Calling in "The One": 7 Weeks to Attract the Love of Your Life Paperback – February 10, 2004

It took me roughly 7 months to complete the book. It says that if it takes you longer than 6 months, you're probably not ready for love, but in my case, I had a hectic schedule and a lot was going on in my life at the time. I have to say, this book has helped me get through all of it!Issues I had before starting the book: I was extremely OCD, not just about material things, but about my life! I didn't leave anything up to fate, everything had to be under my control. I also had a lot of issues in regards to my toxic dad resulting in big time trust issues and other "daddy issues." I was afraid to speak my mind in relationships and stand up for myself. I was never fully present in the moment, constantly thinking how does this look, and I doing this right, fantasizing about what ifs and a million scenarios that never happened etc. I'm in my early 20's and never saw a good example of the way I should be treated or how a relationship should be.January 2016: I bought the book and got started! At first I did one exercise every morning, but soon my crazy schedule got overwhelming and I couldn't do it every day anymore. At first I would "lie" in my journal about when I completed the exercises to stay on track and wanted to play catch up. Needless to say that didn't work. There was no way I could have, or should have tried to play catch up. Some things just take time!February 2016: My OCD and perfectionism was GONE. It was insane! I never thought that would happen. I loosened up a bit in my life and had a little more fun with it. I started to understand the root cause of my "daddy issues" and trust issues and was healing. I was able to pinpoint some of my issues and discuss them with my therapist. At the time I also met a man who helped me see there are other wonderful men besides my ex (looking back my ex is a terrible person) and thought I attracted a man who is an upgrade from my previous one. Turns out he was better, but still not good enough for me (it was more of a mismatch of people and lack of maturity than him just not being good enough). In the book it said the universe would throw men at you to test you, and this was one of them!March 2016: I was doing great, but was raped in mid- March. Thanks to this book I've gained amazing coping skills, and was able to deal with it a lot better than anyone would have expected. If it wasn't for this book, I have no idea where I'd be in terms of emotional state. Things ended with the guy I met back in February in early March, and I started seeing someone from high school who was extremely wonderful to me. If it wasn't for him, my trust in men after being raped would have been gone all together. I honestly believe this book helped me attract him. (He had a lot of personal problems, so things ended in June of 2016, but he showed me how I wanted to be treated by a man, and I learned to walk away from things I am not ok with AKA serious deal breakers.)April & May 2016: I didn't get to do much with the book, because I was approaching college graduation and all the major projects were due, while I was also dealing with my emotional trauma and minor PTSD from the sexual assault in March. Life was simply too much. I did a few chapters here and there, which were extremely helpful, especially during harder times where depression and PTSD were taking over my life on top of the stress of my upcoming graduation. There was something really calming and soothing about doing the exercises in this book.June & July 2016: I dove right back into the book, and it helped me identify some things I needed to learn about myself, and about the rape, and how I enabled it in a way. I was always afraid to speak up in relationships because I was afraid that he would think I'm too difficult and walk away. I was raped by my ex after we were broken up for a year, and thanks to this book I've been able to take a million steps back and recognize that even though I said no, and by all means what he did was absolutely wrong, I never stood up for myself and truly spoke up and said no like I meant it, which in a way enabled it. I was always hiding and compromising, and no matter how many times God and the universe tried to show or tell me that I need to learn how to stand up for myself and take care of myself, I never took those opportunities. I saw those opportunities, and in my head I spoke up in a small grey mouse like voice, but I never actually spoke up. Because this incident was so terrible, and this book had an amazing chapter on "enabling others" I really learned that, and started speaking up for myself and not compromising on things I am not willing to compromise on. It forced me to figure out the things I am not willing to compromise on, and the things I would be willing to compromise on and to what degree.August 2016: I finished the book mid August. I met a wonderful, really wonderful man end of July/ early August. For the first time, I am dating someone who has the same or many similar interests, I actually like him as a person, rather than the chemistry between us. He treats me with respect, and the way I always envisioned to be treated. I feel extremely loved. For the first time I am not coming up with fantasies of what I would want out of the relationship and while spending time with him I am fully present in the moment rather than thinking about how I look and if what I'm doing is ok, etc like I used to. I am simply enjoying a good man and the relationship we have, even though we're still starting out.This book taught me so much about relationships, what they are really like, what is healthy and what is bad, how to make a relationship work, what I am looking for, what my needs are, what I am willing to compromise on and what deal breakers are for me. I learned how to stand up for myself and trust myself and men for the first time ever. Before this book, I was seriously broken, depressed and living in fantasies because my reality was too terrible to deal with without escapes. I feel whole now, and have resolved my "daddy issues" and I am a lot more willing to be vulnerable and trusting towards men. I still have some way to go, but I am over the biggest hump of it.Overall: I highly recommend this book to everyone! This book is more about healing yourself and becoming who you want to attract. You may not find "The One" in those 7 weeks, or however long it takes you to complete it, but it's about more than finding "The One" and you'll see that soon after starting the book. I happen to have gotten lucky with finding someone amazing during this course, but that wasn't my goal after I started the book.I will update if this turned out to be "The One" when appropriate :)

This book worked for me! Took me about 12 weeks to meet the love of my life and was married 18 months later! This book helps you to work through negative patterns and better understand what you want in life! You also work through past pain and set the stage for love. It is MAGIC!!! I rec it to all of my friends 🤍To make it work you have to make it work for you. Set aside 20 to 30 minutes of quiet time to really do the work each night.

Self-help books that help us nurse our wounds around failed relationships or failures to launch are readily available. Many help us reflect upon the perennial questions... Why?!, Why me??!, etc.It's hard for me to fully embrace this author, especially because she ended her own long-awaited marriage in divorce and because she is somewhat at the helm of the uber annoying "conscious uncoupling" movement. I am also not so sure of the readers who claim they "found the one" in 7 weeks...and are about to get married! If marriage and the hard knocks of life teach us anything it is that the wedding and the dazzle of it all are only moments, and love is meant to be a lasting resource that actively nurture because it is just what we want to do, need to do, for our own fulfillment.Perhaps that is why I love this book so much. Inasmuch as the author spends quite a bit of time outlining her own journey, she also weaves the path with quotes, anecdotes, and exercises that allow us to reflect on our own lives and our own stuckness around love. Each time I read and go through this book, it helps me shift my own "stuff" and let go of grudges (some I didn't even know I had), and gain more and more clarity about the gifts in my life, accept my circumstances, and keep striving for what I believe in. Above all, this book reminds me how much of a loving person I am. That I am better for having loved and continuing to love. The book reminds me that certain ties need to be undone in order to grow. It has a "Writing down the bones" or "Mystic Pizza" campy, hippy feel to it. I usually read it in bed, usually on rainy days with my journal and coffee near by.As I trudge along in this self development journey called life, this book helps me realize that I have complex feelings around love and the idea of love. It makes me reevaluate my own expectations. Above all, I realize that the more I cultivate true self love (at the level of the soul), the better my relationships with those around me and with my own life are.I think this is a good book to have and to incorporate as a tool for self-reflection from time to time. In all, the author draws widely and condenses the important lessons from many, many important books of this kind. Although I am not sure this book is all about finding love, it is clearly so much about finding the ability to love oneself and others. And ultimately, regardless of what did or did not happen in her personal life, I really value the work the author did to be vulnerable, share her truth, and bring this particular gift to the world.