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Hero on a Mission: A Path to a Meaningful Life
New York Times bestselling author Donald Miller shares the plan that led him to turn his life around. This actionable guide will teach you how to do the same through journaling prompts and goal-planning exercises. There are four characters in every story: The victim, the villain, the hero, and the guide. These four characters live inside us. If we play the victim, we’re doomed to fail. If we play the villain, we will not create genuine bonds. But if we play the hero or guide, our lives will flourish . The hard part is being self-aware enough to know which character we are playing. In this book, bestselling author Donald Miller uses his own experiences to help you recognize if the character you are currently surfacing is helping you experience a life of meaning. He breaks down the transformational, yet practical, plan that took him from slowly giving up to rapidly gaining a new perspective of his own life’s beauty and meaning, igniting his motivation, passion, and productivity, so you can do the same. In Hero on a Mission , Donald’s lessons will teach you how to: Donald will help you identify the many chances you have of being the hero in your life, and the times when you are falling into the trap of becoming the victim. Hero on a Mission will guide you in developing a unique plan that will speak to the challenges you currently face so you can find the fulfillment you have been searching for in your life and work.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 11, 2022
About the author
Donald Miller
176 books2,429 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Donald Miller grew up in Houston, Texas. Leaving home at the age of twenty-one, he traveled across the country until he ran out of money in Portland, Oregon, where he lives today.
Harvest House Publishers released his first book, Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance, in 2000. Two years later, after having audited classes at Portland’s Reed College, Don wrote Blue Like Jazz, which would slowly become a New York Times Bestseller.
In 2004 Don released Searching for God Knows What a book about how the Gospel of Jesus explains the human personality. Searching has become required reading at numerous colleges across the country. In 2005 he released Through Painted Deserts the story of he and a friends road trip across the country. In 2006, he added another book, To Own A Dragon, which offered Miller's reflections on growing up without a father. This book reflected an interest already present in Donald's life, as he founded the The Mentoring Project (formerly the Belmont Foundation)–a non-profit that partners with local churches to mentor fatherless young men.
Don has teamed up with Steve Taylor and Ben Pearson to write the screenplay for Blue Like Jazz which will be filmed in Portland in the spring of 2008 and released thereafter.
Don is the founder of The Belmont Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation which partners with working to recruit ten-thousand mentors through one-thousand churches as an answer to the crisis of fatherlessness in America.
A sought-after speaker, Don has delivered lectures to a wide-range of audiences including the Women of Faith Conference, the Veritas Forum at Harvard University and the Veritas Forum at Cal Poly. In 2008, Don was asked to deliver the closing prayer on Monday night at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.
Don’s next book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years humorously and tenderly chronicles Don’s experience with filmmakers as they edit his life for the screen, hoping to make it less boring. When they start fictionalizing Don’s life for film–changing a meandering memoir into a structured narrative–the real-life Don starts a journey to edit his actual life into a better story. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years details that journey and challenges readers to reconsider what they strive for in life. It shows how to get a second chance at life the first time around.
Donald Miller grew up in Houston, Texas. Leaving home at the age of twenty-one, he traveled across the country until he ran out of money in Portland, Oregon, where he lives today.
Harvest House Publishers released his first book, Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance, in 2000. Two years later, after having audited classes at Portland’s Reed College, Don wrote Blue Like Jazz, which would slowly become a New York Times Bestseller.
In 2004 Don released Searching for God Knows What a book about how the Gospel of Jesus explains the human personality. Searching has become required reading at numerous colleges across the country. In 2005 he released Through Painted Deserts the story of he and a friends road trip across the country. In 2006, he added another book, To Own A Dragon, which offered Miller's reflections on growing up without a father. This book reflected an interest already present in Donald's life, as he founded the The Mentoring Project (formerly the Belmont Foundation)–a non-profit that partners with local churches to mentor fatherless young men.
Don has teamed up with Steve Taylor and Ben Pearson to write the screenplay for Blue Like Jazz which will be filmed in Portland in the spring of 2008 and released thereafter.
Don is the founder of The Belmont Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation which partners with working to recruit ten-thousand mentors through one-thousand churches as an answer to the crisis of fatherlessness in America.
A sought-after speaker, Don has delivered lectures to a wide-range of audiences including the Women of Faith Conference, the Veritas Forum at Harvard University and the Veritas Forum at Cal Poly. In 2008, Don was asked to deliver the closing prayer on Monday night at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.
Don’s next book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years humorously and tenderly chronicles Don’s experience with filmmakers as they edit his life for the screen, hoping to make it less boring. When they start fictionalizing Don’s life for film–changing a meandering memoir into a structured narrative–the real-life Don starts a journey to edit his actual life into a better story. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years details that journey and challenges readers to reconsider what they strive for in life. It shows how to get a second chance at life the first time around.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 170 reviews
January 21, 2022
Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy in Donald Miller’s rewrite of A Path to a Meaningful Life: “Hero on a Mission”.
Miller is fully ascribed to logotherapy as the guiding principle for his life. This includes determining the role that God will play in the daily script of your day. If you’re a Christian who believes in the inerrancy of the Bible, this point will be problematic for you.
The entirety of this book is devoted to the pursuit of finding the meaning of life on a daily basis. This is accomplished by how you guide, direct and improve the 4 characters of your life’s story: the villain, victim, hero and guide.
As I read thru the book, much of the information was anecdotal and personal but it also went around in circles. Miller states he wants to accomplish things with his life, tells a story about his family or business but never ties it up to a specific point. I have the same issue with the worksheets. Altho’ there are specific bullet points on them, there aren’t goals to work towards that are measurable. How do individuals measure their progress? For me, it wasn’t by reading about the experiences of famous people that I couldn’t ground to the chapter heading or anything else.
This was a tough read and it left me wanting to know why. Why is this guy an HERO to begin with?📚
Miller is fully ascribed to logotherapy as the guiding principle for his life. This includes determining the role that God will play in the daily script of your day. If you’re a Christian who believes in the inerrancy of the Bible, this point will be problematic for you.
The entirety of this book is devoted to the pursuit of finding the meaning of life on a daily basis. This is accomplished by how you guide, direct and improve the 4 characters of your life’s story: the villain, victim, hero and guide.
As I read thru the book, much of the information was anecdotal and personal but it also went around in circles. Miller states he wants to accomplish things with his life, tells a story about his family or business but never ties it up to a specific point. I have the same issue with the worksheets. Altho’ there are specific bullet points on them, there aren’t goals to work towards that are measurable. How do individuals measure their progress? For me, it wasn’t by reading about the experiences of famous people that I couldn’t ground to the chapter heading or anything else.
This was a tough read and it left me wanting to know why. Why is this guy an HERO to begin with?📚
April 2, 2022
I have very conflicted feelings about this book. On one level, it was extremely helpful, because it identified victim mindset, villain, hero, and mentor. And yes, I definitely see how I am all of these mindsets at some point in time. It was also helpful to be reminded that sometimes we have more of a role in our choices than what we think we do.
Overall, this stands out to me as a more humanistic book than a biblically Christian book. I realized the author claims to be a Christian, but there are a few quotes that I find do not completely line up with scripture. Or maybe it is just that a little bit more balance is needed.
I would not recommend this to younger readers, because of that lack of balance. Personally, I feel like it takes a little bit of maturity to discern how to apply the helpful elements of this book while still seeking God. After all, Proverbs 16:9 says, “A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.” I do agree that sometimes we blame God for things that we are responsible for… But at the same time, we are to acknowledge God in everything we do. I think that was the part that I felt was missing. It was as if we determine our life regardless of what God thinks we should do.
As a writer, I liked all of the analogies to writing and shaping a plot.
Overall, it was a very motivating book, and I do realize that it has shifted my mindset inand a few things. There’s just some of it that needs to be weighed a little carefully against Scripture.
Overall, this stands out to me as a more humanistic book than a biblically Christian book. I realized the author claims to be a Christian, but there are a few quotes that I find do not completely line up with scripture. Or maybe it is just that a little bit more balance is needed.
I would not recommend this to younger readers, because of that lack of balance. Personally, I feel like it takes a little bit of maturity to discern how to apply the helpful elements of this book while still seeking God. After all, Proverbs 16:9 says, “A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.” I do agree that sometimes we blame God for things that we are responsible for… But at the same time, we are to acknowledge God in everything we do. I think that was the part that I felt was missing. It was as if we determine our life regardless of what God thinks we should do.
As a writer, I liked all of the analogies to writing and shaping a plot.
Overall, it was a very motivating book, and I do realize that it has shifted my mindset inand a few things. There’s just some of it that needs to be weighed a little carefully against Scripture.
January 20, 2022
dnf 33%
Althought the premise of this book was interesting, unfortunately it fails to find its place in the self-help or self-improvment genre.
The construction of the book doesn't work in more than one aspect, but to summarize it as best as I can, the message is overly abused and conveyed poorly. I can't even excuse it for being part of the genre, because I've read my fair share of books of the same kind (various topics) and it never seemed like they were filled with hot air. There were far too many repetitions, more than I've ever encountered, and after 75 pages it felt like the book still needed to start.
I'm really sorry for the bad rewiev that doesn't reflect my opinion on the author as person or as a writer, but merely my opinion on something that could have been thought, planned, and executed better.
Rating: ★
***Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.***
Althought the premise of this book was interesting, unfortunately it fails to find its place in the self-help or self-improvment genre.
The construction of the book doesn't work in more than one aspect, but to summarize it as best as I can, the message is overly abused and conveyed poorly. I can't even excuse it for being part of the genre, because I've read my fair share of books of the same kind (various topics) and it never seemed like they were filled with hot air. There were far too many repetitions, more than I've ever encountered, and after 75 pages it felt like the book still needed to start.
I'm really sorry for the bad rewiev that doesn't reflect my opinion on the author as person or as a writer, but merely my opinion on something that could have been thought, planned, and executed better.
Rating: ★
***Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.***
January 16, 2022
One Idea (treat your life as a story; make it interesting and be the "hero") just continually repeated over and over. This book could have been a few paragraph blog post, but I guess then he couldn't sell it: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
November 26, 2022
I found this book to be inspiring and meaningful, but what might be even more important is the fact that it is very practical. I see its direct implications on my day-to-day life. Easily one of my favorite books I’ve read this year. Talk to me about it.
January 10, 2022
Those of us who started with Miller’s book Blue Like Jazz feel like we’ve grown up with him. You could laugh with him, sometimes laugh at him (in an empathetic way), and then be wowed when he stated a nugget of spiritual wisdom that summed up a heavy truth in a single sentence.
At some point Miller grew up and went into the business world to help others to be successful by helping them find their vision for success. That’s why I was excited to see a non-business book from him again. He’s now married with his first child and does what he did so well in his autobiographical early books, except that he’s grown up. His thought process is in the pages and he’s got a lot on his mind.
Intermingled within his story is a cliff notes version of logotherapy, a type of narrative therapy, from Viktor Frankl. His work really put things into perspective for Miller and for the most part got him to this point where he feels like he’s living the story he’s supposed to live.
The second half of the book is about writing your own story as the hero instead of the victim or villain. His storytelling concepts are solid. However, filling in the forms that he used and/or extreme planning on a calendar doesn’t work for everyone. There’s no accountability in filling out a form or calendar and just doing your best to follow it. Writing your own eulogy can be dark and trying to nail down who you want to be as a hero is not that simple. A licensed therapist would be able to help with these issues and get one going in the right direction. Many people will not live the better story that could be theirs because they haven’t processed what would be the painful preface.
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an ARC of this book.
At some point Miller grew up and went into the business world to help others to be successful by helping them find their vision for success. That’s why I was excited to see a non-business book from him again. He’s now married with his first child and does what he did so well in his autobiographical early books, except that he’s grown up. His thought process is in the pages and he’s got a lot on his mind.
Intermingled within his story is a cliff notes version of logotherapy, a type of narrative therapy, from Viktor Frankl. His work really put things into perspective for Miller and for the most part got him to this point where he feels like he’s living the story he’s supposed to live.
The second half of the book is about writing your own story as the hero instead of the victim or villain. His storytelling concepts are solid. However, filling in the forms that he used and/or extreme planning on a calendar doesn’t work for everyone. There’s no accountability in filling out a form or calendar and just doing your best to follow it. Writing your own eulogy can be dark and trying to nail down who you want to be as a hero is not that simple. A licensed therapist would be able to help with these issues and get one going in the right direction. Many people will not live the better story that could be theirs because they haven’t processed what would be the painful preface.
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an ARC of this book.
January 18, 2024
I loved everything about this book. If you are looking for a way to intentionally live your life, I’d start here.
May 18, 2023
Recommended by Dr. Mike Oliver after our conversations of Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. Donald Miller uses Frankl’s ideas to formulate a modern approach to what it looks like to adopt meaning and a mission in our own lives. He breaks down the way we often live into four different characters: hero, guide, victim, and villain. Being able to see how I’ve, at one point or another, played one of those roles was the best part of this read. Miller gives tangible examples of what it looks like to be proactive in finding out “who are you? and why are you here?” I don’t really like how books like these are characterized as “self-help” because it makes them seem mainstream and ineffective. I’d put this book in the encouragement category because it does more than give advice, it gives a call to action. That’s what we need more of. The contents within this book have also been great conversation points. If you’re interested in reading Man’s Search For Meaning, I’d recommend reading this first because it helps quantify Frankl’s points with present day success and it simplifies complex topics.
April 27, 2024
The word that comes to mind most after reading this book is “meh”. It had some helpful ideas, but after the first 6 chapters, the remaining 9 basically just became a pitch to sell you on subscribing to his life planning service. I am a big fan of several of Millers earlier books so I am very disappointed in this one.
April 20, 2024
Self help- not my jam
September 22, 2021
This book doesn’t release till January of next year, but I was thrilled to be able to read it through NetGalley.
When I first learned that Donald Miller had left behind his memoir style of writing, I was disappointed to say the least. But, after finishing this book I couldn’t be happier about it. Just like his memoirs, this book is filled with amazing thoughts and quoteable lines. One of my favorites is: How many people sit in church pews hearing lectures about God only to return home feeling restless? And why? Perhaps it is because we do not experience meaning by studying meaning. Rather, we experience meaning by taking action. Even Jesus said “Follow me” rather than “Study me”.
This book laid out practical steps for changing your life and the world around you for the better while being very honest about how hard it will be. I can appreciate that since many similar books on this subject tend to be shallow self-help sagas with unrealistic ideals.
I’m definitely excited to own a physical copy of this book!
When I first learned that Donald Miller had left behind his memoir style of writing, I was disappointed to say the least. But, after finishing this book I couldn’t be happier about it. Just like his memoirs, this book is filled with amazing thoughts and quoteable lines. One of my favorites is: How many people sit in church pews hearing lectures about God only to return home feeling restless? And why? Perhaps it is because we do not experience meaning by studying meaning. Rather, we experience meaning by taking action. Even Jesus said “Follow me” rather than “Study me”.
This book laid out practical steps for changing your life and the world around you for the better while being very honest about how hard it will be. I can appreciate that since many similar books on this subject tend to be shallow self-help sagas with unrealistic ideals.
I’m definitely excited to own a physical copy of this book!
April 5, 2022
If you're looking for a boost in all aspects of your life, this book is for you!
Hero on a Mission is an inspirational book that offers practical advice on how to transform your life for the better. More of his writing and thoughts appealed to me since I felt they'd make for some interesting quotes. On the other side, I found certain information to be repetitious, and I found very little that was new or distinctive about the techniques presented. They were almost definitely modified versions of previously known techniques. Throughout the book, Donald describes in detail how and why we act as a victim, villain, hero, and guide, while sharing examples from his own life. It's an excellent book for anyone who's having trouble making sense of their lives, or who's feeling hopeless and despondent. This book will undoubtedly offer you the motivation to accomplish and be better in all areas of your life.
Hero on a Mission is an inspirational book that offers practical advice on how to transform your life for the better. More of his writing and thoughts appealed to me since I felt they'd make for some interesting quotes. On the other side, I found certain information to be repetitious, and I found very little that was new or distinctive about the techniques presented. They were almost definitely modified versions of previously known techniques. Throughout the book, Donald describes in detail how and why we act as a victim, villain, hero, and guide, while sharing examples from his own life. It's an excellent book for anyone who's having trouble making sense of their lives, or who's feeling hopeless and despondent. This book will undoubtedly offer you the motivation to accomplish and be better in all areas of your life.
Read
October 29, 2023We grow up. Go to school. Search for a job. Get married. Have kids….then what? At some point life stops handing us pre-written cultural scripts and it’s up to us to create our next story.
OH CRAP. I’m at the age where, in 3.5 short years, I will have a story with no plot. I will need to discover my next adventure. Define my dreams. Do I even have more dreams? This all sounds like big decisions and hard work.
I’m putting this book down for now (more than half way through) to think on things. It’s starting to become workbook-like and I need to settle my thoughts. Also, picking up Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, which is praised often in this book, might not be the worst idea.
Donald Miller’s A Million Miles In A Thousand years was a game changer for me. I’m incredibly grateful for his perspective.
OH CRAP. I’m at the age where, in 3.5 short years, I will have a story with no plot. I will need to discover my next adventure. Define my dreams. Do I even have more dreams? This all sounds like big decisions and hard work.
I’m putting this book down for now (more than half way through) to think on things. It’s starting to become workbook-like and I need to settle my thoughts. Also, picking up Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, which is praised often in this book, might not be the worst idea.
Donald Miller’s A Million Miles In A Thousand years was a game changer for me. I’m incredibly grateful for his perspective.
February 3, 2022
Audiobook. Loved the course of the same title inside business made simple University. I've been a member for a year and a half. However I'm pretty disappointed with this book. Donald Miller is clearly still in the honeymoon phase of his marriage and fatherhood and spent the majority of the book repeating how important family and raising the next generation is and that having a kid changed all his life goals. Kinda. If you have the option to take the course do that and skip the book. If you can get past the repetitive "family is soooo important" piece of the book it has a decent plan to get your life on track.
January 31, 2022
A good self-improvement book that uses the power of storytelling as its main concept. It has some useful concepts that I found inspiring, like writing your own eulogy.
It's not a long book, but I felt like it could have been 30-40% shorter than where it landed.
It's not a long book, but I felt like it could have been 30-40% shorter than where it landed.
August 24, 2022
I really want to know Donald Miller. I enjoyed this book - never to the extent of his old work - but it was good nonetheless.
The book in sum: there are four characters in life we can play—Victim, Villain, Hero, and Guide. Each day we have the choice to live into one of these identities in each area of our life. We all want to be heroes and guides. But you can only be a guide if you’ve lived long enough as a hero. And you can only be a hero if you cultivate daily habits that nurture a hero mentality and lifestyle.
Don pulls heavily on Viktor Frankl (as he did in Scary Close) to show that we must have a purpose bigger than ourselves to give our lives to. Without this, we fail to garner narrative traction and we exist in an existential vacuum until we find something to give our lives to.
But bigger-than-life purpose doesn’t happen naturally for most people. It must be nurtured. Don’s “path to a meaningful life” comes through this morning ritual: reading his eulogy, reviewing his 10-, 5-, and 1-year goals, and setting daily goals.
By writing our eulogy, as strange as it sounds, it allows us to reflect on who we want to be. By reviewing it, we seek to create cognitive dissonance between who we are and who we hope to be and this motivated us to live into the person we want to be.
I was skeptical of writing my own eulogy. It just felt weird. But to my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed writing it. I don’t know if I’ll read it daily, but I definitely plan to review it regularly and amend it as I grow and transform.
The book in sum: there are four characters in life we can play—Victim, Villain, Hero, and Guide. Each day we have the choice to live into one of these identities in each area of our life. We all want to be heroes and guides. But you can only be a guide if you’ve lived long enough as a hero. And you can only be a hero if you cultivate daily habits that nurture a hero mentality and lifestyle.
Don pulls heavily on Viktor Frankl (as he did in Scary Close) to show that we must have a purpose bigger than ourselves to give our lives to. Without this, we fail to garner narrative traction and we exist in an existential vacuum until we find something to give our lives to.
But bigger-than-life purpose doesn’t happen naturally for most people. It must be nurtured. Don’s “path to a meaningful life” comes through this morning ritual: reading his eulogy, reviewing his 10-, 5-, and 1-year goals, and setting daily goals.
By writing our eulogy, as strange as it sounds, it allows us to reflect on who we want to be. By reviewing it, we seek to create cognitive dissonance between who we are and who we hope to be and this motivated us to live into the person we want to be.
I was skeptical of writing my own eulogy. It just felt weird. But to my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed writing it. I don’t know if I’ll read it daily, but I definitely plan to review it regularly and amend it as I grow and transform.
August 8, 2023
3.5 stars. Audiobook. I really loved his past two books: Scary Close, and 1000 Miles in 1000 Years.
What I gained from this were his thoughts on the hero, victim, villain mentality and how we can be all three at different points in our lives. Naturally, we need to claim the hero mentality.
“ we can bemoan our life and become the victim, or we can rage about our life and become the villain “
Formula for a life of meaning, according to Viktor Frankl. 1) take action creating a work, or performing a deed. 2) experience, something or someone that you find captivating and pulls you out of yourself. 3) have an optimistic attitude toward your inevitable challenges and suffering in your life. He applies this in his bike ride across America with his family. They had all three elements. Ambition, experiencing some thing, beautiful together, and facing challenges every day. However, when the trip was over, he felt in a slump and like life meaningless. He had to find some thing that had all three elements in it again before he would feel better.
Frankl believed that while tragedies should be grieved, they could also birth something good and beneficial to us That could heal our wounds. But not if we have a victim mentality. Pain creates a tenderness when we see the truth of life and this strengthens us. In stories pain is what transforms heroes into the better version of themselves.
“ when we don’t want anything, not only does it cause us to lose interest in our own lives, but others to lose interest in us. “ “we must always have a project going that we want to achieve and when that is over, we need another project, this is what causes us to engage in life and experience happiness.”
When you are a victim, you feel sorry for your self and expect God to make all your problems go away. Me.
He also talked a lot about writing out your eulogy to say exactly how you wanted to live your life and then read it daily.
What I gained from this were his thoughts on the hero, victim, villain mentality and how we can be all three at different points in our lives. Naturally, we need to claim the hero mentality.
“ we can bemoan our life and become the victim, or we can rage about our life and become the villain “
Formula for a life of meaning, according to Viktor Frankl. 1) take action creating a work, or performing a deed. 2) experience, something or someone that you find captivating and pulls you out of yourself. 3) have an optimistic attitude toward your inevitable challenges and suffering in your life. He applies this in his bike ride across America with his family. They had all three elements. Ambition, experiencing some thing, beautiful together, and facing challenges every day. However, when the trip was over, he felt in a slump and like life meaningless. He had to find some thing that had all three elements in it again before he would feel better.
Frankl believed that while tragedies should be grieved, they could also birth something good and beneficial to us That could heal our wounds. But not if we have a victim mentality. Pain creates a tenderness when we see the truth of life and this strengthens us. In stories pain is what transforms heroes into the better version of themselves.
“ when we don’t want anything, not only does it cause us to lose interest in our own lives, but others to lose interest in us. “ “we must always have a project going that we want to achieve and when that is over, we need another project, this is what causes us to engage in life and experience happiness.”
When you are a victim, you feel sorry for your self and expect God to make all your problems go away. Me.
He also talked a lot about writing out your eulogy to say exactly how you wanted to live your life and then read it daily.
August 9, 2023
Patiko tikro gyvenimo ir fikcijos paralelė. Autorius tvirtina, kad visi esame pagrindiniais savo gyvenimo veikėjais - aukos, blogiukai, herojai ir vedliai, bei pasakoja istorijas iš savo gyvenimo, kaip jam pavyko iš aukos virsti vedliu(lyderiu). Pasinaudok jo sukurtu kasdien pildomu planu, turėk aiškius gyvenimo tikslus ir be didelių pastangų (nes jei tikslas tave motyvuoja, bus lengva jo siekti) tapsi herojumi. Nors su dauguma autoriaus minčių sutinku, tikrai esu skaičiusi/klausiusi geresnių ir labiau įkvepiančių motyvacinių knygų/pranešimų.
December 29, 2022
I read this on behalf of a non-profit organization I’m closely connected to - trying to determine if it would be a good supplemental book to add to our existing curriculum. What I didn’t expect was to find it highly applicable to my own personal stage of wrestling with meaning and purpose as my children get older and need me less. It was also extremely timely as there are just a few days left before a new year begins and I am contemplating goals and resolutions. A little bit of a slow start but I highly recommend!!
January 2, 2024
Hero On A Mission is a continuation of what I used to love about Donald Miller. It's basically a collected version of his Storyline conference that I attended back in like 2013. Great stuff about living a better story - playing the Victim, Villain, Hero, and Guide in your own story. I plan to use it for some vision-casting in my work.
June 25, 2022
Really liked the comparison of one's life with writing a storyline. The Hero in every story is not perfect, but moves forward towards a goal. Otherwise, if the hero starts feeling like a victim and stops moving forward, the story gets boring. Are you making your life an interesting story? Interestingly enough to jump out of bed each morning?
No one is a Hero or a Victim all the time. Circumstances can push us around and infuse us with victim or hero energy. For me, books such as this one are a major source of Hero energy. They play as Guide in my life.
The practical part of the book is a bit too cheap for my liking: just another habit tracker.
No one is a Hero or a Victim all the time. Circumstances can push us around and infuse us with victim or hero energy. For me, books such as this one are a major source of Hero energy. They play as Guide in my life.
The practical part of the book is a bit too cheap for my liking: just another habit tracker.
December 13, 2022
I love the passion and encouragement this book offers. It caused me to want to create a life of meaning with its balance of take-the-hill-ambition and grounded compassion and humility. I’m in. I’m going to create and live a story that is meaningful!
July 21, 2023
Life design is not just for millionaires.
This book (and Donald's online workshops) offer some of the best envisioning, goal setting, and daily practices I've ever read.
I first went through this program in the quarantine of 2020. Several of my "5 Year" plans have come to pass. And the book/program has absolutely guided the way I approach each day.
This book (and Donald's online workshops) offer some of the best envisioning, goal setting, and daily practices I've ever read.
I first went through this program in the quarantine of 2020. Several of my "5 Year" plans have come to pass. And the book/program has absolutely guided the way I approach each day.
March 4, 2024
Incredibly good PRACTICAL advice on living a life of meaning. Especially poignant for writers who can see their own lives the same way a story narrative plays out. I love Miller and his work and this is just another great one from him.
March 26, 2024
dreadful - read with coworkers. the idea that our lives are like stories or that there are prescriptive parallels between them is actually a slippery & provocative idea that he treats so incuriously while relying on paradigms that are absolute in neither storytelling nor life. practically speaking, it amounts to a lot of largely harmless productivity tips which I would be marginally more accepting of if it were written without all the affected narrativist logotherapy stuff
October 7, 2022
Finding meaning in life is talked about and inspired but here, Miller goes a step farther - he gives you a system to write the life you want to have. Heroes face their trials and defects and transform in the process. What are you facing that this book will help you overcome?
August 22, 2023
Clearly defined roles provide structure for our lives. Whether those roles are in being a parent, a student, an employee, a teammate, an entrepreneur, or even an author. The roles we define for ourselves define who we are, but not forever...
In his newest book, Hero on a Mission, Donald Miller explains how we slip into the different roles of villain, victim, hero, and guide multiple times throughout our lives. But not only that, multiple times throughout the day! He explains that only by becoming consciously aware of who we are in these roles can we make a conscious effort in the people we CHOOSE to be.
Not only does Miller explain these roles beautifully and how to identify them, he provides a strategy along with tools he personally created that we can utilize every day to make sure we are living the narrative that we want to live. He reveals how we are ultimately writing our own story. Every day.
Read Hero on a Mission and learn how to take the reins in your own life story and as Donald would say, "put something on the plot."
In his newest book, Hero on a Mission, Donald Miller explains how we slip into the different roles of villain, victim, hero, and guide multiple times throughout our lives. But not only that, multiple times throughout the day! He explains that only by becoming consciously aware of who we are in these roles can we make a conscious effort in the people we CHOOSE to be.
Not only does Miller explain these roles beautifully and how to identify them, he provides a strategy along with tools he personally created that we can utilize every day to make sure we are living the narrative that we want to live. He reveals how we are ultimately writing our own story. Every day.
Read Hero on a Mission and learn how to take the reins in your own life story and as Donald would say, "put something on the plot."
April 16, 2022
Ten year plan, five year plan, and one year plan.
Take actions, keep yourself under control.
Don’t live in an illusion. It takes courage to break the fear and your current situation. You have to change or you will be stuck at the same place.
Write what you wish to become, to achieve and to see. Make is as a manual, read it every morning.
Take actions, keep yourself under control.
Don’t live in an illusion. It takes courage to break the fear and your current situation. You have to change or you will be stuck at the same place.
Write what you wish to become, to achieve and to see. Make is as a manual, read it every morning.
Read
May 17, 2022After finishing Hero On a Mission by Donald Miller, I was left with a big weight on my shoulders. I don’t mean this in a bad way. I mean that there were so many things that I realized I could be doing better. There are so many things that I was doing wrong. I realized just how much I play the victim in my own life. I realized just how many times I don’t do anything about a problem. There are some things I could be doing differently.To start, I shouldn’t only be setting goals for one day, I should be setting goals for multiple years. Overall, the book has taught me many lessons such as: setting routines, finding purpose, and how to become the hero of my own story and not the villain of others.
He starts off the book by stating that there are 4 types of mindsets: the Hero, the Victim, the Villain, and the Guide. Multiple times throughout the first half of the book, he talks about his own life and how he is always a Victim or a Villain to his friends and himself. The Victim mindset is that of which you can not change anything and that everything is out of your reach. The Villain mindset is that of which you push yourself up by bringing others down under you. The Guide is the one that you teach others your wisdom and encourage others to do what is right. The Hero is the one that takes action and changes things for the better.
In the first half of the book, he tells us about himself, where he came from, what he values and how he has changed himself to become a Hero and a Guide instead of the Victim and Villain. He shows us clear examples of meaning such as how he rode a bike across the US and felt amazing meaning during it. In the days after he talked about how he lost the sense of meaning afterwards. He calls this the Existential Void. It means that if you do some big event that causes meaning and you don’t find any meaning you sink into a state of nothingness.
Miller often references Viktor Frankl’s writing and way of meaning. Viktor Frankl is a concentration camp survivor who lost all of his family but kept going and decided to help others find a sense of meaning that he did even though he had lost everything. Miller says that after the bike trip he saw Viktor’s book on a sense of meaning and decided to buy it. It changed his life in many different ways. He had wanted to write and did write for a long time but he never had gotten anywhere with the books.
In the second half of the book, he shows the reader how to find a sense of meaning themselves. He shows how to set goals for one day, one year, five years, and ten years. In grade school, he wrote a letter to his future self about what he wanted to do, where he wanted to live, and other things that came true. He says that when we set goals we may not have them in mind all the time, but they will hopefully stay in our subconscious making us choose to go along our path. He also says that writing our eulogy will help us become the person we want to be.
In the book, he shows easy and simple steps on how to make the best goals you can. Ones that will push you to become the most you can be. The first thing he says to do when making a long-term plan is to make a title of what your life would be like as a movie by then. The second step is to write how old you will be at the end of your goal, this helps to put into perspective time passing. The third step is to make goals in your career, your health, your family, your friends, and your spiritual life. The fourth step is to say two things you want to do every day and two things you don’t, the last thing to do is to say what the central theme of your story up to that point will be. These steps may take time to write out, but it will be worth it to put your ideas down and into a plan. When making goals, the process goes as follows: goal name, why does the goal matter to you, when do you want to achieve the goal, any goal partners, milestones to measure your progress, list your daily sacrifices to accomplish the goal, and your repetition count of the goal.
I have enjoyed reading this book and I would like to make sure to put all of the points into practice. I would give this book a 5/5 because of how life-changing it really can be. I recommend this book to anyone who doesn’t experience meaning daily and is having trouble with making relationships and setting goals.
He starts off the book by stating that there are 4 types of mindsets: the Hero, the Victim, the Villain, and the Guide. Multiple times throughout the first half of the book, he talks about his own life and how he is always a Victim or a Villain to his friends and himself. The Victim mindset is that of which you can not change anything and that everything is out of your reach. The Villain mindset is that of which you push yourself up by bringing others down under you. The Guide is the one that you teach others your wisdom and encourage others to do what is right. The Hero is the one that takes action and changes things for the better.
In the first half of the book, he tells us about himself, where he came from, what he values and how he has changed himself to become a Hero and a Guide instead of the Victim and Villain. He shows us clear examples of meaning such as how he rode a bike across the US and felt amazing meaning during it. In the days after he talked about how he lost the sense of meaning afterwards. He calls this the Existential Void. It means that if you do some big event that causes meaning and you don’t find any meaning you sink into a state of nothingness.
Miller often references Viktor Frankl’s writing and way of meaning. Viktor Frankl is a concentration camp survivor who lost all of his family but kept going and decided to help others find a sense of meaning that he did even though he had lost everything. Miller says that after the bike trip he saw Viktor’s book on a sense of meaning and decided to buy it. It changed his life in many different ways. He had wanted to write and did write for a long time but he never had gotten anywhere with the books.
In the second half of the book, he shows the reader how to find a sense of meaning themselves. He shows how to set goals for one day, one year, five years, and ten years. In grade school, he wrote a letter to his future self about what he wanted to do, where he wanted to live, and other things that came true. He says that when we set goals we may not have them in mind all the time, but they will hopefully stay in our subconscious making us choose to go along our path. He also says that writing our eulogy will help us become the person we want to be.
In the book, he shows easy and simple steps on how to make the best goals you can. Ones that will push you to become the most you can be. The first thing he says to do when making a long-term plan is to make a title of what your life would be like as a movie by then. The second step is to write how old you will be at the end of your goal, this helps to put into perspective time passing. The third step is to make goals in your career, your health, your family, your friends, and your spiritual life. The fourth step is to say two things you want to do every day and two things you don’t, the last thing to do is to say what the central theme of your story up to that point will be. These steps may take time to write out, but it will be worth it to put your ideas down and into a plan. When making goals, the process goes as follows: goal name, why does the goal matter to you, when do you want to achieve the goal, any goal partners, milestones to measure your progress, list your daily sacrifices to accomplish the goal, and your repetition count of the goal.
I have enjoyed reading this book and I would like to make sure to put all of the points into practice. I would give this book a 5/5 because of how life-changing it really can be. I recommend this book to anyone who doesn’t experience meaning daily and is having trouble with making relationships and setting goals.
February 15, 2022
For Donald Miller completists only.
Someone placed an abridged and illustrated copy of Blue Like Jazz in my hand in high school and I was floored by its poetry. When I realized it was only a highlight reel of a complete memoir I made the trip to Books-A-Million to pick it up. It was flanked by Through Painted Deserts and Searching For God Knows What, the former of which I picked up and read one page of before buying instead. As I gained a dollar or two in the lawn mowing game I finally picked up his whole collection and his books changed the way I lived and thought. They were highly formative to my early faith in terms of how it interacted with life. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years continued that trend and even Scary Close I found to be quite powerful. I always felt like I was tracking with Don whether it was sleeping nights in his vehicle, having a crisis of faith in an after hours car wash, or leaving bachelorhood behind. His good-natured and winsome melancholy was relatable.
Then came the business books. How do you go from a title like Blue Like Jazz to Business Made Simple. Marketing Made Simple. And the much more offensive Building a Story Brand (such that it capitalizes on the heart of A Million Miles...). Had Miller sold out?
A friend and longtime Miller fan like myself invited my wife and I to read Miller's new book with her. I was excited that it didn't apparently have a business bend but it did have an atrocious title. A few pages in it became clear that Don had gone full self-help. But Don't still in there for sure. He goofs off some and he challenges the reader in surprising ways. He has some wise things to say about taking personal responsibility and doing something with your one beautiful life. His work excels when he's giving details about his faithful dog's last days or his daughter's first ones. There's a wellspring of potential in his accounts of his retreat-like home and its visitors but all are used sparingly. Metaphors and examples repeat themselves to make other versions of the same point, but again, all generally helpful material.
There's a few moments throughout the book where Don self-actualizes aloud. He says he knows there are people who say they miss the old Don (hand raised) but that he doesn't. The old Don wasn't happy. The old Don was frequently living in that "victim energy" (gag). And it's in these moments that he wins me over again. Because to that I can relate. I know that the person I am today is a drag and that I'm not out trying to tear the world down anymore and that I sleep nights now. But the person I am now, while kind of a drag, is a healthier person. It's the rocky but better transition from Into the Wild to It's a Wonderful Life (the favorite move of both Don and myself). Hopefully we all pass through the victim to hero transition eventually and enter into the dull hero to guide era in due time (dodging that ever lurking villain all the while).
And when the next Miller book drops I'm certain to buy it again (assuming it's not Analytics Made Simple). Me personally, I'm sweating the novel he teased.
Someone placed an abridged and illustrated copy of Blue Like Jazz in my hand in high school and I was floored by its poetry. When I realized it was only a highlight reel of a complete memoir I made the trip to Books-A-Million to pick it up. It was flanked by Through Painted Deserts and Searching For God Knows What, the former of which I picked up and read one page of before buying instead. As I gained a dollar or two in the lawn mowing game I finally picked up his whole collection and his books changed the way I lived and thought. They were highly formative to my early faith in terms of how it interacted with life. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years continued that trend and even Scary Close I found to be quite powerful. I always felt like I was tracking with Don whether it was sleeping nights in his vehicle, having a crisis of faith in an after hours car wash, or leaving bachelorhood behind. His good-natured and winsome melancholy was relatable.
Then came the business books. How do you go from a title like Blue Like Jazz to Business Made Simple. Marketing Made Simple. And the much more offensive Building a Story Brand (such that it capitalizes on the heart of A Million Miles...). Had Miller sold out?
A friend and longtime Miller fan like myself invited my wife and I to read Miller's new book with her. I was excited that it didn't apparently have a business bend but it did have an atrocious title. A few pages in it became clear that Don had gone full self-help. But Don't still in there for sure. He goofs off some and he challenges the reader in surprising ways. He has some wise things to say about taking personal responsibility and doing something with your one beautiful life. His work excels when he's giving details about his faithful dog's last days or his daughter's first ones. There's a wellspring of potential in his accounts of his retreat-like home and its visitors but all are used sparingly. Metaphors and examples repeat themselves to make other versions of the same point, but again, all generally helpful material.
There's a few moments throughout the book where Don self-actualizes aloud. He says he knows there are people who say they miss the old Don (hand raised) but that he doesn't. The old Don wasn't happy. The old Don was frequently living in that "victim energy" (gag). And it's in these moments that he wins me over again. Because to that I can relate. I know that the person I am today is a drag and that I'm not out trying to tear the world down anymore and that I sleep nights now. But the person I am now, while kind of a drag, is a healthier person. It's the rocky but better transition from Into the Wild to It's a Wonderful Life (the favorite move of both Don and myself). Hopefully we all pass through the victim to hero transition eventually and enter into the dull hero to guide era in due time (dodging that ever lurking villain all the while).
And when the next Miller book drops I'm certain to buy it again (assuming it's not Analytics Made Simple). Me personally, I'm sweating the novel he teased.
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