Recently, I promised you a new blog series with book recommendations.
The very first recommendation is You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero.
Get the book: http://amzn.to/2uBX7dN.
Why did I pick this book?
First of all, I love the title. (“Yes! I am a badass. This book will be awesome.”)
The full title is You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting and Start Living an Awesome Life. (“Oh, there it is. Yeah, I doubt a lot, too.”) Way to go, Sincero, you’ve got a great title that totally hooked me.
Secondly, a bunch of my fellow entrepreneurs are reading and discussing the book. No, not discussing. It’s more like raving. They’re having all sorts of major breakthroughs and I’ve been pretty jealous.
And, lastly, I’d been picking up the book and putting it back on the shelf repeatedly for about a year. I’m in a phase where I’m trying to not buy more books because I’ve fallen in love with decluttering and I have so many books at home to finish reading. (Yes, that’s an odd confession for the first post in a series on book recommendations. Don’t worry, the irony isn’t lost on me. I’m a hopeless bookworm, remember?)
But this book kept calling my name.
Then, finally, it went on sale on Amazon.
Done deal.
What’s it about?
You Are a Badass repeats concepts I’d picked up elsewhere: ditching whatever’s holding you back, achieving your dreams, living a joyful life, etc. You know, the kind of concepts a filmmaker with big dreams needs to understand. You’ve already heard my take on the power of forgiveness, taking action, and why I started practicing gratitude.
But, unlike the other books, Jen Sincero’s tone and style makes it a thousand times more relevant and applicable to my life. I feel like Jen and I could be friends. Like, we totally speak the same language – including a lot of foul language suitable for sailors.
It’s an enjoyable self-help book for people who truly dislike self-help books, IMHO. I’ve never really bought into some of the stuff that gets shared in certain books or circles. It felt too … brainwashy or cult-like, perhaps?
That’s why I like this plain English, real talk version.
In the introduction, Jen talks about her own history with self-help, and how much she didn’t get it or particularly care for it. Yet, at the same time, she wanted to make some changes in her own life so she could accomplish her big dreams. So she “took one for the team” and jumped into the self-help deep end headfirst.
If you’re new to the self-help world, I’m hoping this book will ease you into some of the basic concepts that totally changed my life so you can have a breakthrough, too, without making you want to run off screaming in the process. If you’ve already dipped your toe in the self-help pond, I hope it will say something in a new way that turns a light on so you can make some major shifts, create some tangible results, and someday wakeup crying tears of giddy disbelief that you get to be you.
– Jen Sincero
A little later in the intro, the author warns about keeping an open mind. There’s a lot of stuff in the self-help world that, to me, feels like total garbage. My approach is to filter out what feels most applicable to me, give it a try, and see how it works.
“If you want to live a life you’ve never lived, you have to do things you’ve never done,” says Jen Sincero at the end of the intro.
Jen Sincero, author of “You Are a Badass” (source)
Jen’s in North Carolina
Timely enough, the author will be in North Carolina soon.
Look for Jen Sincero in Asheville, N.C ., on September 29th, and in Charlotte, N.C., on September 30th. More details about her book tour are available on her website: jensincero.com.
I really wish I could be there in person!
So if you go, please take pics and tag me so I can live vicariously through you. I will most likely be at home with our newborn enjoying the baby bubble. (In case you missed the memo, I made a big announcement that Derek and I are expecting!)
Get the Book
Interested in reading You Are a Badass?
I highly recommend it – especially if you feel like your life isn’t going the way you thought it would by now, you have a big dream you’ve been carrying around forever, or you feel totally stuck and can’t quite figure out why (or how to get unstuck).
It’s a quick, easy, and enjoyable read that offers plenty of insight.
Snag your copy: http://amzn.to/2uBX7dN.
Full Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links; however, I only recommend things I’ve tried (or read) myself, believe in 100%, and think will benefit you. It goes against my nature to put rubbish recommendations out into the world. If you chose to make a purchase from an affiliate link, it’ll send me a little commission which goes towards keeping this thing operational.
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