Friday, June 30, 2017

Book Review: "You Are a Badass" by Jen Sincero


Pretty recently, I have begun dabbling in the self help section of the book world. I have always silently (and sometimes not so silently) mocked the genre, but recently my thoughts have changed. I have watched YouTube videos that are essentially oral versions of a self help book in the form of TED Talks, or just videos of people I watch regularly. There were many book recommendations involved, and to be honest, I pretty much ignored them. It wasn't until friends began recommending certain titles I had heard of before that I paid any attention. After all, these women are educated, bright, socially well adjusted, and are not the "vision" of a self help book reader I had previously concocted in my mind.

The book You Are a Badass was not recommended to me by a human, but Amazon recommendations after I added a related book to my cart and to be honest, I liked the title. It was a worthwhile read, but overall, not life changing.

The Good: I really love the way Sincero speaks. I enjoy the casual conversation-like vibe, the swearing, and how realistic some of her examples really were. The kind of inner thoughts that NO ONE ever says out loud, and so you convince yourself you are the only one who has them. In that way, the book is very relateable. I believe the strategies around setting intentions are good, and setting appropriate goals, refusing to make excuses, are excellent.


 I may be guilty of secretly assuming my perfect man was a casualty of the good guy genocide. This page hit me home the strongest of any of the other pages!


I have not yet actually tried this strategy, but I plan to. Targeting the problem is one of the more difficult challenges in trying to change one's own thinking, in my opinion.

The Bad: This will not be bad for many, if not most, people, but there is a slight tone of religiousness that I personally very much dislike. Sincero makes it clear that when she refers to connecting to the "Universe" (for her, this would be God), it could be any sense of higher power one has. I think that is awesome, inclusive, and really great...if you have a belief in a higher power. I am agnostic but live in a rather atheistic way, and I do not personally connect at all with this idea. Unfortunately, a huge amount of the strategies in the book relying connecting to this "Source Energy" and relying on it's vibrations to give you answers. I am a more introspective person, and do not believe in vibrations. I personally would like strategies that I can implement that do not rely on religion or magic.

Sorry, not buying what is being sold here. Money isn't manifested, it is a product of working hard. If visualizing it is what a person needs to do in order to work hard, then this is great advice. However, to me it merely gives a chuckle.

In the end, it is all up to the Universe (code: God). Just manifest it with your thoughts (code: pray) and have faith. I don't need to elaborate on the issues a non religious person would have with this.

In all, this is a great book for a spiritual person. An atheist, or agnostic who is not searching for a deity in any way, might find this to be lacking. I would recommend it highly to a spiritual person actually, who is in need of some confidence boosting. So much so, I plan to pass this along to one of my closest friends, who is religious, and I hope will get a lot out of it. For me, it is a pass.

I am starting Daring Greatly soon, upon recommendation of an actual human I am friends with and who knows me. I am hoping that one will be more up my alley!

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