![Spiritual Design: Enrich Your Spiritual Practice with Lessons from Behavioral Science by [Wendel, Stephen]](https://images-fe.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41AX6xyrS-L.jpg)
It’s hard to make time for a meaningful spiritual life. This book can help you do it: by making small, clever changes to your environment.
Spiritual Design offers a wealth of research to help you enrich your spiritual life, whether your goal is to meditate or pray regularly, follow a personal calling, or anything in between. You’ll also learn about breaking bad habits and avoiding the moments of weakness we later regret.
You'll apply lessons from behavioral science — the interdisciplinary study of how people make decisions in their daily lives — to design your environment to support spiritual growth and practice. This process,
Spiritual Design, includes:
- Understanding how our minds are wired, and how our cognitive biases can lead us into temptation or hinder us from following through on our spiritual leadings,
- Overcoming the common obstacles that we face, and building habits that help us make time for our spiritual life,
- Learning why our daily lives are structured to distract us from what matters, and how to change that.
Dr. Stephen Wendel is a behavioral scientist, who leads a team of researchers that helps people overcome behavioral obstacles in their lives. In Spiritual Design, he offers practical lessons on applying behavioral science in one’s spiritual practice regardless of one’s beliefs or denomination.
To learn more about Spiritual Design, read Steve’s blog at
www.spiritualdesign.co.
Product details
- Format: Kindle Edition
- File Size: 1779 KB
- Print Length: 168 pages
- Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
- Publisher: Northeast Press (9 September 2019)
Showing 1-3 of 3 reviews
September 26, 2019
If you want to run a marathon, you need to train for it. That involves planning, increasing difficulty, practicing form, eating healthy, and appropriate rest. You might join a running group, read more about stretching etc.
Which is all to say that crafting your practice, the thing you'll do each day, compounds up into big changes and progress over time. If you want to be thoughtful and intentional about the *practice* of faith, about making each little step each day more effective, this is the right book. It's thoughtful about what stands in our way, and how to re-arrange our environments and habits to improve the depth and appreciation of our lives.
Which is all to say that crafting your practice, the thing you'll do each day, compounds up into big changes and progress over time. If you want to be thoughtful and intentional about the *practice* of faith, about making each little step each day more effective, this is the right book. It's thoughtful about what stands in our way, and how to re-arrange our environments and habits to improve the depth and appreciation of our lives.
September 23, 2019
This book is for anyone who believes that science and faith, together, can create a deeper spiritual practice. Stephen Wendell does a fantastic job of conveying behavioral science basics within a practical framework that can be used to encourage one’s spiritual habits. I appreciate how relevant research findings are presented without weighing down the reading experience. I also enjoy how the author weaves in stories of his personal faith without changing the goal of the book. The theory, functional application, and chapter summaries all mean a lot to someone like me who values efficiency and wants to apply (and test) new ideas right away. Disclaimer: I was gifted a copy of this book to review, but enjoyed it so much that I recommended it to three friends and purchased it for my collection. Considering that I rarely buy paper books anymore, that means a lot!
September 25, 2019
In this book the author explains how behavioral science can be used to help us with our spiritual journey. From start to finish, Steve Wendel shows his clear knowledge of behavioral science. As a practitioner he makes it easy to understand and apply. He then links it to the challenges most of us face and offers clear, simple strategies to help us be who we want to be. A fun, quick read that is useful. All-in-all a great combination. Highly recommend.
