Steering by Starlight

Find Your Right Life, No Matter What

By: Martha Beck

Narrated by: Martha Beck

Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Described as one of the best-known life coaches in America, in media such as Psychology Today, O columnist Martha Beck has demonstrated a rare gift for helping people who have gone off course to find their way back to authentic, rewarding lives. Now, in Steering by Starlight, Dr. Beck describes the step-by-step process she uses with her private clients to help them find their way back to their "homing instincts" - their true destinies.

Bringing together cutting-edge research in psychiatry, neurology, and related fields in an accessible, substantive, original way, Beck offers powerful new methods for solving the problems that beset ordinary people. Using her trademark wisdom, empathy, and engaging style, she connects listeners with personal coping strategies that are not yet widely available as she helps them overcome the alienation that is causing them to lose sight of their own North Star.

Dr. Beck identifies three stages along the path to recapturing a satisfying life:

"The stargazer" helps listeners understand why it's so easy to lose themselves and offers strategies for sighting their North Star

"The mapmaker" uses this newly clarified perspective to evaluate one's situation and plot a course for the upcoming years

"The pathfinder" discusses the adventures that may be encountered as one travels along this new life course

Whether it's seeking better relationships, more focused career direction, the achievement of specific fitness goals, or a more harmonious lifestyle, Steering by Starlight's colorful anecdotes, case studies, and exercises will point the way.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2008 Martha Beck (P)2008 Simon and Schuster, Inc.

Loved This Book & Martha Beck!

Martha Beck narrates this book not only written from the heart, here in the moment, for all people seeking their North Star! Her story and journey weaves in the concepts, stories and guiding steps and exercises to understand her journey and create your own. Highly recommend to all on a healing, spiritual, growth path. Thank you, Martha Beck!

This book is life-changing!

I never thought of myself as a self-help book kind of person. It's true I've bought my share of them, whether through various recommendations during my years of therapy, or out of some misguided hope that the answer to all my problems lay in one of them. If anything, I would have thought of myself as a jaded cynic. I frustrated my therapist with my resistance to "exercises". And then I came across Martha Beck.

I'm not a fan of Oprah. I derided friends of mine who dared recommend "The Secret" to me. I actually first came across an earlier book of Beck's, "Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live", while browsing the self-help/self-development/self-whatever section at Borders. The title of the book was exactly what I was looking for, but even better I was engross in it as soon as I started reading it in the bookstore.

This weekend I had a road trip to take, so I looked Beck up here on Audible and came across this book. I downloaded, and I actually was glad when I got stuck in traffic because I could listen to more of it. The book truly resonated with me, even though--from the new-agey sound of it, I wouldn't have guessed. It is well-grounded, backed by scientific research, skeptical, intuitive, and most importantly self-deprecatingly funny. In a way, the book is not ground-breaking; it sort of validates notions one has suspected all along. But perhaps in precisely that way, it is life-altering. It gives you concrete detailed advice about how to face the most difficult questions in your life, something I did not think possible, especially after digging the annals of philosophy and psychology for quite a few years now in vain.

I will recommend this book to 2 of my best friends, and I hope it will be as valuable to them as it was for me. And if I'd recommend it to some of the dearest people in my life, I'd certainly recommend it to you.

I am inspired and comforted!

I know I will listen to this book many times as I journey toward my best destiny

Starlight steerage

What made the experience of listening to Steering by Starlight the most enjoyable?

Author reading own writing

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Delightful

What about Martha Beck’s performance did you like?

Reads like she's speaking to you.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Understanding that bad experiences are the pivotal point that create good things happening in your life.

Any additional comments?

Enjoyed the experience.

Great book that can change your life if you let it

Great book! A little challenging to listen to while driving because of the written exercises. But, if you can find the time and space to read it, it's totally worth it!

Sincerest thanks for your work:)

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I read it with my wife and bought two copies for others.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the allegory of the shamanic sickness turned healer.

Have you listened to any of Martha Beck’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Never listened to Martha Beck before, this was a very engaging performance.

What’s an idea from the book that you will remember?

I will always remember that my life is not lead by my conscious mind, but by a mystical "north star" that is always guiding, always conspiring with the rest of creation to bring me to the place I'm meant to go.

Most Life-Changing Book I Have Read

I previously listened to Following Your North Star, by Martha Beck, and thought it was really good. I liked Martha's philosophy enough to seek out more of her writing, and came to this book next. I love this book! I can say without doubt that it has made me a much happier, calmer person, and a better person for other people to be around. It has set me on a path of seeking greater understanding and growth in myself. That is a big job, and I need reminding of how to keep moving forward and not stagnate. For that reason, I re-listen to this book now every 3 or 4 months. I find the spiritual component very inspiring, and relate to it more and more. I also want to say that while hers is not the best narrative voice I have listened to, it would not be the same without her reading her books. I really feel like this material needs to be read by Martha herself to impart its full meaning. If you are ensconced in a particular dogma, you may not enjoy this book, but if you are open-minded, come and get it!

Continues to inspire!

Where does Steering by Starlight rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Martha Beck combines the dreamer with the doer without sacrificing unnecessary information. Her book gives me the courage and the tools to follow my dreams!

My Journey with Martha

Great book! Her narration makes you feel as though she is right there with you.

Hoorah

Very practical advice for a mystical application of self actualization. I will use this personally and professionally. I practice Shamanism and this compliments my practice. Highly recommended