Read With Me : You are a Badass -

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All hail 2018, the year of the book. You will hear me say this about every possible temperature, weather pattern, and month, but spring is the best time to pull out a book! If it’s going to be raining for a week straight, don’t get caught staring out the window, lose yourself in a book. That’s our attitude at least. I’ve finished a few this past month and I keep wanting to reach for old favorites rather than something new. I might have to read Buddha’s Brain for the fourth time. It’s nice to fall into something comfortable and familiar every once in a while.

Our Read With Me Series is going strong this year, here are all the past installments. Today I’m sharing my thoughts on hugely successful Jen Sincero and her book You are a Badass. Initially, I had some doubts about this book. I felt it was pushy and a little bit bossy or sharp in a way, but after two chapters I became accustomed to the tone and really respected her insight. I think it just took some getting used to at first. I received this book as a gift, so I didn’t really want a kick in the ass at first, but once I found myself shaking my head yes over and over again, I listened hard and took lots of notes.

Sincero breaks up You are a Badass into five parts and twenty-five chapters. I think this works really well in the context of this book because it almost has a gamifying effect. Like, you’re going to change your life, huh? Okay, you’re getting there, part by part! The ease of accomplishment with reading through the plan encourages you to apply that notion to the small steps you need to take every day. At least, that’s how I felt.

It’s obvious to me now that I would enjoy this book because it focuses on self-love, something I will talk about endlessly if you let me. I came to look forward to the end of each chapter because it always goes, “Love yourself XXX” For example: Love yourself because it’s the Holy Grail of happiness. Love yourself and you will have it all. Love yourself and life becomes a party. etc. There’s also a meditation element so anytime someone is spreading meditation magic around, I’m smitten. In short, I found that this book is full of ‘get out of your own head and get on with it’ advice. If you do not currently have a mindfulness or meditation practice, You are a Badass gives you a good foundation of why it can be helpful and important to do so.

You’ll Enjoy You Are a Badass if:

You need encouragement.
You have some self-doubt.
You are trying to start a business.
You are stuck in a creative funk.
You are interested in questioning the way you go about things.
You have self-sabotaging beliefs.
You have a weird relationship with money.
You are interested in being present and mindful.

Why We Should Read More Often :

Expands your vocabulary and improves your writing

I enjoyed You are a Badass because it’s the style of self-help book that I aspire to write. I think reading this while I’m in the throws of planning and writing my own little book helped me to see that it doesn’t have to be a battle. You can just do it. Start somewhere and if sucks, make another one, but don’t sit around thinking about the perfect one that will never come to be. Her use style, use of quotes, short chapters, and overall format also reminded me that I can make the kind of book I want to make and it doesn’t have to look like what’s out there.

Improves your understanding of the world

Because I’ve read a lot of self-help, introspective, spiritual, and meditative texts, I feel like many of the concepts in You are a Badass felt very familiar to me. It is helpful to read each authors’ slight variation and perspective on topics I’ve read about dozens of times already. I found the chapters about money to be particularly helpful because I’ve been trying to work on this for the past couple years. More on that below.

Prepares you to take action and create change

In this case, You are a Badass, is helping me create change in my personal life. I’ve always had a strained relationship to money. I mostly hated it and complained about it even though I’ve always had what I needed and pretty much have always worked towards and gotten what I wanted. Sincero offers up exercises for defining our thoughts about money and trying to unpack our relationship with it. I found this to be really helpful because I realized that a lot of my issues towards money stemmed from my childhood and the area I grew up in in general. Instead of appreciating all the money I was making, I was resenting it in a way. It was almost as if I was too proud to take what was seeking me out. It gave me a lot to write and think about and it will be something I will continue to suss out for myself.

Boosts your imagination and creativity and improves brain function

You are a Badass killed it in the creativity column. I found myself making notes on most pages, underlining certain thoughts, and pulling out my own notebook to expand on Sincero’s ideas in relation to my life and meditation teachings. This Monday, I’ll be guiding a meditation at Caffe Driade pertaining to fear that was inspired by this book.

Reading sets a great example for those around you

Pulling out a paperback book instead of a Kindle sets an example. For the past five years, I was glued to my kindle, but always felt a twinge of sadness about it. This past year, I’ve made a commitment to read all the books on my shelves and stop spending money on Kindle books (I spent hundreds in 2017). So far so good. I haven’t bought a single eBook, though I have signed into a few friends’ accounts. I love carrying my book around, seeing it sit on my bedside table, and feeling instant encouragement to pick it up (instead of my phone) each time I have a few spare moments. The fact that this one is bright yellow and screams YOU ARE A BADASS is even better.

A few* favorite lines from You are a Badass:

We need smart people with huge hearts and creative minds to manifest all the wealth, resources, and support they need to make their difference in the world.

Most people are living in an illusion based on someone else’s beliefs.

Whatever happens, stay the course, because there’s nothing cooler than watching your entire reality shift into one that is the perfect expression of you.

Look at your life and see where you’re letting yourself down.

You are more than enough, Avoid comparison like the plague.

You have all the answers you need, you just need to give them the chance to get through to you.

How you do one thing is how you do everything.

(These are only a few of my notes up until page 100 – there are so many gems and great reminders within this book)