Transitioning Veterans

How We Get in Our Own Way... And What to Do About It!

By: John Henry Parker, Danny Facto

Narrated by: John Henry Parker, Yonel Dorelis

Length: 1 hr and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

For people serving in the military and for transitioning veterans, our critical mind can be unsettling, unruly, irreverent and ridiculous all at the same time. With the tools and resources found in this book, you’ll be able to apply this personal development approach to learning how to better self-regulate your triggers in your own life and will find it useful enough to pass along to other veterans in need. It’s also for families and friends of veterans who want to better understand how to be of support.

If you answer yes to any of the following five statements, then saddle up, this book is for you:

• If one or more people this week asked, “You okay?", “What’s wrong?” And you responded with, of course, “I’m fine.” (“I’m fine” is usually a code word for "I'm not".)
• If you’ve been told by someone “you need some help” or “you need to see someone."
• If you’re about to choke the next dumbass who asks you the two stupidest questions you can ever ask a Vet, and you know what they are.
• If you've been holding onto your shit for too long, acting calm, looking impeccable, but underneath it’s like a grenade of magma you can’t hold onto much longer....
• If you’ve been in a dark place and can’t get past what you’ve been through, especially if you're wondering if you want to be here much longer....

If you said yes to any of these, especially that last one, you came across this book and audio series for a reason: There’s something here to learn. This is not about telling you what to think. It is about showing you how to think. What’s at stake is you, the quality of your life, who you’re becoming, your relationships, and reaching your potential.

©2017 Harvesting Wisdom Publishing (P)2017 Harvesting Wisdom Publishing

Great resource for daily progress.

This audiobook is short and sweet and was relatable to me. I found it very informative and will be adding it to my reoccurring reading list.

Pure Genius every veteran must listen

The audio was spot on providing practical application to getting your mind right.
If you are struggling with being overwhelmed or dealing with PTSD in life this is a must listen.
I’ve counseled and helped 1,000’s of people with the principles taught in this audio book.

Major Hill USMC
Www.DarylHill.com

Foul weather gear with GPS built in!

His audiobook Transitioning Veterans is like an umbrella ☔️ you can pop up when you’ve been weathering an emotional sh*tstorm ⛈. Awesome North Star for those who need a good reference to identify where they currently are, so that they can guide themselves to where they want to be. -Doc Ron

Changing Mindset Saving Lives

Would you consider the audio edition of Transitioning Veterans to be better than the print version?

I have not read the printed version. I purchased the audio version so it can be listened to anywhere I am.

What did you like best about this story?

This story has a personal insight into the minds of our servicemen and women. The coaching on tactical breathing, shifting the focus and visualization as well as admitting to oneself that "you don't know what to do" when the critical mind gets stuck are all practical and realistic approaches on resolving the issues these veterans carry on a daily basis.

Which character – as performed by John Henry Parker and Yonel Dorelis – was your favorite?

The veteran in crisis was my favorite as his responses were things that I have literally heard my son say over and over again. When nothing seems to be going the way one thinks things should go, negativity takes over. The veteran portrayed here was on alert, ready to attack, defend and criticize everyone and everything about life from his eyes.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I sat listening to this audio tape and literally visualized my son. The entire audio presentation moved me. I can only imagine what my son has gone through after deployment. This book brought to life the trials my son and other veterans face every day. The visualization and breathing techniques called tactical breathing is an immediate response to stop the sense of rage or irritation a veteran in crisis is no doubt feeling. I felt calm following the instructions on tactical breathing. The visualization of finding joy and when you are triggered immediately go back to the place that brought you joy. Looking at "Margie" for the first time through the veteran's eyes shook me to the core. My son was deployed when his daughter was born. When he held her for the first time I was replacing "Margie" with my granddaughter and tears of joy were pouring down my face because I knew my son could relate to this technique.

Any additional comments?

While I did not read the book, the audio version is something I highly recommend because you can listen to it over and over again. As a family member of a veteran, I can learn tools on how not to trigger my son, or how to help disarm his trigger by pointing out the tactical breathing technique or visualizing when he first held his daughter. Going through the last few weeks of my life while my son was in severe crisis, the tactical breathing and meditation visualization has helped me stay focused and try to remain calm at our darkest hours. This is a must get book/audio aid for any veteran or family member of a veteran in crisis. My favorite phrase from the audio is "the quality of your life resides between your triggers". Well done.

Great resource

Where does Transitioning Veterans rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Transitioning veterans is a much needed resource. It is an essential guide for anyone that is transitioning out of the military.

What other book might you compare Transitioning Veterans to and why?

There is no book that I know of that explains the intricacies and challenges associated with veteran homecoming.

What does John Henry Parker and Yonel Dorelis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The story tellers voice appears to authentic, knowledgeable and easy to listen to. As a dyslexic, reading is difficult for me, so I count on dynamic story telling.

What’s an idea from the book that you will remember?

That most of the hardships that veterans face when they get out of the military are a result of past patterns that are no longer serving them in this new environment.

Eye-Opening and Inspiring!

Wow, what can I say? This book is eye opening and I have truly benefited from
it. The breathing exercises is what helped me. After 3 years, I still feel like I’ve transitioned and it’s getting better. Thanks to this awesome book, I’m become more aware of my surroundings.

Extraordinary Resource

So spot on and incredibly useful material. I wish I’d known about this book at the time of my transition from the military

Timeless for any veteran of any generation

I have been a master at getting in my own way, listening to this book has helped me identify simple and effective techniques to guide myself into success, rather than stumbling my way through life. It is a timeless, philosophical and practical piece of work that any veteran from any generation can apply. “You deserve to live a fulfilling life, and you deserve to be happy” was a quote I found that struck me, and this was one way I got in my way, not feeling I was deserving. I often thought that due to war, I would not attain a fulfilling life and happiness was attainable but with a lingering dark cloud not far away. I have read many books on self-help, psychological and therapeutic models, this hour and a half book gets to the point quickly, with “nuggets” that became embedded in my mind and helped me navigate triggers, that no other book has been able to accomplish.

The audio is set up like a conversation, far from the normal audio book set up that I was used to. I often lived with my actions being manifested through my triggers, and so I often would be short, aggressive or unthoughtful to the people that mattered most to me. This book dropped the following wise and thought-provoking quote: “the quality of life resides between our triggers.” It taught me how to change my current mindset to one where the things that stood in my way were things of the past, by simply changing my vocabulary from “I always do this...” to “I used to do...” Furthermore, I would always talk on hope and maybe in how success would be attained, but discovered how the things I wanted to attain needed a strategy, not a hope or a maybe.

Setting my mindset to what I wanted to be and where I wanted to go in life was the first step to my road map. These ideas are simple, yet not easy. I used to think that hard work and a college education would “hopefully” get me to the end of the road. However, I would not really put a thought about what that will look like. What the fuck does the "end of the road" mean to me? This book forced me to take a step back, assess my current behaviors, find the gaps where I allowed my aggression and stress to reside, removing them by simple techniques, and knowing what the first step to where I wanted to go was. My strategy is to be an excellent husband and great father by being present, attentive and playful with my family. Be competent and confident so to establish myself as the subject matter expert in my work by continually producing good results and being respected in my field while having and maintaining my freedom to have the time to be with my family, travel and live a fulfilling and happy life.

A creative approach supporting Vets in Transition

Finished read 15 apr 18. This book will be a short and entertaining read while offering real-time insights and practical thought tools.

A journey to address what needs to be healed in all humanity

I have never served in the military, and I have experienced trauma. I have been a student of healing myself fully for many years. This book is spot on to address triggers that I need to look at to move through situations that are uncertain, and my resistance to outcomes that are different than I want but exactly what I need. Through a simple and fun process - rational mind talking to critical mind - I learned new skills to feel confident, breath practices for instant calm, asking the right questions to see how my mind makes up stories and makes assumptions that aren’t true, and identifying my vision and purpose in life that makes me leap out of bed in the morning because I feel in alignment with my mission of why I am here. I am the only one who gives myself permission to be great. And How We Get In Our Own Way removes the road blocks by helping me find wholeness. And from there anything is possible. Thank you John and Danny for this enormous gift!