Review of "You are a badass...' By Jen Sincero

To the left is a notebook I found with an amazing quote from the late great Teddy Roosevelt which reads "Believe you can and you're halfway there."

I feel that the notebook was "calling" to me while I walked down the isle that day looking for something to jot down notes in. It seemed to embody a message of hope for my fitness journey over all.

But, I digress. The real reason for this post is to review 'You are a badass, How to start doubting your greatness and start living an awesome life' by Jen Sincero. This book was recommended to me countless times. It appeared to be an easy read and although I normally do not finish books on personal growth, I was determined to complete this one.

Overall I enjoyed the context of this book.  I enjoyed the more light hearted way she goes about explaining things. I liked that she was not always socially, politically, or grammatically correct in EVERY aspect. I also enjoyed the various stories and perspectives she provided as the basis for some of her talking points. It allowed for further comprehension for the most part.

While it made the book shorter and was sometimes distracting---I did not mind the various page breaks, icons, and outlined text. As a matter of fact, some of these excerpts include some of my favorite quotations. As such, I thought for the most point it was with purpose.

What I did not care for so much was the reference to 'god' and the fact that this had almost its own chapter within such a small book. While she also indicates this can be considered or defined as 'source energy'---I personally just wanted to have something broad that I could apply to my life and really anyone's life. I think that had she kept with the idea of 'source energy' or 'universal energy'  without dropping the God bomb it would have been better for a broader, further reaching audience. Not everyone believes in god but everyone can use personal development.

I also did not care for the fact that a couple of times in the book she makes note of needing to meet deadlines to the book and not being done, or not being committed, etc. I thought that was honest but made me think in the back of my mind "was some of this content rushed?"

Some quotations/exerpts I enjoyed during my readings:

• "You have created your own unique reality and are living your life according to your own unique path. You are the only you that will ever be. You are kind of a big deal"
• "Comparison is the fastest way to take all of the fun out of life"
• "Screwing up is not your special skill, get over it"
• "Our fantasies are our realities in an excuse-free world"
• "Forgiveness is all about taking care of you, not the person you need to forgive. It's about putting your desire to feel good before your desire to be right"
• "You're the author of your own life [...] and the sooner you decide to write yourself a better script, the sooner you get to live a more awesome life"
• "Passion trumps fear"
• "Other people's needs can occupy several lifetimes' worth of our attention, and if you let them, they will"
• "...fear will always be there, poised and ready to wreak havoc, but we an choose whether we're going to engage with it or turn on the lights, drown it out, and crawl past it"

and last but not least

"Don't get so tangled up in the stupid little stuff that you miss out on enjoying the people who have part-ownership of your heart"

Feel free to buy the book and judge it for yourself.  It is an easy read with some great points and exercises (just don't mind the cursing and God speak and you'll be all set). You can find it almost  anywhere online OR if bookstores are still your thing, Barnes and Noble should carry it as well.

Happy reading :)