  Love my little lizard!!
Reviewer Permalink
Books was awesome! It really helped me to understand some of the stuff that's going on in my head. I especially love her exercises! I've read the book from front-to-cover and now I'm slowly working on doing each exercise for 30 days. I highly recommend this book for anyone who have read Martha's other books.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-07-27 01:02:40 EST)
06-27-08 5 46\48
(Hide Review...)  How to Empower Your Life
Reviewer Permalink
Steering by Starlight: Find Your Right Life, No Matter What! by Martha Beck is an empowering,wonderful book. Beck is a Harvard educated life coach.

She writes: "My goal in writing this book is to help you find your deepest sense of purpose--to give you back to yourself, since you are the ultimate arbiter of your own fate."

Throughout the book, there are lots of stories about her clients that illuminate her theories. Many might seem fantastic and over-the-top to the uninitiated, but as someone who has experience with many of Beck's work, I can assure you they are real.

Beck writes about our three selves--essential, social and stargazer. The stargazer is the higher or true self; it is the self imbibed with the knowledge of true destiny and purpose in life.

The book is filled with exercises to uncover our destiny and purpose. She discusses three stages:

*Dissolving: when you remove the blinders that prevent us from seeing our destiny
* Dreaming: When we begin to align ourselves with our fate, we will experience magic, coincidences and more
* Daring: Learning the work to make our destiny happen

Beck mentions The Secret and how the essential message is "everything you think about happens." She struggled with that and came up with this: "thoughts that come from the core of peace are magic, versus thoughts from our shallow outer limits of our psyches have little power." I love that!

She writes: "Living space is a powerful metaphor for your life. Whether you know it or not, you can't change your life without changing your home, and vice versa." I loved this, as it was a bit of coincidence/magic for me--I recently read Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet and the book has allowed me to change my house/change my life!

This is a clear and concise guide to learning how to access your higher self, live proactively and reach your goals.

(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-07-15 14:42:26 EST)
06-25-08 5 (NA)
(Hide Review...)  Great advice in a great package
Reviewer Permalink
I just love Martha Beck's writing style. She takes high-level concepts and makes them easy to understand. I've tried reading another very popular book with a similar message (you can probably guess which one), but I just couldn't get it. What Beck does best is offer real-life examples along with easy-to-understand metaphors for these concepts. This book came into my life at a time when I was dealing with a pretty dark depression, and I have to say that they exercises have helped me keep my focus on the life I want instead of re-playing the never-ending loop of negativity. If you're not ready to dig deep and take a good hard look at yourself, you won't like this book. We've gotten out of trusting ourselves and our intuition due to so many voices out there telling us what we should be. Ms. Beck helps you get in touch with who you are at your very core. She is very upfront that the work it takes to get there is often painful. But the end result is worth the work.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-06-27 01:07:46 EST)
05-19-08 4 0\2
(Hide Review...)  Steering by Starlight
Reviewer Permalink
Martha Beck is an inspiring life coach. I love her books. They tend to move me forward in life and give my hope.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-06-23 01:41:58 EST)
05-17-08 5 0\7
(Hide Review...)  Inspirational! I can recommend another fascinating book about the life of a woman who has manifested with courage:
Reviewer Permalink
That's How the Light Gets In: Memoir of a Psychiatrist by Susan Rako, M.D. The title comes from a song by Leonard Cohen: "There is a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." Rako's book is very insightful, inspirational, and a pleasure to read -- wonderfully well-written. The writing simply flows.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-06-17 00:55:43 EST)
05-15-08 5 0\1
(Hide Review...)  Warm glow!
Reviewer Permalink

I love Martha Beck, and I'm enjoying the warm afterglow from this book.

For Olympic swimming fans - life is like a swim, and Martha is the possibly illegal new swimsuit that helps you glide through the pool like never before!

It's too soon to talk about life changes, but stay tuned!

Eric Winter
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-06-17 00:55:43 EST)
05-01-08 2 3\5
(Hide Review...)  Very Disappointing...Not Deep Enough
Reviewer Permalink
This book has a little bit of everything but it doesn't go into depth about anything...it feels like this author just coined together whatever she's been reading and gave those methods/theories new names...there's NOTHING new in this book.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-06-17 00:55:43 EST)
04-28-08 5 1\1
(Hide Review...)  Transformational Journey
Reviewer Permalink
*****
This latest book from Martha Beck was more of a journey for me than just a book to read. The author advises you in the very beginning that for you to really have this book change your life, you have to do the exercises. So I did, and I was glad. They really helped me to be able to apply the concepts and ideas in a way that benefited me personally and not just theoretically.

The purpose of the book is to change your life so that you get your "right life", not by thinking or feeling your way TO it, but by "dissolving" the thoughts and feelings that are OBSTACLES to it. The difference may seem just semantic, but it isn't---it's profound! I was a life coach for several years in the past, and I can say that Martha Beck's concepts here are right on, effective, and truly transformational when really applied.

The author's writing style is hilarious and makes the journey fun. For me reading this book and working my way through it seemed like a series of chiropractic adjustments to my life, helping me to indeed figure out where I was missing my "right life" and what is standing in its way. Working through the book helped me to develop useful skills that I can use each day to stay on course and to make life more meaningful, just because I know I'm going in the direction that's right for me.

It's an awful lot to get just from a book; I think this work truly earned all five stars. Highly recommended.
*****
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-05-02 02:23:16 EST)
04-21-08 1 2\11
(Hide Review...)  Disappointing
Reviewer Permalink
Steering by Starlight: Find Your Right Life, No Matter What!This book was a real disappointment. The whole essence of it is that what you want will come about on it's own through "magic" (She literally uses that term.) If everything was coming to you on it's own, you wouldn't need this book. Her last book, Finding Your North Star, was better, as it was a more practical plan that can work in the real world. I thought this book would expand on that concept but it appears to be more of a way to cash in on an idea she already came up with in her last book. If you are looking for a book on life coaching, I would suggest you save your money on this one, and try something else.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-04-29 01:42:34 EST)
04-12-08 5 0\2
(Hide Review...)  Reach for the Stars
Reviewer Permalink
"Steering by Starlight" send us in the right direction. It tells us how to be our best, by doing our best at finding what is best for the reader. One could read many books on psychology and walk away wondering what they have read. When readers finishes this book, they will not only know what they read, but what to do next.

Having been through, survived, and am now thriving after a 1991 heart transplant, I needed such a read to help me continue reaching for the stars.

Author of: Mr. NewHeart (New Heart): Heart Attack to Transplant and Beyond
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-04-18 04:55:27 EST)
04-11-08 5 0\1
(Hide Review...)  Helps you make decisions that lets you live happily
Reviewer Permalink
I'm 1/3 of the way through the book, and I love it and have to give it a 'shout-out' because I want others to benefit from it. Martha Beck has that magic of writing clearly and beautifully, never boring. For a self-help book, that's genius. I want to absorb the book quickly, but yet find myself astounded at each lightbulb-on moments; and I want to take the time to process each revelation, and do the exercises.

A couple of ideas that really struck me already(and this is my interpretation, you have to read the book as the author describes it best) was the realization that our 'survival brain' contains our fears like our baglady fear (mostly learned or passed on and I immediately know the ones my parents passed on to me) that drives us to do what's 'safe', not necessarily realizing our happiness. I examined my fears, and realize that even though they're very unlikely, they drove a lot of my life decisions: yipes!
The other is that when we make our daily decisions, make the one that makes us feel more liberated (even if it's not easier); not the one that makes us feel 'shackled'. And she has exercises that quickly teaches you how your body reacts to the 2 so that you recognize it when you make your daily decisions. This is valuable to me.

As I read the book, I couldn't help but remember that true happiness is in the 'doing' not an 'end goal'. I look at people who amazes me, like Rick Steves, Emeril Lagasse, and Yo Yo Ma. I think they love what they do and would do it even if they make very little money at it. But, they're successful because we're all drawn to the passion and positive energy coming our of their pores.
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-04-18 04:55:27 EST)
04-11-08 5 1\1
(Hide Review...)  Stellar
Reviewer Permalink
I couldn't put Steering by Starlight down last night and read right through to the end. The greatest compliment from reader to author is greeting the dawn bleary eyed. This book is like my favorite soup at my favorite Chinese restaurant--full of unexpected and tasty things and sizzling rice. Steering by Starlight crackles with energy, humor, and wisdom! Martha has done it again. Find your own north star first, and then steer by starlight.
Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live
(Review Data Last Updated: 2008-04-18 04:55:27 EST)
  
                  Reader Reviews 1 - 17 of 17                 
  
  
  
  
  
  

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