Idealist Coach: Strategic Life Coaching & Consulting

Naked Idealism: Expose Your Authentic Side and Create a Sustainable Life and World

(By Dave Wheitner, available online here starting June 20, 2008)

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“Wheitner guides readers on a fascinating and fun journey of self-realization so that our vision can be realized…If you have ever longed for a life well lived, let Dave Wheitner and Naked Idealism show you how to achieve it and enjoy every step on your way there.”
- Jo Stepaniak, author or co-author of 16 books on compassionate and sustainable living

Do you dream of a sustainable and just world, but also desire more happiness, direction, balance, or fulfillment? Perhaps you work or volunteer in an idealist field and feel like an overwhelmed martyr, or perhaps you earn a decent paycheck but want a more meaningful career. Maybe you’re a current or aspiring progressive leader, a concerned citizen, or a student seeking more focus and impact. Maybe you long to bring forgotten ideals, dreams, or creative talents back into your life, or know someone who does.

In promoting ideals like environmental awareness, social justice, peace, and respect for all living things, we often neglect ourselves. We forget who we are and what we want. We may even alienate ourselves from others, including those who could help us most. This is an unfortunate irony, because we can make a much greater difference when we’re enjoying our own lives!

To answer these needs, Naked Idealism refreshes us with an approach to authentic living that supports both personal fulfillment and a sustainable, just world. Integrating tools from several disciplines, it outlines models and exercises to expose our authentic core, define what’s important to us, integrate our personal and community-level visions, and relate to the world more genuinely and effectively. It even asks us to examine our intentions for doing good. Are we past political correctness yet? We’re not alone, as Wheitner candidly shares his own struggles.

Alongside playful humor reminding us not to take life too seriously, we learn from tales of Wheitner’s own circuitous journey toward authenticity. Cross-country adventures, a peculiar rainwater irrigation system, vocal percussion, vegetarianism and veganism, and even a backyard abandoned coal mine make appearances. In the end, both altruism and selfishness - with just a little more nakedness - may save the day.

Subscribe to receive e-mail notification when the book is available, and to access a free chapter with tools on clarifying your life purpose.

“I’ve read self help books before, and they’ve always been about problem solving. Those books were telling me what to do with the problems in my life, but they weren’t helping me achieve my dreams. With Dave’s book, he was telling me to think about what I really want, not what I should want. Even better, he was telling me that reaching for what I really want was how to be truly successful and help the world. Dave’s book…has given me a new way to reach for and achieve my goals.”
- Melody Platz, Writer