Emily P. Freeman is my author soul-sister. In addition to sharing a name, she always seems to write about the exact topics that are relevant to my life at just the right time.

Making decisions, especially difficult ones, is something everyone can relate to, however Emily approaches it in such a gentle and affirming way, giving you a guide to become more confident in your ability to make a choice. I wanted to highlight it as I read, but then I would have ended up highlighting every sentence! Not only was the content of the book valuable, Emily’s writing style is so beautiful and I truly enjoyed reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Revell, and author Emily P. Freeman for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

If you’ve listened to #thenextrightthingpodcast, then you’ve gotten a taste of what this book is meant to do: create space for your soul to breathe. If you ever feel overwhelmed with life or face decision fatigue, then you especially have to check this book out. It is practical and soulful, and the exact thing I’ve been needing to read. Don’t you love how books find us at just the right time?

"Emily Freeman's book The Next Right Thing is exactly the next right thing I needed to read! I have issues with decision-making.

Example: We were new in town. I was at the grocery store with my 14-month-old. I was trying to get my cart down the aisle but two women going in the opposite directions paused to chat about Saturday's soccer game. When I was finally able to approach the cereal section, I was so overwhelmed. Maybe it's just me, but there used to be only a handful of cereal options. On this particular day, they seemed to have stocked up on every option available on the planet. I had no idea what I wanted.

I'm generally a people-pleaser so I tend to overthink the choice that would make the most people happy. Then I mull over what would happen if it ends up being the wrong choice. So many people would be impacted. I'm thankful for Emily's gentle and guiding words to help me better understand how to make that next decision so that I can be at peace with the decision-making process and the choice no matter what the outcome. How can we prayerfully discern where God wants us to be in the big and small decisions? The Next Right Thing is the perfect resource to make things easier."

THE NEXT RIGHT THING BY EMILY P. FREEMAN – 5 STARS

Emily Freeman is my therapist, she just doesn’t know it (lol jk). All jokes aside, The Next Right Thing was a beautiful guide through decision-making and life change, full of hope and wisdom from God’s Word and trusted sources along the way. I feel certain that I will pick this one up again.

As a chronically hesitant, people pleasing perfectionist, I felt as though this book was written just for me. Emily P. Freeman has been one of my greatest teachers when it comes to slowing down, processing well, and embracing my real, every day life. Freeman knows that the decisions we make aren't just a reflection of who we are, but they also form us into the people we will become. Far from your typical self-help book, The Next Right Thing kindly and gently shows readers the way to process and make decisions with beauty and joy and wholeness in mind. I couldn't recommend it more highly.

Have you ever been overwhelmed by goals, dreams, and and daily tasks? Emily's advice? Stop worrying about the future, and just do the next right thing. This seems like such a simple concept, but there is something so revolutionary about it and about the way that Emily presents it. This book is incredibly helpful for anyone who is looking to make a decision, or who is pursuing a future that they aren't completely sure of. She uses so much biblical wisdom to reinforce her point, always bringing you back to truth.

I like planners. I like buying them, and buying pens to write with in them, and making lists, and forgetting to check things off.
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But life does this annoying thing where I don’t know what’s coming up in a year, or six months, or two weeks. I don’t have control over a lot of things in my life, and that makes it hard to make big decisions.
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I get anxious about the future easily, and it helps to have someone tell me things will turn out okay. Sometimes that someone is Emily P. Freeman while I listen to her podcast, The Next Right Thing. She gives me small bites of wisdom in her calm voice and reminds me that God is in charge, not me, but I can do my very next right thing in love if I slow down and pay attention.
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This book is just like that, a concrete reminder of things that matter. If you sometimes get caught up in worrying and wondering...take the time to pause, listen, and maybe ask for some advice. There is plenty to be found if you seek it out.

With a voice that sounds like one of your dearest, most trusted friends, Emily gives your soul permission to take a deep breath and make YOUR next right step. Her words both soften and empower. Before I made it through two or three chapters, I made a couple of really important decisions. One of my favorite parts of the book are the prayer and practice sections at the end of each chapter; they were so insightful and led me to do some great personal reflection. Don’t hesitate to purchase this book. I can already tell it will be one I reference again and again.

This book was helpful to me because it gave such an easy and practical way to focus on what is most important. I recommended this book to my book club recently, it is worth your time.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and I am so grateful. The ease with which Emily presents truth and wisdom is like a balm for the soul. I am currently in a season of life change. This book gave me more than practical bits of help and powerful prayers. It gave me permission to strive less and seek more, all while resting in the presence of the Father. This will be a staple in my library and a gift to my friends who are experiencing major life changes. This is minimalism for the soul, a safe uncluttered place to land and find hope.

One of my favorite books of the year! I loved the gentle way Freeman led me through self-examination in a way that was spirit led instead of naval gazing. Definitely a book I'm happy to have on my shelf to read again!

Emily P Freeman has been one of my favorite authors for a long, long time. Especially as being a part of hope*writers, i adore gleaning from her wisdom each week & whenever I read her books, emails, and blogs. I love that this book came from her podcast episodes so it's already been tested and tried in her own life and with instant feedback from her listeners. I remember reading that there was so much content that didn't make it into the book because of the podcast, so you know this is the best of the best and what we need to know to do our next right thing. I read this when it released nearly 2 years ago right as I was making a huge life transition that prompted me to move and start training for a new job, among many other personal things. This book affirmed my decisions even more because I knew I couldn't be the best I could be without making these decisions toward a life-giving day to day. We make thousands of decisions each day & by utilizing the information and steps Emily shares, we can make better, soul and life giving decisions that truly refresh us, that we don't dread or regret later, but that move us toward where we want to be, doing our next right thing. Learn to slow down and listen to life right in front of it as it shows you, and God guides you, to do your next right thing.

I've been a listener to Emily P. Freeman's podcast for a long time and have enjoyed this book so much. As someone who struggles to make decisions, this book is a wonderful mixture of practical trips and ideas to cultivate calm.

Decisions can be hard, and decision fatigue is real. Emily P. Freeman guides us with wise words from her own experience, her research, and of course the Bible.

Excellent, excellent book. I can't say enough good things about it. I return to it again and again, and I have given it as a graduation gift to several people. They too enjoyed it.

I absolutely love the way that Emily writes, it's personable and light but reflective as well. I needed this book at the right time and will definitely re-read this book over and over. So thoughtful, honest and open. The Next Right Thing helps so much when making even the "smallest" of decisions. Her podcast goes along with it as well and if you haven't heard of it, please go take a listen!

The tagline of the book and the podcast of the same name is making space for your soul to breathe. This book absolutely fulfills that expectation of the reader. Each time I sat down to read it I would feel myself calm and my heart rate slow down. I could feel the presence of Jesus with me. To get the full effect I would recommend the print copy or the audio book done in Emily's own soothing voice. I thought it was going to be more of a devotional type book where each of the chapters weren't necessarily related to each other and you would read 1 a day. You could certainly read 1 chapter a day, but the chapters are connected and build on one another to create a decision making process as fully formed as one can be. I bought 2 of her other books after reading this one.

There are a couple of authors who I have a mild stalkery relationship with. I check often to see if they are speaking in New England, I pre-order all the books, I listen to the podcasts etc. Emily P Freeman is one of those authors. I have been hooked on her ever since reading A Million Little Ways, in which she described my life as art, a poem to our creator. Her book Simply Tuesday got me out of the spiritual funk that was blooming when I was done having my babies. So I was ridiculously excited when I found out that her next book was coming out, and was going to be based on the same premise as her fabulous podcast, enter The Next Right Thing.

Just quickly, if you haven’t listened to her podcast, you really should start. I listen to it in the mornings while I’m getting the kids food ready for the day and it just starts me off right, no matter which side of the bed I woke up on. Plus she has one of those David Attenborough, Morgan Freeman kind of voices, soothing without making you sleepy, and utterly trustworthy, like you’re sitting in front of a fire chatting together.

But I digress, I received a digital copy of Emily’s book in advance from her publisher, and have been peeling it back like an onion over the past week or two. The premise is much the same as the podcast, if you have decision fatigue or chronic hesitation, if making a decision weighs you down instead of freeing you, Emily’s purpose is to give your soul room to breathe and discern the next right thing in love. Honestly, when listening to the podcast and reading the book, I have absolutely no decisions to make. I’m in a good job, I’m done having kids, they are all in their various schools, our vacations are booked, my marriage is healthy, my church is constant. But even though I have no pressing decisions, major or minor, Emily’s words are like a balm to my soul. I stress over the little things. I catastrophize my own life with every new episode of Grey’s Anatomy. I spend way too much time thinking about what I’d do with that fantasy megabucks win. I once spent far too long at a conference agonizing over whether to bring my large physical bible, or just use the one on my Kindle. Far. Too. Long. In short, I am fatigued by things that don’t exist, and Emily, step by step, has walked me back from that in several key areas. Having the book as a companion to the podcast is like having a map in hand, even though you know the vague direction you are going.

When you catch a tiny glimpse of the future, be sure not to smother it with your own agenda. Let it breathe. Let it grow at a healthy pace. Admit it’s both delightful and terrifying. As you take your next right step today, trust God won’t let you miss your own future. Follow the arrows.

The chapters are not cumbersome, but are perfectly set up to take one chunk at a time, though I confess to having devoured the first six or seven in a single setting. Each has the same structure, which provides a great rhythm for how you approach the subject at hand. It begins with a quote, my favorite comes at the beginning of chapter nineteen: Come Home To Yourself:

It’s a wild and wonderful thing to bump into someone and realize it’s you. – Fil Anderson

I had the experience of bumping into myself recently. My Dr prescribed a mild anti-depressant to help deal with some chronic headaches, and in the week that followed as my body re-adjusted itself to the medicine, I realized that physical pain had not been the only impediment, mild anxiety had slipped into every area of my life. Cue the arrival of this book too. I met myself again, in the pages of The Next Right Thing as the tea and medicine started to work on my soul.

Emily then explains the nutshell of each quote through personal anecdote, many you will be familiar with if you have listened to the podcast, and through biblical illustration. She ends always with a prayer and a practice. Spirit and body. Being the prayer but also the hands of Jesus.

A prayer: Redirecting your mind, heart and soul, towards God and away from self.

We admit we’d like to know the plan before we agree to it, but we’re beginning to understand that’s not really how you roll.

A practice: Some simple suggestions of next steps that could be taken, an encouragement that bite size is your best step forward as you navigate the world around you.

If you are facing down a big decision in your life, perhaps your next right thing is to ask yourself the question, in this decision, am I being pushed by fear or led by love?

I highlighted so much in this book, and as I look over my notes again, I am struck by the simplicity and poetry of Emily’s words. She has a clarifying turn of phrase and there is a soothing tone to all of her instruction and admonition, most of which is turned upon herself. I am as delighted with this book as I have been with the podcast, and it was well worth the wait for it to grow into the valuable book that it is. It should be high on anybody’s reading list this year.

Emily Freeman is a friend in my head. I feel like I know her, but I don't. Her monthly emails are always timely and rich. This book was no different. I read this before all this pandemic business happened, but I think it's such a good reminder, now especially, to just do the next right thing. Some days that's all we have to do and that's all we CAN do. A sweet, little instruction guide for life.

Once again, Emily P. Freeman's shines in her latest book, The Next Right Thing. I'm an avid listener of her podcast, and I loved it in book form as well! Her words are so encouraging as she helps us to consider not the overwhelm of the big picture, but just the next right thing. Her book has really inspired me personally and professionally, and I'm so thankful I have been able to read all of her books. After I read my digital copy, I had to buy the book so I could go back and annotate and underline the parts that spoke to me. Then I purchased copies for several of my friends -- it's that fantastic!

An incredibly enlightening book, The Next Right Thing is helpful in making decisions. Meant to be read and absorbed time and again, this book is a must-read.