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Thomas Nelson, the publishers of Find Your Strongest Life — What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently, by Marcus Buckingham, is giving 250 copies of the book to 5 Minutes for Mom readers! Read on to find out how you can get your free copy.

We have been asking ourselves the WRONG question…

We are torn. Today, women have an historic amount of opportunites. We are finally free to live the lives we choose. And yet, according to Marcus Buckingham, research shows that women report being more unhappy and unfulfilled than women forty years ago!

What has happened? Is it true, “we can’t have it all” — or at least, “we can’t have it all at the same time?”

In his new book, Find Your Strongest Life — What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently, best selling author and strengths-based management guru Marcus Buckingham reveals that as women scramble to find happiness, we are asking ourselves the wrong question!

We shouldn’t be asking ourselves, ‘Which parts of myself should I cut out?’

Marcus says, “The right question is, ‘What do I mean by ‘having it all’?’ Because if ‘having it all’ means drawing enough strength from life to feel fulfilled, loved, successful, and in control, then that is something every single one of us should aim for and every single one of us can attain.”

A strong life is the opposite of juggling…

When Marcus began his research for Find Your Strongest Life, he says he expected to hear a lot about juggling and balance. What he discovered was the opposite — fulfillment came from neither!

Marcus explains, “Juggling requires you to keep everything at bay, up in the air, away from you. The secret to living a strong life lies in knowing how to draw a few things in toward you… You can find energizing moments in each aspect of your life, but to do so you must learn how to catch them, hold on to them, feel the pull of their weight, and allow yourself to follow where they lead.”

While studying the happiest and most successful women, he found that they ignored balance and strove for fullness instead. Marcus describes, “They deliberately tilt their world toward those few moments that genuinely fill them up. This isn’t self centeredness. It is the strong life practice that gives them the strength they need to provide for all those who rely on them.”

I am liberated…

My life could sometimes be described as chaotic, crazy and imbalanced. I work till the wee hours of the night, catch up on sleep when I can, and parent in between it all.

But I am happy. Yes, I am often tired, stressed and busy. Yes, I sometimes just want to crash on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and ignore my inbox, (and I do!) But I am fulfilled and passionate about how I spend my days.

I get frustrated when people tell me that “I can’t have it all” or that I need to have a “balanced life.” Because even though my life isn’t perfect and I have lots to work on with myself, I love my life. I spend my time doing the things I love most — being creative through my work and parenting my children.

In reading Find Your Strongest Life and talking to Marcus I felt liberated!

I realized that I am instinctively living a “strong life.”

I am right to ignore the calls for some unattainable “balance.” The reason why I am fulfilled is because I am striving for fullness, and I pay attention to the “strong moments” in my life, allowing them to energize and inspire me. I am practicing what Marcus calls, “The Catch and Cradle.”

We bloggers have a head start…

It is in our DNA. As writers, photographers, artists, we look for the powerful moments in our lives. We treasure them, preserve them, even recreate them.

As I look back at my life, I can picture myself literally standing in different moments, being fed by them, taking in their beauty, their inspiration.

Marcus explains how we need to celebrate each strong-moment in our lives.

He writes,“The full meaning of ‘celebrate; is to hold up something so that it can be honored. So if you talk about the moment with others, you are celebrating it. If you come up with new ways to make it special, you are celebrating it. If you capture it in a photograph, a blog, or a diary, you are celebrating it. If all you do is make yourself more conscious of the moment as it happens, you are celebrating it.”

One of the most enlightening interviews I have ever done…

My interview with Marcus went for 27 minutes and I could have kept asking him questions for hours.

There is a reason Marcus Buckingham is a best selling author, sought after by companies and even by Oprah! Marcus’ insights and research are life changing! Find Your Strongest Life is a book that I will read and reread as I learn how to live the strongest, happiest, most fulfilled life I can.

You can listen to my interview with Marcus Buckingham by clicking on the arrow button on the player below.

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AND — if you hurry — you can be one of our 250 lucky readers to get a FREE copy of Find Your Strongest Life. Click here to get to the form. The FIRST 250 people will receive a free copy. (This offer is only open to the Continental US.)

Bottom line: Find Your Strongest Life is powerful and life altering — I highly recommend it! It would also make a great Christmas gift. 🙂

P.S. Want to do the Strong Life Test and find our what your Lead Role and Supporting Role are? Here is the test. Have fun — oh, and if you want, tell us in the comments what your results were. I was a Creator and an Equalizer.

*I received a review copy of Find Your Strongest Life from the publishers.