September 9, 2011
Freeing Oneself:
Breaking Through Your Barriers to Find Balance and Happiness
Lee Martin
Aviva Publishing (2011)
ISBN: 9781935586241
New Book Provides Freedom from Limiting Beliefs to Achieve Self-Awareness
Lee Martin has spent years both professionally and personally examining the self-limiting beliefs that keep people from living happy and fulfilling lives. As a certified stress management counselor with a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology and years of working with the mentally ill, the homeless, and those with addictions, Martin has seen a wide variety of different ways people are trapped in unhappy situations and how stress and fear paralyze them from achieving their full potential. Most importantly, he realizes many people do not formulate goals or strategies to achieve the freedom or lives they desire. He has written this book to help remedy that situation.
While plenty of “self-help” books are already out there, few of their authors have Martin’s credentials or have seen the real lows that stop people from living lives of fulfillment. Through practical steps, many thought-provoking exercises, and countless personal, inspiring, and thoughtful stories, Martin helps readers become self-aware so they can re-examine their lives and then take the necessary and joyful steps toward knowing a new degree of freedom, purpose, and satisfaction.
“Freeing Oneself” is divided into separate chapters that focus on over a dozen different areas where we need to find freedom, including how to free ourselves from selfishness, complacency, lack of motivation, punishment, and anxiety. Once we are freed from these areas, Martin guides us in how to nurture ourselves, how to find balance, how to focus on our strengths, how to give of ourselves freely, and ultimately, how to embrace life and find joy in it.
Throughout, Martin gives us numerous stories to illustrate his main points—stories that make us see our lives in a different way and inspire us to reach for our goals. Martin teaches us how to think outside the box and be leaders by telling the humorous tale of how he got into the Super Bowl for free. He includes personal examples of working with homeless people and the mentally ill, and he tells many stories of people who have inspired him, including a man who started a fundraiser to raise awareness about suicide and the need for love in the world, people who have suffered greatly yet retained positive attitudes, people who have turned their passions into their careers and life purposes, and inspiring tales from every aspect of life, including business people, military veterans, and famous singers.
Leadership is an integral part of Martin’s focus—but leadership is not limited to becoming a military or political leader or even president of an organization; we can be the leaders of our own lives, making the best choices for ourselves. Martin explains why leadership is so important for our wellbeing in the book’s introduction:
When we become aware of the beauty of ourselves and our inner workings, we must find ways to overcome the negative thoughts and feelings that interfere with getting what we want. These thoughts and feelings are often the very things that result in psychological issues. These thoughts and feelings can lead to crises in people’s lives. But a crisis can be dealt with in healthy ways and prevented for the future. A crisis can become a learning experience.
Throughout this book, you will learn to handle thought patterns so you can reduce your stress and clear your mind of unwanted thoughts that are counterproductive to meeting your goals. “What goals?” you might ask. “Right now I’m living paycheck to paycheck. My only goals are to pay my bills!” Yes, you have to pay those bills, but you can find a way to do so and still follow your passion. Isn’t it time to learn how to make this passion become a reality? Or to figure out, if you haven’t already, just what your passion is?
When you become someone who gets to live out his or her passion, you will find what it means to be a true leader. Leadership is about passion. In this book, we will look at what motivates you, and then discover how you can become a person who finds that life can be your passion!
“Freeing Oneself” is not a “get rich quick” or “find the love of your life” book. It doesn’t have easy formulas that ultimately fail. Instead, it is based in practicality. It will make readers take a closer look at their lives, examine what causes their stress, give them ways to manage or escape that stress, and then teach them how to focus so they become productive and stay on track with their goals. Martin is also clear that freedom is not simply doing whatever you want, but rather, “Freedom involves slowing down, getting to know your thoughts, and choosing the path of compassion. Imagine if everyone lived this way.”
Imagine if you could live that way. The great news is—you can! Let Lee Martin’s “Freeing Oneself” start you on the path to being in charge of your own life. Haven’t you waited long enough?
For more information on Lee Martin and “Freeing Oneself,” visit www.FreeingOneself.com.
— Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D. and author of the award-winning “Narrow Lives”
