Review of Mind Your Own Lane
1 posts
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Mind Your Own Lane" by Jill Shepherd Piercy Clark, LMFT.]
At times, we find ourselves spending our time, finances, and mental strength on things that aren’t ours to worry about. Consider the case of a sibling who’s called you multiple times requesting you to intercede for their marriage or financial issues, or that neighbor requesting you to prep her kids for school because, once again, she's late to work and so has no time to ready her children for school. There’s always the option to choose between backing out and extending the requested 'help.' Jill Shepherd Piercy Clark, in her book Mind Your Own Lane, metaphorically describes such instances as issues in the opposite lane. She seeks to enable the reader to understand which responsibilities are their own to mind and which belong on the other side of the street.
The author emphasizes the need to understand the difference between ‘enabling’ and ‘helping’ and the cost of failing to know the difference and trying to be ‘helpful’ with every situation that’s shoved into your lane. The book walks you through an eight-step practical guide that seeks to transform you from the person everyone dumps on into someone who extends help wisely while protecting your peace. The goal: an approach that protects your peace and, at the same time, acknowledges the other person. Fundamentally, Jill bases this on biblical teachings, helping you understand how you can embrace this change and, at the same time, align with the Christian virtues.
The tone is conversational, using realistic examples and situations that are easier to relate to. The advice is constructed from a general view to a more specific approach, providing a breakdown of how to embrace the book’s core concept. I appreciate how the author incorporates the aspect of good communication: communicating your stand without sounding rude, showing empathy, and being willing to listen. While acknowledging that this, like any other habit, needs relearning, the book also offers advice on how to make this a habit and the importance of passing it on to those close to you.
For a self-help group, the book is well-structured. The language is simple and easy to relate to. The author heavily utilizes repetition, which is a key feature of such a genre. Each chapter has a recap that was really helpful in revisiting the concepts. Furthermore, the book includes a link to an assessment tool that helps you reclaim your peace and know which peace domains need more attention. This is precisely the kind of content I needed at this moment.
There’s so much to appreciate about this book; however, there are several shortcomings that are worth mentioning. While repetition is a key feature of self-help books, in this case, at some point, it felt overly done. This made the book unnecessarily lengthy. Also, the author includes a link to the '9 Peace Domains,' but nowhere within the book are these domains discussed. I also do not agree with some of the author’s examples, such as categorizing helping your daughter prepare for an interview as a responsibility that belongs in the other lane. These issues were the reason I deducted one star: I rate it 4 out of 5 stars.
The book is exceptionally well-edited and contains no profanity or sexual content. Because the content is seemingly debatable, only readers looking for such content would appreciate this.
******
Mind Your Own Lane
View: on Bookshelves |
At times, we find ourselves spending our time, finances, and mental strength on things that aren’t ours to worry about. Consider the case of a sibling who’s called you multiple times requesting you to intercede for their marriage or financial issues, or that neighbor requesting you to prep her kids for school because, once again, she's late to work and so has no time to ready her children for school. There’s always the option to choose between backing out and extending the requested 'help.' Jill Shepherd Piercy Clark, in her book Mind Your Own Lane, metaphorically describes such instances as issues in the opposite lane. She seeks to enable the reader to understand which responsibilities are their own to mind and which belong on the other side of the street.
The author emphasizes the need to understand the difference between ‘enabling’ and ‘helping’ and the cost of failing to know the difference and trying to be ‘helpful’ with every situation that’s shoved into your lane. The book walks you through an eight-step practical guide that seeks to transform you from the person everyone dumps on into someone who extends help wisely while protecting your peace. The goal: an approach that protects your peace and, at the same time, acknowledges the other person. Fundamentally, Jill bases this on biblical teachings, helping you understand how you can embrace this change and, at the same time, align with the Christian virtues.
The tone is conversational, using realistic examples and situations that are easier to relate to. The advice is constructed from a general view to a more specific approach, providing a breakdown of how to embrace the book’s core concept. I appreciate how the author incorporates the aspect of good communication: communicating your stand without sounding rude, showing empathy, and being willing to listen. While acknowledging that this, like any other habit, needs relearning, the book also offers advice on how to make this a habit and the importance of passing it on to those close to you.
For a self-help group, the book is well-structured. The language is simple and easy to relate to. The author heavily utilizes repetition, which is a key feature of such a genre. Each chapter has a recap that was really helpful in revisiting the concepts. Furthermore, the book includes a link to an assessment tool that helps you reclaim your peace and know which peace domains need more attention. This is precisely the kind of content I needed at this moment.
There’s so much to appreciate about this book; however, there are several shortcomings that are worth mentioning. While repetition is a key feature of self-help books, in this case, at some point, it felt overly done. This made the book unnecessarily lengthy. Also, the author includes a link to the '9 Peace Domains,' but nowhere within the book are these domains discussed. I also do not agree with some of the author’s examples, such as categorizing helping your daughter prepare for an interview as a responsibility that belongs in the other lane. These issues were the reason I deducted one star: I rate it 4 out of 5 stars.
The book is exceptionally well-edited and contains no profanity or sexual content. Because the content is seemingly debatable, only readers looking for such content would appreciate this.
******
Mind Your Own Lane
View: on Bookshelves |
You are not logged in. Please log in or sign up to view members replies, participate in the discussion, and access more features.
