LocalLit book review: recovering addict offers advice about achieving goals

With an opening statement of “My dad split before I was born,” the readers knows that the author of this 36-page motivational guide has struggled.

Jay Lhotak of Lockport is the author of “Body. Mind. Beatdown.” In his book, Lhotak said he’s been incarcerated several times, addicted to street drugs, and in and out of rehabilitation. Lhotak said he’s totaled vehicles while “high” (twice) — both times hitting fuel tanker trucks. He’s contempleted suicide “constantly” and more than once thought, “This is the last Tuesday I’ll ever be alive.”

“I’m not trying to make empty promises,” Lhotak tells the reader in his foreward. “What I am actively going for is showing the habits that helped me change my life.”

What makes Lhotak’s book different from mainstream motivational guides? Well, it’s short; it’s punchy, it’s to the point; and it’s honest. I won’t give his entire book away (you can read it for yourself), but I will give you three very practical, useful examples of his advice.

Write Down Your Goals. “I’m not telling you to start a vision board or scribble the name of your crush in a diary, but what I am saying is to decide exactly what you want for yourself. Figure out what that is, and then write it down.”

Plan Your Day. “Get a day planner. Use a notepad. Use your Google calendar. Whatever, just get a plan and stick to it. Know what goals you need to crush and execute on that.”

Love is Power. Love delivers us from evil. There is no energy, rawer, more powerful, that gives us the strength to pull cars off children or create some of the most incredible art known. Everything you do, do it in the name of love.”

Any caveats? Yes - for those who can’t tolerate strong language. Lhotak sprinkles his sentences with it. He doesn’t overdo it - more like a hint of salt on fries. But it’s there. It’s even in the book’s description. On the plus side, Lhotak said he “can tell you a thing or two about losing everything, only having to rebuild one brick at a time.”

If you need that kind of guidebook, “Body. Mind. Beatdown.” is for yoiu. Buy it on Amazon.

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