2 out of 4 stars
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“Life is a highway,” so goes the song, but unlike the hopeful singer, most people are neither willing nor equipped to “ride it all night long.” In some circumstances, they don’t know how to. But as author Kiyoshi Terrell Fish relentlessly points out in his book, The Highway of Life, the fundamental problem is one of direction: People just don’t have any idea where they’re heading. This 122-page self-help book, Fish boldly claims, is “an equivalent to hiring an expensive professional life coach” and will help readers discover the “truest purpose” of their lives.
A lot of self-help books toss around many overused buzzwords like motivation, purpose, goals, plans, vision, and destiny. They also have an annoying tendency to overload readers with platitudes like “be yourself,” “you are unique,” and—most damaging of all when hurled to someone at the wrong time—“God has a plan for you.” In the end, many fail to provide exactly what was promised: direction.
In The Highway of Life, Fish approaches the task of guiding readers towards their life purpose through a series of bulleted lists, brief paragraphs, step-by-step courses of action, and various how-to discussions (e.g., how to stay motivated, how to never lose hope, how to overcome depression, or how to forgive yourself and others). As a master’s degree holder in psychology, Fish also discusses the purpose of life from a psychological point of view. In this regard, Viktor Frankl’s search for meaning and Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs give a meaningful spin to the discussion. While some portions of the book presuppose some knowledge of psychology, Fish’s prose is clear enough to be understood. Throughout the work, quotes from various personalities like Eleanor Roosevelt, Maya Angelou, Shel Silverstein, Mahatma Gandhi, and other prominent individuals are interspersed between segments of texts. Provided with so many, the three that stood out to me were:
Anyone who has ever felt lost, unmotivated, or just simply exhausted by life’s demands may find something in the book to reignite their will to keep going. It could be a realization triggered by a quote, a lesson (e.g., “the purpose of life is to give, not to get”), a provocative statement (e.g., “Fear is not a sign that you are on the right path. Indifference is.”), or one of the many, many questions that the book hurls at the reader (e.g., “Once you are old, what do you think will matter the most to you?”). The potential to inspire and motivate is undoubtedly great. But in equal measure, there’s also an immense potential to frustrate.“The worst things you can do for the ones you love are the things they could and should do for themselves.” ― John Wooden
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
“You're all so busy trying to be tough that you've forgotten how to be brave.” ― K. Towne Jr.
The Highway of Life is all about finding a person’s purpose in life. While the book delivers an overabundance of information on how to achieve this end, the advice is often ambiguous, sometimes confusing or contradictory, and on the whole, disappointingly repetitive. By the book’s second chapter, readers are told that they need to have a purpose, make sense of that purpose, and give purpose to the purpose. In creating a purpose, one suggestion given was to “create goals for yourself.” However, further down, readers are also told, “Remember that your goals have nothing to do with the higher purpose you have set for yourself.” Towards the end of the chapter, readers are again given some “ways to find [their] life purpose,” starting off with a vague, “Listen to your life and what it has to say.” Fortunately, the rest of the list felt more practical and attainable (e.g. “List down the things in life that give you absolute joy”), but such concrete steps are few and far in between.
Goal-setting is repeatedly emphasized in the book, and while the task may sound simple, there are still people who struggle with it. Creating SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals was eventually mentioned much later, in Chapter 7, but examples of well-written goals and their applications to everyday situations would have helped a great deal. In this same chapter, readers are also told to have a “plan in this game called life.” Since the distinctions between “life purpose,” “game plan,” and “vision in life” are hazy at best, the contents may start to tire and confuse some readers. Again, readers are advised to set a goal for their game plan, but how this differs or relates to the goal-setting they’ve already done for their life purpose isn’t very clear.
While not immediately apparent from the book’s description, The Highway of Life also caters heavily to Christians, as demonstrated by an entire chapter devoted to the topic of “why God created you and how people are unaware of their purpose.” In the absence of case studies or examples to illustrate the premise of, for example, how “God’s purpose can’t be undone,” many of the statements may come across as mere platitudes. The quotes do help enhance the text, but the book is overflowing with so many that it sometimes feels more like a collection of quotes rather than a motivational book. At one point, the author offers three pages of quotes on forgiveness, reducing them to just words on a page instead of things that were said because of unique circumstances and situations. I, for one, would be happier to have one or two quotes—for as long as I also get the stories behind the words and perhaps connect them to my own search for meaning and purpose in life.
The Highway of Life may frustrate some readers (as it did me, in several portions), but I’m fairly sure it will succeed in inspiring others just the same. Although this would have merited a rating of 3 stars, 1 star is further deducted for various typographical errors (e.g., To Fail is o Grow, Sometime snot getting what you want, you can take bay [baby] steps, can’t think of away [a way], Spread [Spend] Time with Your Brain), spelling issues (e.g., Dali Lama, things you look forwards to), and structural problems (e.g., “You are not the person that you were yesterday because you are being” – this sentence was left hanging). For these reasons, The Highway of Life gets a final rating of 2 out of 4 stars.
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The Highway of Life
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. I was also confused with some portions of it as the contents seem to switch back and forth, and the distinctions between the terms used weren't very clear.
