THRIVE

A new decalogue aims at helping 20-something readers to thrive.

Froh opens his guide with an obliging mention of the Ten Commandments before going on to augment them for the present day, this time with the goal of personal thriving. “I can’t promise you admittance into Heaven,” he writes. “But, following the commandments to thrive will set you free to realize your potential, fostering a love for living.” He follows through with the concept by enumerating his own 10 Commandments and explaining them. They fall into three tiers: the personal, the social, and the spiritual. These start off with the personal, with commandments like “Thou Shalt Stay Focused” and “Thou Shalt Live Simply.” The social level follows, with such decrees as “Thou Shalt Be Real” and “Thou Shalt Love Deeply.” And finally, there’s the spiritual tier, which includes things like “Thou Shalt Befriend Nature” and “Thou Shalt Give Thanks.” Throughout his elaborations on these 10 Commandments, he skillfully draws on his own experiences in order to stress the vital importance of maintaining connections with friends and family; exercising a very conscious awareness of how precious time is spent; and, perhaps most important of all, regaining lost focus by making to-do lists and sticking to them. Modern society, he writes, is drowning in a “tsunami of all distractions,” from voicemails and messages to updates and notifications. Expecting to get worthwhile things done while wasting time on these kinds of things, he convincingly maintains, is folly: “Nothing happens when we let things ‘just’ happen.” Froh’s Christianity is front and center throughout his book, but it’s so personally and passionately woven into his advice that nonreligious readers will still find plenty of clear, heartfelt counsel in these pages.

A bracing series of strong urgings for more mindful and self-possessed living.