Product Description

Martha Woodroof is an award-winning broadcast reporter whose stories are heard on National Public Radio and Marketplace. How to Stop Screwing Up is her account of how she used the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous not just to deal with her addictions, but to stop screwing her life up in many other ways as well. Woodroof cheerfully lays out the Twelve Steps (long the hallowed turf of those recovering from addictions) as a workable guide for anyone who wishes to replace a bad habit with a good one. A true storyteller, Woodroof weaves personal anecdotes - from wacky to worrisome to whimsical - among practical suggestions for working each step. Perhaps most refreshing, How to Stop Screwing Up encourages readers to work the steps privately and at their own pace, without any reliance on public disclosure or the dogma of religion. Woodroof's unique spiritual connection with her own Higher Power, whom she's dubbed "Alice," has filled an enormous void in her own life, and she encourages readers to solidify such a relationship in their own personally comfortable way. How to Stop Screwing Up fuses humor with humility, drawing on popular culture, Popeye and poetry to create a comfortable, even cozy, context for some startling insights delivered by a very fresh voice.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #789360 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-26
• Released on: 2007-02-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 184 pages

From Publishers Weekly
With the self-deprecating humor and forgiving but no-nonsense attitude familiar to anyone with friends in AA, Woodroof, an NPR reporter and recovering alcoholic and drug abuser, gives readers "mystified by some aspect of [their] own behavior" step-by-step instructions for pulling their lives together. She calls the 12 steps "a proven way for those of us who keep screwing up to develop a healthy thinking and living process," and devotes a chapter to each step, advising readers on how to accept their own screwups; admit that they "can't quit doing it on their own"; nurture their belief in, and communication with, the God of their understanding; tell the truth, to themselves and others; expect quiet "miracles of change"; and "welcome serenity." She supports her advice with stories from her own life, mingling the funny and quirky (Woodroof calls her God "Alice") with encouragement and inspiration. The book's message is valid, but Woodroof's naïve dismissal of the efficacy of other methods to solve difficult psychological problems undermines her credibility, and she never mentions the important social-support function that meetings serve in 12 Step programs. Nevertheless, the book will be helpful to people who are comfortable with exploring a God-centered method of finding inner peace. (Apr.)
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Customer Reviews

A profound and helpful life-changing manual
Award-winning National Public Radio broadcast reporter and survivor of hitting rock-bottom Martha Woodroof presents How To Stop Screwing Up: 12 Steps to a Real Life and a Pretty Good Time, a straightforward guide to turning one's life around from a woman who did precisely that. Chapters address how to recognize that one's screwups are causing harm, stop using excuses and speak only the truth, make amends with the people one has harmed, committing oneself to practicing positive principles in everyday life, and more. How To Stop Screwing Up also acknowledges the role of spiritual power beyond oneself in aiding recovery: "I accept that there is an unfathomable power greater than myself that can help me, but I do not have to call this power 'God.'" A profound and helpful life-changing manual to breaking free from destructive patterns.

12 Steps for Everybody
After stopping drinking now what? I learned that the 12 steps can be used for improving anything in a person's life. A fifty pound weight loss, greater prosperity, smoke and caffeine free are all goals I have reached using the 12 steps. Martha's book with humor and fun expands my experience with the 12 steps. My current project is to work through the exercises that she provides after each chapter of this book to improve my relationships. Get this book it offers insights not always found in other 12 step material.
Please visit me at [...] for further information. Another excellent addictions resource is "Stop It" by Carole Lewis