YOU ARE A BADASS???
When we saw more than one person tethered to the New York Times’ bestseller You are a Badass: How To Stop Doubting Your Greatness And Start Living An Awesome Life, we were curious; what did the book with the bright yellow cover and snarky title have to offer that other self help books didn’t? “ Imagine if Tina Fey wrote a self help book,” said one reader, “it would probably be a lot like this one.”
After reading a few chapters of author Jen Sincero’s salty language, heavy sarcasm and sometimes outrageously funny stories, we got it. Sincero is unapologetic in her no-nonsense, tough love (even abrasive) approach used to convince her readers that any change is possible if you just stop procrastinating. While some might argue that Sincero trivializes just how hard it is to move forward when you’re struggling through some of life’s big challenges (career change, divorce, relocation etc.,) her bite-sized chapters, easy exercises and hilarious real-life examples do offer enough substance to make it likely you’ll pick up a worthwhile nugget or two. Some of our favorite quotes and insights from the book include:
“Perfectionism and procrastination have such a fine line. You say, ‘Well I want it to be good. I want it to be perfect.’ But what you’re really doing is not doing your work. You’re putting off showing up and being visible because then you’re going to be judged and it might suck.”
“When we’re forced to do something, suddenly the time is there. Which means it’s there all the time, but we’ve just chosen to limit ourselves by believing that it isn’t. Ever notice how if you’ve got six months to do something, it’ll take you six months to do it, but if you have a week, it’ll take you a week? Once you understand that time, like the rest of your reality, is in your mind, you can make it work for you instead of being its slave.”
“In order to kick ass you must first lift up your foot.”
“You are responsible for what you say and do. You are not responsible for whether or not people freak out about it.”
“Keep moving, keep growing, keep pushing through obstacles, keep evolving. You break through at one level, arrive at the next, and take another step up. Each time you grow, you get to learn something new which basically means you have to get uncomfortable again.”
Sincero won’t hold your hand or float a lot of feel-good-touchy-feely jargon by you. As Madisyn Taylor (Co-founder of Daily OM) said in her review, “ If you’re looking for purple unicorns and rainbows you won’t find them here, what you will find are practical and easy ways to connect with your inner badass and change your life.”