The Dash to Significance

Melone, previously a school superintendent, offers a game plan for achieving a meaningful life.

Melone’s easy-to-read debut self-help book packs a lot into its 135 pages. Most chapters end with detailed exercises for readers to further explore the topics structured around eight values, some leaning toward the Christian faith. Ranging from forgiveness to perseverance, the values, Melone says, have evolved from his experiences as a husband, a father, an educator and in transportation management. Though much of the material isn’t groundbreaking, the author brings a seasoned voice to it, and his easy writing style clearly suggests a path but doesn’t demand strict adherence. As examples, Melone shares the things that have helped him lead a happy, meaningful life, but he also makes a point of encouraging readers to come up with their own sets of values, which the exercises can help develop. For instance, in the “Integrity” chapter, Melone offers seven tips for developing that trait, and one of the exercises invites readers to invest their emotional, spiritual and financial resources to help achieve their own ideas of integrity. Elsewhere, in the “Relationships” chapter, Melone encourages readers to forgive friends and see past human mistakes. No particular value stands taller than the rest, and readers will appreciate the ability to focus on whatever traits matter most on a personal level. Melone’s Christian faith has played a big role in developing his life code, and Scripture passages are sprinkled throughout the book, but that shouldn’t put off non-Christian readers.

A book rich in wisdom that provides an approachable path toward achieving something more out of life.