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What Do You Really Want?: 7 Questions That Can Unlock the Answers to a Life Full of Abundance, Meaning, and Connection
Successful entrepreneur and life coach Cayla Craft reveals to readers the seven questions that can unlock a new paradigm for dreaming, envisioning, and activating the life story they want to live. We all want to experience great joy, peace, and love in our lives. We all want to find our true purpose and live an abundant life. But to do that, we have to first ask ourselves a few questions and get to know someone who we might be unconsciously allowing to drive our our younger selves. Cayla Craft was working as an ER nurse when she realized that she was unconsciously believing a lot of unhelpful narratives about herself that were influencing her everyday life. She started getting honest with herself and answered some tough questions, trying get to know the “little me” who was making a lot of the decisions in her adult life. This realization led to her quitting her day job and developing the Take 7 approach to personal growth and fulfillment that has helped thousands of women live their best lives. In What Do You Really Want? , Cayla guides readers through the seven questions that can change everything and shows them how to When you learn to use this self-coaching method, you’ll discover the more enriching, deeply fulfilled life that God intended you to have. What Do You Really Want? goes beyond current explanations about how narratives shape us and helps readers discover the questions they should be asking so they can use those answers to inspire a transformation in their lives and the lives of others.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published March 5, 2024
5 people are currently reading
4199 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 12, 2024
I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway. I was expecting more from this book. I didn’t realize it was a book mostly meant for women entrepreneurs who want to take their business to the next level. There was more focus on money than on meaning or connection. I guess the abundance only refers to financial abundance. Also, if you are not Christian, you may be put off by this book. There are quite a few references to God, Jesus and the Bible. If that’s not your thing, this may not be the book for you. I found the juxtaposition of God and financial abundance a bit jarring, but that’s just me. It is a quick read as it isn’t too long.
March 17, 2024
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
"When did you start accepting less than you deserve?" Wow. That was pivotal. This book is illuminating in getting to the root of toxicity in our lives and the need to trace it back to its origins in order ro break the cycle.
"When did you start accepting less than you deserve?" Wow. That was pivotal. This book is illuminating in getting to the root of toxicity in our lives and the need to trace it back to its origins in order ro break the cycle.
February 14, 2024
Straightforward self-help, self-guided and faith-based. You might get more out of this than I did if you consider yourself religious.
Thanks to Netgalley for the arc to review.
Thanks to Netgalley for the arc to review.
February 1, 2024
Cayla Craft's 'What Do You Really Want?: 7 Questions That Can Unlock the Answers to a Life Full of Abundance, Meaning, and Connection' is a powerful guide to reclaiming control of our lives. Craft's empowering message emphasizes the transformative nature of choices, urging us to consciously decide what aspects of our past shape our present and future. As someone who was not taught to embrace my emotions, Craft helped me create a shift to see emotions as a superpower, emphasizing the freedom to feel without judgment. Craft's wisdom culminates in the reminder that we hold the pen to our life story, with each choice propelling us towards our intentions. I found this to be a compelling read for those seeking inspiration and a renewed sense of agency. I felt myself inspired throughout, and can't wait to recommend and purchase for many others in my life!
Thank you to NetGalley and Nelson Books for the advanced review copy.
Thank you to NetGalley and Nelson Books for the advanced review copy.
April 10, 2024
This self-help book has a lot of great advice for how people can better align their lives with their true goals and desires. Cayla Craft shares personal anecdotes and stories from her clients to illustrate different points, and the book is a fast, engaging read. However, the title and description make this sound far broader than it is. This book mainly focuses on wealth-building and business success, not life in general.
This book offers a mix of secular self-help principles, Christian themes, and psychological ideas. There's so much religious language in this book that it will be a turn-off to secular readers, but there's not much depth for Christian readers. For the most part, the author is just using spiritual language as a surface-level gloss over her ideas, and she often uses Christian terms to justify things without digging deeper to see how they do or don't fit with a biblical worldview.
For example, when she responds to the potential critique that caring for your inner child is "woo woo," she simply says that if you're successful with this and your life improves, then God gets the glory! She doesn't engage with whether or not it fits with a Christian worldview. She simply says that the end justifies the means, instead of suggesting ways that this can fit within your belief system. I believe that caring for your inner child fits perfectly well with Christianity, because God created you, loves you, and knows every version of you. He is eternal and outside of time, and he knows and loves every version of us that we've ever been. Why couldn't the author say something like this, instead of telling you to check your objections at the door because you can praise God if things work out well?
Craft borrows ideas from Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, talking about ways that people can engage with their inner child and recognize how they can integrate different versions of their past selves to help them heal, instead of making dysfunctional or unfulfilling choices based on their past fears and traumas. She includes a couple warnings about how some people may need a therapist's help with this, but bases a lot of the book's self-help content on this therapy system.
IFS goes beyond simply thinking about your inner child, and can potentially open up a lot of traumatic issues related to different parts of yourself. I felt uncomfortable with how much of the book relied on this therapeutic system, because even though I think it can be very helpful, the author is not a trauma therapist, and I think that this book can potentially open really difficult cans of worms for readers who don't realize how much this will stir things up.
Throughout the book, Craft's messages sometime aligns with a Christian worldview, and sometime diverge from it. Either way, she's mainly sharing general self-help and therapeutic ideas with lots of shallow, side references to God. She also communicates lots of prosperity gospel ideas, writing with an expectation that material riches and success in all areas of life are attainable with the right mindset and enough faith. She doesn't sufficiently acknowledge circumstances that may be outside of someone's control, and she assumes that God's blessings will always come through increasing measures of worldly success.
It's not always possible for someone to unlock new levels of wealth and happiness, and even though she shares lots of nice success stories in this book, not everyone's efforts to start a business or reinvent themselves work out. This book truly shares lots of great advice about how to dream new dreams and pursue big goals, but even though someone can read this with discernment and take away the good messages while discarding the bad, this book pervasively communicates false, unhealthy expectations. There's no acknowledgment that suffering may be an ongoing reality, not just the backstory to future wealth and success, and the book focuses so majorly on financial wealth that there isn't much insight about reimagining and improving other areas of your life.
Also, even though the cover, title, and description make this book appear gender-neutral, this is written for women. The anecdotal examples are about women only, and the author assumes that her readers are all female, referring to them as women throughout the book. I found this strange, since the book's content can apply to anyone, and since nothing about the book's marketing implies an exclusively female audience.
This book is best for female readers who want to reinvent themselves and pursue new work and business opportunities, especially if they are entrepreneurs. There's a lot of good advice here about how to ask yourself deep questions that unearth your true passions and goals, especially if you've been so focused on staying afloat that you've committed to a path that isn't fulfilling to you. This book shares helpful advice and illuminating prompts, and includes additional reflection questions for readers to ponder. This is the kind of book where the more you put into it, the more you'll get out of it. Because of the critiques I've explained above, I wouldn't really recommend this, but there's a lot of great content for readers who can take the good and leave the bad.
I received a free copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.
This book offers a mix of secular self-help principles, Christian themes, and psychological ideas. There's so much religious language in this book that it will be a turn-off to secular readers, but there's not much depth for Christian readers. For the most part, the author is just using spiritual language as a surface-level gloss over her ideas, and she often uses Christian terms to justify things without digging deeper to see how they do or don't fit with a biblical worldview.
For example, when she responds to the potential critique that caring for your inner child is "woo woo," she simply says that if you're successful with this and your life improves, then God gets the glory! She doesn't engage with whether or not it fits with a Christian worldview. She simply says that the end justifies the means, instead of suggesting ways that this can fit within your belief system. I believe that caring for your inner child fits perfectly well with Christianity, because God created you, loves you, and knows every version of you. He is eternal and outside of time, and he knows and loves every version of us that we've ever been. Why couldn't the author say something like this, instead of telling you to check your objections at the door because you can praise God if things work out well?
Craft borrows ideas from Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, talking about ways that people can engage with their inner child and recognize how they can integrate different versions of their past selves to help them heal, instead of making dysfunctional or unfulfilling choices based on their past fears and traumas. She includes a couple warnings about how some people may need a therapist's help with this, but bases a lot of the book's self-help content on this therapy system.
IFS goes beyond simply thinking about your inner child, and can potentially open up a lot of traumatic issues related to different parts of yourself. I felt uncomfortable with how much of the book relied on this therapeutic system, because even though I think it can be very helpful, the author is not a trauma therapist, and I think that this book can potentially open really difficult cans of worms for readers who don't realize how much this will stir things up.
Throughout the book, Craft's messages sometime aligns with a Christian worldview, and sometime diverge from it. Either way, she's mainly sharing general self-help and therapeutic ideas with lots of shallow, side references to God. She also communicates lots of prosperity gospel ideas, writing with an expectation that material riches and success in all areas of life are attainable with the right mindset and enough faith. She doesn't sufficiently acknowledge circumstances that may be outside of someone's control, and she assumes that God's blessings will always come through increasing measures of worldly success.
It's not always possible for someone to unlock new levels of wealth and happiness, and even though she shares lots of nice success stories in this book, not everyone's efforts to start a business or reinvent themselves work out. This book truly shares lots of great advice about how to dream new dreams and pursue big goals, but even though someone can read this with discernment and take away the good messages while discarding the bad, this book pervasively communicates false, unhealthy expectations. There's no acknowledgment that suffering may be an ongoing reality, not just the backstory to future wealth and success, and the book focuses so majorly on financial wealth that there isn't much insight about reimagining and improving other areas of your life.
Also, even though the cover, title, and description make this book appear gender-neutral, this is written for women. The anecdotal examples are about women only, and the author assumes that her readers are all female, referring to them as women throughout the book. I found this strange, since the book's content can apply to anyone, and since nothing about the book's marketing implies an exclusively female audience.
This book is best for female readers who want to reinvent themselves and pursue new work and business opportunities, especially if they are entrepreneurs. There's a lot of good advice here about how to ask yourself deep questions that unearth your true passions and goals, especially if you've been so focused on staying afloat that you've committed to a path that isn't fulfilling to you. This book shares helpful advice and illuminating prompts, and includes additional reflection questions for readers to ponder. This is the kind of book where the more you put into it, the more you'll get out of it. Because of the critiques I've explained above, I wouldn't really recommend this, but there's a lot of great content for readers who can take the good and leave the bad.
I received a free copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.
August 7, 2024
If you are considering hiring Cayla as your life coach, this is a great long-form advertisement. Otherwise, I think there are better quality self-help books. Her "Seven Spokes" is the key message here (health, romance, family, social, etc). The rest of the book is cliches (Think it and you can become it, create a vision board, invest money, pay with cash) and Christian New Testament passages.
I think this book is best suited for SWFs who struggle with aligning Christian patriarchy to their personal achievement. If you know someone that needs to hear things like, "your success is all in service to the greater glory of God," you could get them this book.
There are a few blanks in the book where you can write simple answers to simple questions (1-10 scale of how your life is going), but very little actionable advice. You'll need a different book if you actually want to do some work on yourself by yourself. Maybe consider Master Your Mindpower: A User Manual For Your Mind & The Ultimate Guide To Mental Toughness or one of my personal favorites: Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World.
I think this book is best suited for SWFs who struggle with aligning Christian patriarchy to their personal achievement. If you know someone that needs to hear things like, "your success is all in service to the greater glory of God," you could get them this book.
There are a few blanks in the book where you can write simple answers to simple questions (1-10 scale of how your life is going), but very little actionable advice. You'll need a different book if you actually want to do some work on yourself by yourself. Maybe consider Master Your Mindpower: A User Manual For Your Mind & The Ultimate Guide To Mental Toughness or one of my personal favorites: Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World.
March 22, 2024
If you want your SOUL to feel heard, Get this Book now 💗
I picked it up less than a week ago and couldn't put it down. I had to intentionally slow down while reading it.
It's beautifully written. Great stories and real life examples. It speaks to your soul. I've cried. Highlighted. Dog-eared. Taken notes. Written all over the book.
If you are going through some healing
If you are in some sort of stuff and transitions
If you feel like you are in mud
If you feel like what is wrong
with me why can't I just move
If you feel like my dreams are too crazy wild
If you feel alone
If you feel consumed by all your mental toughness yet somehow stuckness
Get this book and do the work inside it.
Sit with it.
Think with it.
Process with it.
It's amazing.
It's helpful.
It's empowering.
It's real.
This book will help you unearth some newfound awareness, understanding and renew your sense of self.
Thank you for writing this Cayla. It's a gift. 💗🙏🏼 Robyn Tanner
I picked it up less than a week ago and couldn't put it down. I had to intentionally slow down while reading it.
It's beautifully written. Great stories and real life examples. It speaks to your soul. I've cried. Highlighted. Dog-eared. Taken notes. Written all over the book.
If you are going through some healing
If you are in some sort of stuff and transitions
If you feel like you are in mud
If you feel like what is wrong
with me why can't I just move
If you feel like my dreams are too crazy wild
If you feel alone
If you feel consumed by all your mental toughness yet somehow stuckness
Get this book and do the work inside it.
Sit with it.
Think with it.
Process with it.
It's amazing.
It's helpful.
It's empowering.
It's real.
This book will help you unearth some newfound awareness, understanding and renew your sense of self.
Thank you for writing this Cayla. It's a gift. 💗🙏🏼 Robyn Tanner
April 9, 2024
Wow… this was a phenomenal read. So many enlightening pearls of wisdom and helpful exercises throughout the book that put the author’s concepts into practice so you can follow along and internalize her lessons. I found so much value in connecting and catering to my inner child, which was emphasized throughout the book. The author devised a simple but powerful technique that allows you to reflect and realize what isn’t serving you in the present, understand when and why you started accepting those truths, nurture your younger self and tell her what she needs to hear to move past this block, change your perspective by finding gratitude in the experience, and then strategize what the best next actionable step is that will get you closer in alignment with what you deeply feel called and excited to do. I am grateful for the opportunity to read this book and am excited to have these tools in my toolbox as I build the life I want.
March 23, 2024
Sometimes books come along at the perfect time. I’ve been feeling very stuck lately. Just getting through the day with very little effort. I hate feeling like this. I am not helpful to my family, I’m very irritable, constantly not feeling well, the list goes on of all the blah-di-dah’s that happen. I found this new book from Cayla Craft.
The book had some very important questions that I really needed to work on for myself. Along with springtime flowers, I will be letting some new things grow. This book is fantastic for anyone wondering what’s next?, can I get out of this funk? or how can I get unstuck?
I’m so grateful Cayla wrote this as I can now use it in my daily life.
The book had some very important questions that I really needed to work on for myself. Along with springtime flowers, I will be letting some new things grow. This book is fantastic for anyone wondering what’s next?, can I get out of this funk? or how can I get unstuck?
I’m so grateful Cayla wrote this as I can now use it in my daily life.
May 8, 2024
I won a copy of this in a Goodreads giveaway.
First - the marketing department really didn't know what to do with this one and got it completely wrong. This book focuses on wealth-building and business success only, which is not the way it is marketed or advertised and if it had been, I never would have entered the giveaway in the first place.
Second - this book is for people who drink the koolaid. It's religious. It's interspersed with bible quotes. And it's for people who are okay with a really chummy tone, best described as "used car salesman smarmy."
All in all - gross.
First - the marketing department really didn't know what to do with this one and got it completely wrong. This book focuses on wealth-building and business success only, which is not the way it is marketed or advertised and if it had been, I never would have entered the giveaway in the first place.
Second - this book is for people who drink the koolaid. It's religious. It's interspersed with bible quotes. And it's for people who are okay with a really chummy tone, best described as "used car salesman smarmy."
All in all - gross.
August 21, 2024
This is not a long book, but it contains a surprising amount of wisdom. The author guides you through different questions that can change the way you look at your life. It is written in a clear and straightforward manner and has lots of examples and exercises. The author also shares her personal experiences of challenge and growth. This book has a religious bent, but I didn’t find it to be preachy. It’s an excellent gift for someone who is feeling stuck and wants something better.
I received this book from Goodreads and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book from Goodreads and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
August 9, 2024
I am obsessed with Cayla! I love her platform. Her desire for all woman and marriages to live abundant. She has a heart for God and an energy that pushes you into believing in your success and potential! I was introduced to her podcasts by a friend which led to her instagram, YouTube, Facebook and even her coaching programs and BOOK! I also bought it for my niece who graduated High School! I couldn’t think of a better gift for a girl taking her first steps into adult hood! I hope Cayla writes another book! ♥️♥️♥️ love her!
April 2, 2024
Just read Awaken the Giant Within.
November 11, 2024
I loved the tangible applications
January 9, 2025
I could have enjoyed this more without all the religion basing for my championing my life.
January 28, 2025
Good advice but too many drawn out personal stories for my liking. The last chapter was my favorite. Valuable insight if you have time to listen to all the stories.
March 4, 2025
Fantastic book diving into navigating an abundant life through God and His ways!
September 21, 2025
Not my fav. Too many third party stories, not enough substance.
April 6, 2024
I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley.
Cayla Craft asks us to consider 7 Guiding Questions in order to achieve the success in life we want. One of the main ones is to consider "What does 'Little Me' - the younger version of ourselves - want/need?" or what is it that was left unsettled from our younger lives that keeps popping up.
This is a great, quick read. I can see myself pulling it out next time I need to solve an issue in my own life. Although I was reading a digital version, it showed some pages where somebody with a physical book could take notes to begin to work through the 7-step process.
Cayla Craft asks us to consider 7 Guiding Questions in order to achieve the success in life we want. One of the main ones is to consider "What does 'Little Me' - the younger version of ourselves - want/need?" or what is it that was left unsettled from our younger lives that keeps popping up.
This is a great, quick read. I can see myself pulling it out next time I need to solve an issue in my own life. Although I was reading a digital version, it showed some pages where somebody with a physical book could take notes to begin to work through the 7-step process.
April 29, 2025
I really enjoyed reading this book, although I had health issues going on , I was finally able to finish it and I'm now passing it on to someone who I will know will enjoy it as much as me. Thank you !
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews