The Best Parts About “You Are A Badass” That You’ll For Sure Love
This post is all about You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero.
Welcome to the first official book review here! Today we’re talking about You Are A Badass: How To Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life, and wow there’s a lot to say.
You Are A Badass is pretty much on every book recommendation list for twenty-somethings to read. It had 4/5 stars and hundreds of people called it “life-changing” and a “must-read” in the Barnes & Noble review section. So naturally, I thought I would see what everyone was raving about. After finishing, I can honestly say that there were a lot of gems in here and everyone can learn something from this book.
In one sentence, You Are A Badass can be summed up as a step-by-step guide to ditching the negative habits and thinking patterns that hold you back, and instead, actively take steps to live the kind of life that you would be jealous of now.
So let’s get started.
About the Author
A little background as to who Jen Sincero is. She’s an LA-based New York Times best-selling author, success coach, and motivational speaker. In 2011, she was unhappy with her life so she packed her bags and started to travel the world and drowned herself into as many personal development books and courses that she could find until she finally reached success. In 2013, she released You Are A Badass as a summary of everything she learned from that time.
Book Breakdown
You Are A Badass is 244 pages and 27 chapters broken down into 5 parts:
- How You Got This Way
- How To Embrace Your Inner Badass
- How To Tap Into The Motherlode
- How To Get Over Your B.S. Already
- How To Kick Some Ass
Most Important Points
Love yourself
It’s stressed so much that Sincero even has a space dedicated to it at the end of every single chapter. Self-love is the foundation to stop doubting yourself and start to live fully. When you’re okay on the inside, it changes your approach to situations, relationships, and your whole outlook. Part of it comes from loving your growth and accepting that your current state isn’t the end-all-be-all.
Control Your Subconcious Thoughts
She says it so much throughout the text that “our thoughts become our words, our words become our beliefs, our beliefs become our actions, our actions become our habits, and our habits become our realities” (60). She really focuses in on rewiring your brain through affirmations, meditation, and nixing limiting beliefs.
Energy And Vibrations
In order to accomplish everything you want, you have to operate at a higher vibration. Meaning getting rid of self-sabotaging habits, jealousy, self-doubt, resentment, fear, and even viewing things from a place of lack.
Pros
Concise and To The Point
There weren’t any chapters that just didn’t seem to have a purpose which made the book pretty easy to blow through. Everything she wrote was concise and worked well to support the overall themes listed above.
The Quotes and One-liners
In some parts of the text, it seems like she’s speaking directly to you and whatever situation you’re dealing with. I personally felt called out more than a couple of times (lol). Here’s a list of some of my favorites that made a huge impression.
…On Purpose
“Take the first right step…you don’t have to know exactly where it’s going to take you, you just need to start with the one feeling that feels right and keep following right-feeling things and see where they lead. Most answers reveal themselves through doing, not thinking” (74).
“Much of the time we pretend we aren’t clear on what our calling is when what’s really going on is that we’re horrified to face it because it seems too big or too impossible to make a living at or completely out of the question for us” (80).
…On Self-Worth
“The trick is to not only deny the criticism any power over you, but, even more challenging, to not get caught up in the praise…because if you base your self-worth on what everyone else thinks of you, you hand all your power over to other people and become dependent on an outside source for validation. Then you wind up chasing after something you have no control over, and should that something suddenly place its focus elsewhere, or change its mind and decide you’re no longer very interesting, you end up with a full-blown identity crisis” (67).
…On Pusuing Your Dreams & Doing Your Own Thing
“The problem is that once we’re older and ‘wiser,’ many people trade in living fully in their purpose for more ‘grown-up’ versions of life that range from the merely passable to the full-on sucking. They’ve bought into this idea….that waking up feeling excited about life is for the young, and once we’re older, we need to trade that in, settle down and be more ‘realistic’…I’m talking about continuously living our dreams, no matter what stage of life we’re in, instead of settling for mediocrity because we don’t believe anything else is available or appropriate” (102).
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…On Making Excuses
“If there’s something you really want…you’re probably lying to yourself if you’re not going after it. So often, when we say we’re not qualified for something, what we’re really saying is that we’re too scared to try…If you’re serious about your life, you’ll find a way. If you’re not, you’ll find an excuse” (36).
Cons
Some of her points were insensitive and just unrealistic.
There’s a part in Chapter 18 where Sincero talks about the stories (lies) we tell ourselves that cause us to stay in the same position and not progress. She used depression and mental illnesses as an example and it just comes off as incredibly tone-deaf. At one point, she literally wrote that if you’re depressed, just think and act like someone who isn’t depressed. That’s like having a broken leg and someone just telling you to put a band-aid on it and act like it’s not there.
She writes about depression like it’s just a lie you tell yourself instead of an actual illness in order to reap the benefits of it (i.e. people caring for you, you can stay in bed all day). I absolutely doubt anyone with depression would say they gained anything from it.
Final Thoughts
I can understand why this book is so highly celebrated. Sincero’s message clearly resonates well with people looking to take control of their lives, even if they aren’t completely sure where to start. You Are A Badass provides encouragement to take a brave step out of your comfort zone, because let’s be honest. How many big, great things happen when you stay in it?
It’s a great intro to self-help books, but if you’ve been reading them for a while, it could sound redundant. It’s more on the spiritual side because she talks about energy, the Universe, manifestations, the Law of Attraction, and more. But nonetheless, a good read.
She writes like she’s speaking to one of her clients so if you want both a cheerleader and a straight-shooter in a book, then this is for you. On the same note, this book is pretty good if you have an entrepreneurial spirit and need help getting past your imposter syndrome.
The thing about self-help books (especially this one) is that the concepts aren’t particularly new. It’s just said in a way that helps you connect the dots between concepts that you already knew. So reading this is just a constant series of epiphany after epiphany.
All in all, I would recommend it. It covers a lot more than what I mentioned. From self-image and your relationship with yourself to overcoming struggles, taking risks, and changing your mindset. I think everyone in their 20s should read this. You Are A Badass helped me finally muster up the courage to launch this site and share it with you all, so I guess that goes to show how motivating and encouraging it actually is.
Naya
Wow I really need to read this one!!
Uma
I am a quarter of the way through and would already recommend it to others! It is very positive and uplifting but I do agree on some instances of insensitivity. I think we should always acknowledge the negative sides to our mental health but never shame them!!
jahleane
UmaAbsolutely and well said!