Book Review – Deadly Viper – Character Assassins

I recently read the book, Deadly Viper, Character Assassins by Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite and wanted to write my take-aways from it in case it appeals to any of you. I’ve been following Jud Wilhite recently, so I read this book. I am currently reading another of his book – Stripped. It’s awesome so far. Annie and I are reading it together (I read it to her and Karston while she feeds him at night).

This book was a good read for me. It is really heavy into tying everything into a Martial Arts context, which I think that I would enjoy more if I were more into Martial Arts. I took it slow because it talks about some things that can and will attack our character, and I wanted to evaluate if I felt that I was falling prey to what they call, “Character Assassins.”

I consistently have to fight all of the “Character Assassins,” that they described during different seasons of my life, but there were three that I realized that I’m really having to battle right now.

The first “Character Assassin” that I’m facing right now is the “Assassin of the Headless Sprinting Chicken.” In other words, I have the tendency to make myself too busy. There are times when I would rather do something instead of empowering others. There are times that I say yes to way too much and I say no to too little. I get over committed and tired. That is where this assassin takes us. It makes us tired and will cause us to either implode or give up.

The second “Character Assassin” that I identified with as a struggle is “The Bling Bling Assassin.” As a person, I try to be genuinely generous, but without fail, there are times when I just really want more. I want more stuff. It’s weird, and as soon as I evaluate it and realize that I have been thinking and acting like I want more, it’s pretty easy to knock out. But, it is an assassin that I have a hard time seeing.

The third “Character Assassin” that I think might be giving me trouble is the, “High and Mighty Assassin.” I think, on some level, it can be easy to let this assassin sneak in and make you think that you’re more than you really are. It’s a good one for me to constantly examine and ask others to examine as well so that I don’t get killed by this “Assassin.”

Those are 3 for me.

If you’re thinking about this book, I would say that it is probably a good book to go through with a men’s small group or with another guy. If you’re a woman, this book is applicable, but I don’t know in what context it would be best for you to read it.