I have had Approval Addiction by Joyce Meyer on my shelf for some time before deciding to read it. I was in the habit of listening to Joyce’s CD messages and didn’t feel the need to also read her books. Plus I haven’t felt like I have a problem with trying to please people.
However lately I’ve been doing less driving so haven’t been listening to her CDs and thought perhaps there was something to be gained from reading about this issue. This proved to be true. While I don’t have a major problem with people-pleasing, I realized, as I read, that in some situations I do gravitate towards doing this. The most challenging thing Joyce said was if someone is controlling your behaviour, it is your fault for letting them. Since reading the book I have found myself being more careful about allowing others to sway my behaviour.
Joyce writes about the various ways people-pleasing can manifest itself and the emotional wounds that can cause someone to become addicted to the approval of others. In this Joyce uses many examples from her own life as well as others.
Joyce can be a bit repetitive. However this may only be a problem for those of us who also listens to her messages besides, sometimes it doesn’t hurt to be reminded.
Overall a helpful read.