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12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You Paperback – April 30, 2017
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Do You Control Your Phone—Or Does Your Phone Control You?
Within a few years of its unveiling, the smartphone had become part of us, fully integrated into the daily patterns of our lives. Never offline, always within reach, we now wield in our hands a magic wand of technological power we have only begun to grasp. But it raises new enigmas, too. Never more connected, we seem to be growing more distant. Never more efficient, we have never been more distracted.
Drawing from the insights of numerous thinkers, published studies, and his own research, writer Tony Reinke identifies twelve potent ways our smartphones have changed us—for good and bad. Reinke calls us to cultivate wise thinking and healthy habits in the digital age, encouraging us to maximize the many blessings, to avoid the various pitfalls, and to wisely wield the most powerful gadget of human connection ever unleashed.
- Print length224 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherCrossway
- Publication dateApril 30, 2017
- Dimensions5.5 x 0.56 x 8.5 inches
- ISBN-101433552434
- ISBN-13978-1433552434
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More Books By Tony Reinke
Tony Reinke is a journalist and serves as senior teacher and host of the Ask Pastor Johnpodcast for desiringGod.org. He is the author of Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading Books; 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You; and God, Technology, and the Christian Life.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Are Christians using technology to transform the world or is technology transforming Christians in unhealthy ways? Especially since the era of Franklin and Jefferson, when inventing things and technological ways of organizing things became a way of life, Christians have needed to be alert to such questions. Tony Reinke’s reflections on the smartphone offer helpful advice as to how people today need to be vigilant regarding the impact of their favorite new technologies.”
―George M. Marsden, author, C. S. Lewis’s “Mere Christianity”: A Biography
“12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You is an incredibly convicting and profoundly insightful read. Smartphones have become a part of our lives, but Tony explores the devastation to the human mind and soul due to devotion to technology. He calls us to examine not merely the use of our smartphones but the motives that inspire it. This is a necessary book for our generation, to remind us that our phone habits will either amplify or get in the way of our most important longing of all: the soul-satisfying glory of our Savior.”
―Jackie Hill Perry, author; Bible teacher; hip-hop artist
“In contrast to the television that dominates the modern living room, the smartphone is typically far less conspicuous in its presence. Perhaps on account of this subtle unobtrusiveness, surprisingly few have devoted sustained reflection to the effect this now ubiquitous technology is having on our lives. In this book, Tony Reinke plucks these devices from the penumbra of our critical awareness and subjects them to the searching light of Christian wisdom. The result is an often sobering assessment of the effect they are having on our lives, accompanied by much prudent and practical counsel for mastering them. This is a timely and thoughtful treatment of a profoundly important issue, a book that should be prescribed to every Christian smartphone owner for the sake of our spiritual health.”
―Alastair J. Roberts, Adjunct Senior Fellow, Theopolis Institute
“Tony Reinke’s 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You is one of the most important little books a twenty-first-century Christian could read. Highly recommended.”
―Bruce Riley Ashford, Professor of Theology and Culture, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; coauthor, The Gospel of Our King
“For many, the phone is an object of increasing anxiety, exhaustion, and dependency. The wise Tony Reinke leads us practically to find freedom from the phone without requiring us to huddle away in a monastery somewhere in the middle of Montana. If you want to know how to steward your technology and your life for Christ and his kingdom, read this.”
―Russell Moore, Editor in Chief, Christianity Today; author, Losing Our Religion
“If you feel uneasy about your constant relationship with your phone (and even if you don’t, but wonder if you should), you will find Tony Reinke to be a reliable guide for how we should assess the impact of our phones on ourselves and our relationships. A marvelous book that tackles a massive subject in clear and compelling language!”
―Trevin Wax, Vice President for Research and Resource Development, North American Mission Board; Visiting Professor, Cedarville University; author, The Thrill of Orthodoxy; The Multi-Directional Leader; and This Is Our Time
“Two things strike me about this book. First, Reinke writes with great humility, including himself in the narrative to help us see him not only as a teacher but also as a fellow struggler. Second, this is not a guilt-ridden slog through what not to do. Tony keeps pulling us up into the glories of Christ and even helps us to dream of new ways to glorify God through our digital technologies. Helpful, hopeful, humbling, and inspiring, 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You is a book for this age and wisdom for generations to follow.”
―Trillia Newbell, author, Celebrating around the Table and 52 Weeks in the Word
“Image is everything, and for a woman who has built her identity on the sands of how she’s embraced online, the eventual letdown will come like a crash. But there’s a better way forward, a way to use our phones in selfless service, to glorify God in our connectivity, and to image Christ by our phone behaviors. For this, we must evaluate our glowing screens and train our discernment to see the difference between the sight-driven habits of our age and the Scripture-lit pathway of faith. Every chapter of this book is like the right kind of push notification in our lives. Stop, read, process, and apply with care.”
―Gloria Furman, author, Labor with Hope and Missional Motherhood
“As a teenager and a smartphone user, I needed this book. Tony Reinke is compelling and convicting, yet continually meets us with grace. My generation needs this book, because we need to get technology right. If we don’t, the cost is great. 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You should be a must-read for every smartphone user, especially for us younger ones.”
―Jaquelle Crowe, author, This Changes Everything: How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years
“It took more than a generation for the quaint ‘horseless carriage,’ with all its magic and horror, to become the ordinary, unexamined ‘car.’ But the device we once called a ‘smartphone’ has reached its status as ‘phone’―a common, everyday inevitability―with such breathtaking speed that it has left us little time for reflection on the true power it has in our lives. Tony offers us a distinctly Christian take on the little wonders in our pockets, seeing their goodness, beauty, and power, but also applying godly wisdom and well-researched cautions to help readers use their phones without being used by their phones.”
―John Dyer, Dean and Professor, Dallas Theological Seminary; author, From the Garden to the City: The Place of Technology in the Story of God
“The more widespread and influential something is, the more Christians should think carefully about it. In this wisdom-filled book, Tony Reinke helps us do just that with the smartphone. Without descending into technophobia or paranoia, he shows the various ways in which phones are changing our lives, highlighting both the problems with this and the solutions to it. A timely and thoughtful book.”
―Andrew Wilson, Teaching Pastor, King’s Church London
“Rarely is a book as practically impactful as it is theologically rich. In an age in which daily we are drawn into a digital vortex, Tony Reinke warns of the implications and challenges us to examine whether our phones have displaced our spiritual priorities in Christ. With unflinching honesty, Reinke shares his own technological struggles, and in so doing, moves us to a posture of reflection, prayer, and even repentance. Thoroughly engaging and immediately applicable, 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You is a must-read for our time.”
―Kim Cash Tate, author, Cling: Choosing a Lifestyle of Intimacy with God
About the Author
Tony Reinke is a nonprofit journalist and serves as senior teacher and host of the Ask Pastor John podcast for desiringGod.org. He is the author of Lit!: A Christian Guide to Reading Books; 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You; and God, Technology, and the Christian Life.
John Piper is founder and lead teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. He served for thirty-three years as a pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is the author of more than fifty books, including Desiring God; Don’t Waste Your Life; and Providence.
Product details
- Publisher : Crossway; Illustrated edition (April 30, 2017)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 224 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1433552434
- ISBN-13 : 978-1433552434
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.56 x 8.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #19,860 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author

Tony Reinke is a nonprofit journalist and the author of several books including *God, Technology, and the Christian Life* (2022) and *12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You* (2017). He hosts the popular Ask Pastor John podcast with John Piper.
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Customers find the book insightful and helpful for examining their own lives. They describe it as an enjoyable read with biblical wisdom and principles. Readers praise the thoughtful and challenging approach, finding the book balanced and encouraging.
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Customers find the book insightful and helpful for re-evaluating their phone use. They appreciate the balanced approach and research on pros and cons of technology. The book provokes thought and helps them reevaluate their own use of technology. It provides documented information about phone issues that we as a culture are struggling with, and can transform your daily phone habits.
"...could be helpful not only to individuals but as a teaching tool for younger generations. Reviewed by Gary E. Gilley, Southern View Chapel" Read more
"Everything was so relatable and convicting! He makes some great practical suggestions and also reveals some eye opening statements...." Read more
"...from our screens back into our eyes, not only because he is a competent researcher and a nimble wordsmith, but because he is also a God-centered..." Read more
"...helps us to think through our online habits, to examine our motivation for using social media, to put more focus on our interpersonal, face to face..." Read more
Customers find the book readable and enjoyable. They appreciate the well-researched and balanced content. The author is described as a competent researcher and wordsmith.
"...He has written this extremely helpful book for himself and others...." Read more
"...read many books similar to this, but this one seemed really easy to read and follow: you can start at any chapter and refresh on anything...." Read more
"...our eyes, not only because he is a competent researcher and a nimble wordsmith, but because he is also a God-centered theologian...." Read more
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Customers find the book's biblical content timely and honest. They appreciate the biblical principles that support the author's views on cell phone use and spiritual life. The author is a God-centered theologian who glorifies God in a healthy way. The book provides a good mix of Scripture, gospel encouragement, studies, and logic. It is an important and timely book for Christians, especially on trusting and cherishing God.
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- Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2017Tony Reinke seeks to answer the question, “What is the best use of my smartphone in the flourishing of my life (p. 20)?” Few questions are more pertinent in an age obsessed with technology in general and the smartphone in particular. While the smartphone was invented barely a decade ago (p. 15), one is now owned by most people and is checked on average every 4.3 minutes (p. 43). Reinke appreciates the valuable tool that the smartphone has become but at the same time recognizes the dangers. As a result, highlighting useful components of smartphone use, each of the twelve chapters zeros in on a unique danger. Some of the more serious dangers include: smartphone addiction, distractions, increased loneliness and isolation, living vicariously, illiteracy due to short attention spans, misplaced hero worship, seeking approval of people rather than God, wasting time, online slander, and secret vices.
Reinke does not recommend nonuse of smartphones, as least not for most people, but he does call on his readers to courageously ask themselves three questions.
• Ends: Do my smartphone behaviors move me toward God or away from Him?
• Influence: Do my smartphone behaviors edify me and others or do they build nothing of lasting value?
• Servitude: Do my smartphone behaviors expose my freedom in Christ or my bondage to technique (p. 194)?
In conjunction with these questions he adds twelve more:
1. What does my smartphone cost me per year if I add up the price of the device, insurance protection, covers and cases, and monthly service?
2. Do I need mobile web access to fulfill my calling in vocation or ministry?
3. Is texting essential to my care for others? Do those texts need to be seen in real time? And is the smartphone the only way to do it?
4. Do I need mobile web access to legitimately serve others?
5. Do I need mobile web access to navigate unfamiliar cities? Is the device an essential part of my travels?
6. Do I need my smartphone to take advantage of coupons in stores? How much money would I save instead without a smartphone data plan?
7. Can my web access wait? Is the convenience of mobile web access something I can functionally replace with structured time at a laptop or desktop computer later?
8. Can I get along just as well with a dumbphone, a WiFi hotspot, an iPod, or a tablet?
9. Can I listen to audio and podcasts in other ways (through an iPod, for example)?
10. Have I simply grown addicted to my phone? If so, can the problem be solved with moderation, or do I need to just cut if off?
11. Do the mobile lures of my phone insulate me from people and real needs around me?
12. Do I want my kids to see me gazing at a handheld screen so much as they grow up? What does this habit project to them and to others around me (pp. 197-198)?
Assuming that most will continue to use smartphones Reinke suggests twelve valuable boundaries:
1. Turn off all nonessential push notifications.
2. Delete expired, nonessential, and time-wasting apps.
3. At night, keep your phone out of the bedroom.
4. Use a real alarm clock, not your phone alarm, to keep the phone out of your hands in the morning.
5. Guard your morning disciplines and evening sleep patterns by using phone settings to mute notifications between one hour before bedtime to a time when you can reasonably expect to be finished with personal disciplines in the morning (9 p.m. to 7 a.m. for the author).
6. Use self-restricting apps to help limit your smartphone functions and the amount of time you invest in various platforms.
7. Recognize that much of what you respond to quickly can wait. Respond at a later, more convenient time.
8. Even if you need to read emails on your smartphone, use strategic points during the day to respond to emails at a computer (thirty minutes each at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. for him).
9. Invite your spouse, your friends, and your family members to offer feedback on your phone habits (more than 70 percent of Christians in my survey said nobody else knew how much time they spent online).
10. When eating with your family members or friends, leave your phone out of sight.
11. When spending time with family members or friends, or when you are at church, leave your phone in a drawer or in your car, or simply power it off.
12. At strategic moments in life, digitally detox your life and recalibrate your ultimate priorities. Step away from social media for frequent strategic stoppages (each morning), digital Sabbaths (one day offline each week), and digital sabbaticals (two two-week stoppages each year) (p. 200).
Reinke is a Christian leader who is conflicted over technology and especially the smartphone. On the one hand he loves its usefulness and contributions to his life. As a researcher (he is senior writer for desiringGod.org) and author, it is invaluable. But he struggles to control his smartphone use and finds it often possessing and controlling his life. He has written this extremely helpful book for himself and others. This is a volume which could be helpful not only to individuals but as a teaching tool for younger generations.
Reviewed by Gary E. Gilley, Southern View Chapel
- Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars Insights on What It Means to Be Human (and a Christian) in our Tech-Saturated Day
I see it at stoplights. I see it during timeouts at my daughter’s basketball games. And I even see it when I stand in the back of the sanctuary during church services. When there’s a lull in action, however brief, smartphones appear, and eyes are toward them.
But why must we check them so often? Is it because smartphones are such great tools for human flourishing or because they are evil taskmasters that make us less human with each use?
This is the dilemma with which Tony Reinke opens his book, and if you’re like most people, the dilemma isn’t theoretical. Your phone is changing you. It’s certainly changing me. How could it be otherwise when we apparently check our smartphones every 4.3 minutes of our waking lives (p. 16)?
Reinke is the author of several books, as well as the host of the popular Ask Pastor John podcast and a senior staff writer for Desiring God. He’s well suited to write this book for at least two reasons. First, Reinke feels the tension between the blessings and curses of technology more acutely than most. As a professional producer of online content, he must navigate reaching readers without succumbing to the click-bait, Buzzfeed-type posts that dominate web culture (to which, by the way, DG doesn’t capitulate).
Second, Reinke is the perfect person to shine the glare from our screens back into our eyes, not only because he is a competent researcher and a nimble wordsmith, but because he is also a God-centered theologian. And this trait is necessary because, as he points out, “conversations about our smartphones often do not raise new questions; they return us to perennial questions every generation has been forced to ask” (p. 24). And it’s this point about how new technology always brings us back to the perennial questions—questions about what it means to be creature not Creator; about beauty vs. efficiency; about loving God and neighbor—which makes this book so insightful.
Consider for just a moment our longing for approval (covered especially in chapters 3 and 6). Each generation must wrestle with this. The lore of Narcissus in Greek mythology, who fell in love with his own reflection, certainly predates the 2004 birth of Facebook. Today, perhaps, there are just more metrics to measure our beauty (likes, retweets, followers, pins, subscribers, and so on). And if you let it, your smartphone will send you push notifications for each of these so that when you wake up in the morning, you can glance at your phone to find out how many others love your face too. “When we talk about ‘smartphone addiction,’” writes Reinke, “often what we are talking about is the addiction of looking at ourselves” (p. 110).
If there were something to critique about the book, maybe it would be the structure. The title and layout of the book (12 Ways . . .) could make the book seem like one giant list-article, or listicle as they’re called. Listicles tend to be the lowest common denominator of online content. I say this, by the way, as the author of several listicles. But this criticism, in my opinion, doesn’t hold. The depth of Reinke’s insights and his biblical fidelity resist formulaic chapters.
One final comment. I found the book disturbing. But not because the problems created by smartphones are merely “out there” in culture or even in the church. Rather, I’m disturbed because the problems are “in here.” Despite all the blessings of smartphones (connection to others, wealth of information, and Bible apps galore), I still see the negative impact in my heart and habits. Too often my children compete with a screen for their dad’s attention. Being confronted with this change was disturbing . . . but it’s the good kind of confrontation, the kind that when paired with repentance of sin and faith in the gospel, leads to the good kind of change.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2024Everything was so relatable and convicting! He makes some great practical suggestions and also reveals some eye opening statements. I’ve read many books similar to this, but this one seemed really easy to read and follow: you can start at any chapter and refresh on anything. It is written with a christian view but anyone can benefit. highly recommend!
5.0 out of 5 starsEverything was so relatable and convicting! He makes some great practical suggestions and also reveals some eye opening statements. I’ve read many books similar to this, but this one seemed really easy to read and follow: you can start at any chapter and refresh on anything. It is written with a christian view but anyone can benefit. highly recommend!Amazing read for every person who owns a phone
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2024
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Top reviews from other countries
- Yodhveer s.Reviewed in Canada on October 16, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Most needed books of our time
Undoubtedly, Smart phones are ruining our precious time. This book provides various powerful tools to overpower this digital master of ours. By reading this book I was able to get sound clarity of the dangers of using smart phone incessantly.
Thank you so much Brother Tony
- Christian WortmannReviewed in Germany on March 5, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars A real blessing
This is a very helpful book for me as a young man, who’s a Christian. It doesn‘t stay at the surface -to just suggest some superficial improvements. It is deeply theological and goes to the root of things (our own sin) and to our ultimate redemption (christ). It isn‘t one-sided as to neglect the good god is giving us through technology, but it also is clear about its very harmful dangers.
- Jesvin JoseReviewed in India on October 25, 2019
5.0 out of 5 stars Wise, balanced and timely book!
Most of us, including me, have a love-hate relationship with technology and especially our smartphones. Our phones make life easier in countless ways, but they also have a way of exposing our heart idols. In the words of Tony Reinke, “Some days I feel as if my phone is a digital vampire, sucking away my time and my life. Other days I feel like a cybernetic centaur—part human, part digital—as my phone and I blend seamlessly into a complex tandem of rhythms and routines.” Tony, with razor sharp precision, diagnoses twelve ways our phones may be reorienting our affections and desires (away from God). These include addiction to distraction, ignoring real people, craving immediate approval, losing our literacy and embracing loneliness, among other things. Tony accurately looks at how technology and smartphones have negatively impacted the culture and the church. His real focus though is the heart and its deep idols!
According to Tony, our phones distract us, they push us to ignore flesh and blood people, they feed our craving for immediate approval, they undermine literary skills, they offer us a buffet of produced media, they distort our identity, they tempt us toward unhealthy isolation, they lure us to indulge in visual vices, they cause us to lose a sense of meaning and purpose, they feed our fear of missing out (FOMO), they cause us to treat one another severely and they make us oblivious to our place in time. In other words, they expose the dark and hidden idols of our hearts! They distance us from God, making Him irrelevant! As Tony puts it, “The more distracted we are digitally, the more displaced we become spiritually.” I will look at a few chapters that really stood out for me.
The chapter on distraction (chapter 1) brimmed with precious truth. In it, Tony argues that we use digital distractions to keep work away, people away and even thoughts of eternity away. He points out incisively that our digital addictions are often “welcomed addictions” - we want to be distracted on purpose! In the chapter on ignoring real people (chapter 2), he shows us that true joy is found in embodied fellowship, as opposed to disembodied interactions online (where anger is often the viral emotion on display). In the chapter on craving approval (chapter 3), he shows us why the approval and affirmation we seek online is oddly absurd. He gives two reasons: First, seeking approval from man makes faith pointless because faith seeks primary satisfaction in Christ. Second, our authenticity is not determined by man’s approval, but by God’s. He rightly says, “Those who feed on little nibbles of immediate approval from man will eternally starve. But those who aim their entire lives toward the glory and approval of God will find, in Christ, eternal approval.” In the chapter on losing our literacy (chapter 4), Tony reasons (through Oliver O’Donovan) that the digital age has shattered our concentration into a million pieces! Our short attention spans make deep reading tougher than ever. This, he points out is not illiteracy, but aliteracy – “a digital skimming that is simply an attempt to keep up with a deluge of information”, thus making it difficult to separate eternal treasures from transient ones. We however are called not to chronic scrolling, but deep lingering over eternal truths!
The chapter on loneliness (chapter 7) was another dark reminder of the persistent reality of the hyperconnected digital age. Tony’s words sting, “Our smartphones are portable shields we wield in public in order to deter human contact and interaction. When we step into an occupied elevator, we grab our phones like security blankets.” Ouch! He accurately points out that smartphones are causing a social reversal: we want to be alone in public but never alone in private! It’s tragic, but true! Profound insights in the chapter! In chapter 10, Tony looks at our most common fear – the fear of missing out (FOMO). It is a fear of disconnection and missing out on people’s personal affirmation of us, amplified all the more when we suffer or feel lonely. But this fear, he correctly points out, is nothing compared to the fear of eternally missing out. In Christ though, that sting is thankfully removed!
Does all this mean that we need to ditch our smartphones? That’s what Tony comes to in conclusion. “It is just as idolatrous to blaspheme a phone as it is to worship a phone…The solution is for us to wisely enjoy the smartphone - imaginatively, transcendentally, as something that should deepen wonder.” Tony calls for careful examination of our heart motives as we interact online. He calls for disciplined restraint and more importantly to use our phones for the glory of God. He calls us to be so deeply satisfied in Christ that the momentary pleasures of this life may fade in comparison to the eternal treasures found in Him!
This is such a wise, balanced and timely book. Chapter after chapter is intensely convicting and at times deeply disturbing. It was as if Tony was looking incisively into my heart, exposing my deep idols. This kind of rebuke is much needed though, and I am sure if combined with repentance and faith will produce heart transformation. Read this book and take Tony’s warnings to heart (I hope to do the same, though I know that I would need these reminders often). More importantly, let him guide you to reorient your affections and desires back to Christ and so find your joy in Him. To that end, I highly recommend the book to both young and old!
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Pedro SoaresReviewed in Brazil on December 22, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars Surpreendente
Apesar de ter um nome digno de matéria do BuzzFeed ("Você vai se surpreender com o ponto número 5" ou ainda "O sétimo motivo me deixou chocado"), o livro consegue ir ao âmago de nossas compulsões e impulsividades para com nossos celulares (e qualquer tecnologia que aspira a onipresença, na verdade), não focando apenas na superfície e chovendo no molhado mas cavando fundo em questões teológicas que revelam muito de nossa falta de satisfação plena em Deus e idolatria para com coisas/criaturas.
Não experimentei isso ainda, mas a estrutura dos capítulos pode ser útil para discipulados/grupos de estudo também.
- AlastairReviewed in the United Kingdom on March 21, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic and Thought-Provoking
This book will make you re-think your approach to your phone. It is NOT a complete negative tale of how technology is the downfall of everything good and proper in this world, but rather it encourages you to think about how to re-jig your thinking towards modern day habits and the changes and influences that they could be having on your life. It's very clear the author has done his research too with plenty of facts and figures used, all with credible sources.