Title: You Are a Badass- Book Review
Book: You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life
Author: Jen Sincero
Publisher: Running Press
Pages: 253 (Paperback)
First Published: 2013
About the author
Jen Sincero, born and raised in New York, is a writer, speaker, and success coach. She graduated from Colorado college in 1987 with a BA in English. She has worked as a freelance writer, writing magazine articles and blogs. Her third book, You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life, hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list in 2015. This book is translated into 30 languages.
Her other bestselling books are- You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth (Viking, 2017), and You Are a Badass Everyday: How to Keep Your Motivation Strong, Your Vibe High, and Your Quest for Transformation Unstoppable (Viking, 2018).
What is the book You Are a Badass about?
The book is divided into four parts; each part contains 4-6 chapters. In the first part, the author explains how your limited thoughts and self-perception have made you the way you are and what you could do to break out of it. The lessons are practical, and if you don’t already know about how thoughts work, it would be life-changing for you.
The second part of You Are a Badass would help you accept yourself and develop a deep love for yourself. This part also contains a chapter that would help you understand the meaning of passion and some practical ways to find it. If you worry too much about what people think about you, this portion of the book can work wonders for you.
The third part of the book contains valuable lessons on getting your mind to work for you and how to get what you want. This part will teach you the importance of gratitude, forgiveness, helping others, and living in the moment. Each lesson is explained with examples from the author’s own life.
The fourth part explains how to align your thoughts with abundance so that you set yourself to receive what you desire. This part of You Are a Badass will help you stop procrastinating, understand the harms your fear can cause, and how to overcome your fears. You would also learn how not to get overwhelmed by work and make everything simple.
The fifth and final part of You Are a Badass will help you remove your misconceptions about money and learn how to prepare yourself to earn more money. This part contains some powerful lessons about never giving up, which would help you keep chasing your goal without getting broken. The book ends with a chapter explaining the importance of self-love.
What have I learned from You Are a Badass?
Following are three lessons that I have learned from the book-
1. It doesn’t matter what people think
You can’t be dependent on people for your self-worth. Today you may feel good because they are saying good, but tomorrow their perception may change, which would make you feel miserable. What people say about you has nothing to do with you. Moreover, you can’t control what they think; so, it is better that you don’t waste your time controlling them.
Also, if you are going to do something that nobody has done until now, you have to be super strong not to get affected by people. They will tell you it’s impossible because nobody has done it. They won’t accept that you can do it. Hence non-caring attitude is the key. This attitude also lets you live a fantastic life full of freedom and happiness.
Related: Benefits of not caring about people
2. Face your fears
Your fears have the power to control your life entirely. Hence it is essential to be the master of your fears and not the other way around. Mostly we are afraid of something because we have built it a habit to be afraid. We forget that fear is just a perception, a possible outcome, not reality.
But there is one interesting thing about fear: No matter how big it may seem in the present, it would be not daunting at all when you look back after five or six years. You might not even remember that you were afraid. This happens because of fear of uncertainty.
Hence it would be best if you understood that your fears are not going to kill you. It seems daunting because you are not comfortable with the uncertainty. You have to face your fears because they are the gatekeeper of your goals.
3. Surrender
Often, we keep working hard, carrying expectations and a solid desire for success. But you might have noticed that most of the time, success comes in an unexpected way. We achieve success when we stop thinking about it, when we do our work with all our heart without caring about the outcome.
This is what is the concept of surrender. You don’t have to push through forcefully, weighed down by expectations. Just let go of everything, accept everything, and keep working. Remember that success will come in a way you have never expected.
What did I like about You Are a Badass?
The book has very well explained why you shouldn’t worry what people think about you, how to face your fears, and how to remain persistent. I liked the way the author has written love yourself in every chapter. Many quotes are presented throughout the book; this made my reading experience more beautiful.
When I was reading You Are a Badass, I felt an amazing sense of positivity. The language is very casual; sometimes, it will make you laugh. I liked the examples the author has given in every chapter of the book because I could very well relate to a few of those examples.
What didn’t I like about You Are a Badass?
Few chapters of the book explain the same old law of attraction concepts. Since I have read many similar books- The Secret, Think and Grow Rich, Power of Subconscious Mind, As a Man Thinketh, Power of Positive Thinking, etc.- which explains the same concept, this was somewhat boring for me. Reading the same thing again and again in every book seems a waste of time.
Is You Are a Badass worth reading?
Yes, You Are a Badass is worth reading because it will help you develop a strong love for yourself, build self-confidence and above all, help you get out of your comfort zone and start taking action. The book has powerful lessons that will force you to change the way you lived all these days and align yourself with abundance. The book has the power to make you overcome your fears.
Who should read You Are a Badass?
If you have already read the books mentioned above- The Secret, Power of Subconscious Mind, Power of Positive Thinking, etc.- you may not like the book. But still, I will say you should try it because it is not completely similar to the law of attraction books. In addition, it will help you develop self-love and self-confidence.
And, if you haven’t read the above books, You Are a Badass is undoubtedly the book for you. I would highly recommend this book to all those people who doubt themselves, don’t have self-love, have problems like inferiority complex, and compare themselves with others. Go for You Are a Badass, it won’t disappoint you.