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I read this on the recommendation of my therapist, who hadn't finished the book yet. I'm sure, had she finished it before telling me to read it, she wouldn't have recommended it.

I'm new to self-help. The only other one I've read was The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teens and that was only in part and because it was required during my 9th grade health curriculum. While I think Sincero has included some aspects in this book that are helpful, I think much of the advice comes off as hokey, irresponsible, or dishonest.

I appreciated the points she made about being positive, about having faith in yourself and loving yourself, and that making the choice to be positive in life when it may feel easier to be negative or apathetic will make your life better. Some of these things, especially negative self-talk or being self-deprecating, are bad habits of mine that I will actively try to work on.

What I didn't appreciate was the following:
-If your friends aren't supportive of you marrying someone you met a week ago that you claim to be "in love with" or quitting your job to go live your dream of being a baker with no start-up money and no baking experience or any other somewhat insane idea you may have, then they're trying to pull you back down into mediocrity and they don't really care about you

-When given the choice between a Honda you can afford and an Audi you can't, choose the Audi and then figure out where you'll get the money to pay for it AFTER you've bought the car (I'm sorry... manifest it )

-If you want a job, but don't have the right qualifications, lie about it on your resume and then work super hard to live up to the expectation of your lies

-Are you depressed? Get over that! You're choosing to be depressed and low-frequency, which is keeping you depressed. Actually, the exact quote is: "Chances are pretty good that even though [feeling depressed] feels awful, when you feel awful you don't have to work hard or do the laundry or go to the gym. It also feels very familiar and cozy and comfortable. It gets you attention...It gives you something to talk about. It allows you to not try too hard or move forward and face possible failure ." (p. 134)

It can't POSSIBLY be because of a hormonal imbalance in your brain chemistry. No, you're choosing to stay depressed because it gets you attention from people...That made me more angry than anything else in this book. It's so harmful to people suffering from mental illness, seeking to better themselves, to be told to get over it and that they're keeping themselves this way for attention. *Hint* Depressed people don't want to be depressed.

Lastly, Ms. Sincero includes multiple anecdotes about clients of hers who have bought houses without a way of paying for them, quit their jobs and started businesses, done [insert kind of insane thing here], etc. and ALL of them are successful! Shocker! None of them have EVER ultimately failed doing something that could be potentially life-ruining. There may be temporary setbacks, but eventually, they're all super successful people with multiple homes or making crazy money or driving the flashiest car possible because of all the money they manifested.

I just felt like the negatives outweighed the positives with this one, for me. I know a lot of people really liked this and if it helps you become a better person, then I'm happy for you and wish you every success. But this, to me, seemed like it was encouraging reckless behaviors in the name of "living your truth" and then telling you if you don't immediately go out and engage in said behaviors, you're okay living a mediocre life.

2/5

Popsugar Reading Prompt: A book with only words on the cover (no pictures or graphics)