25 Things That Really Matter in Life: A Comprehensive Guide to Making Your Life Better

by Gary A. Johnson

Paperback: 76 pages
Publisher: Courtland Press (February 18, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0979111307

Book Review by Kam Williams

’25 Things That Really Matter in Life is designed to get you started living a better life within the next fifteen minutes' If you want a book to help you begin to change your life right now, then keep reading, because this is the book for you’ The techniques and steps that I describe in the following pages are ones I've been using for over thirty years. If you commit to them, I guarantee you will live a more meaningful and healthier life’ Let's get started!’
’Excerpted from the Introduction (pages 12-16)

Are you stuck in the doldrums? Could you use some help to kick start your life? Then you might want to consider reading this handy little how-to guide by Gary Johnson, publisher of BlackMeninAmerica.com and founder of the consulting firm which bears his name.

Mr. Johnson is also an inspirational speaker whose services are always in demand. And now, with the publication of 25 Things That Really Matter in Life, you can be motivated by the man without having to attend one of his lectures or workshops.

The book is designed to take less than an hour to read, while promising the potential to transform you instantly. The words contained on the pages are mostly meaningful meditations on what the author has found to be most important to him, as opposed to advice dictating specific behavior to improve your plight.

Still, Gary makes a convincing case that his 3-step path probably works, for he acknowledges having himself gone through tough times marked by debt, depression and withdrawal. When he was bottoming out, he made a list of the things that mattered most to him, a therapeutic process which helped him get his priorities in order while simultaneously freeing him to feel good again.

He realized that foremost among what he values are Faith, Family, Love, Children and Health, and he explains succinctly why each entry deserves to be a priority. After he expounds on all 25 of his personal areas of concern, the focus shifts to Step 2. Here, the text changes into a workbook, allotting space for you the reader to delineate 25 things you most want to achieve in life.

This, in turn, enables you to embark ultimately on Step 3, namely, mastery of your own life. A timely tome for anyone seriously seeking to take the steps to shed self-destructive habits and dysfunctional influences in order to become ’the best possible you.’