FIVE PILLARS OF THE FREEDOM LIFESTYLE

A debut motivation guide offers solutions for those trapped in a state of ennui.

On a Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Mercadante walked away from the “seven-figure PR/ad agency at peak revenue” that he had worked 13 years to build. Why? “It wasn’t worth the corresponding pain,” he writes in the introduction to his book about springing yourself from stasis and dissatisfaction. “I had built a prison instead of a business.” He decided to begin a new career as a life coach, helping people escape from the same self-created states of discontent that he fled. In the process, the author struck upon what he calls the Freedom Five (Superpowers, Vision, Alignment, Outcomes, and Flow): pillars of the satisfied and self-determined lifestyle that he wished others to experience. After identifying the symptoms of restriction that readers may be experiencing (often without even realizing it), Mercadante gets into the concepts behind the Freedom Five and the regimens they suggest for those trying to shake up their stagnant lives. He tailors his advice for would-be entrepreneurs—the easiest way to assert your independence is to become your own boss, after all—but the tips he provides are applicable to relationships, family dynamics, personal aspirations, and more. The author writes in the encouraging and confident prose that one might expect from a self-help guru: “There’s not work and life; there’s just life. How you spend the time in your life is entirely up to you. The key to freedom and fulfillment isn’t balance; it’s alignment: aligning the three facets in your life—work, family, and self.” He is adept at cutting through the thought processes that so often govern life decisions—processes that, he argues, are overly dominated by fear and anxiety. Mercadante borrows much of the familiar language of the self-help/motivational industry—abundance rears its head in chapter three—and there isn’t much here that hasn’t already been said in other books. But in a genre that often relies on repackaged ideas, presentation matters quite a bit, and the author’s slick exhibition of the material will likely win over readers in the business world.

A well-crafted, if not entirely original, work for those looking to spring themselves from lives of quiet desperation.