The 5 Parts to ‘You Are a Badass’ by Jen Sincero
Insights on how to live well
Everyone likes to be told positive things about them. You look nice today can help boost your confidence and change the cadence of your stride. But when a book title throws down the big ones, I have to see what lies between the pages.
You are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living Your Life
When I first read this book, er I mean… listened to this book. (Can you still call it reading as you listen to audiobooks?) I first heard Jen Sincero narrate this book on an audio version somewhere on YouTube Lands. I was hooked. Her edgy, punk rock ways spoke to my 14-year-old heart. (I had the whole get-up, chain wallet and all. I listened to what I thought was punk rock while rebelling against the norm– whatever that was.) And here comes this lady who brought back memories of those teenage days.
“Making a big fat deal out of anything is absurd. It makes much more sense to go after life with a sense of, “Why not?” instead of a furrowed brow. One of the best things I ever did was make my motto “I just wanna see what I can get away with.” It takes all the pressure off, puts the punk rock attitude in, and reminds me that life is but a game.” ― Jen Sincero, You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life
I decided listening wasn’t going to cut it and picked up my own copy and proceeded to mark it up with highlighters and underlines.
I like this book because it helps us look at our self-sabotaging beliefs and gives us many strategies to move past our negative self-grumbles and move on to more intentional living.
“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.” ― Jen Sincero, You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life
Jen, (Can I call her Jen? I feel like I am sitting on the couch catching up over coffee when I open this book. I found a new friend. So ya, I am calling her Jen.) Jen heavily emphasizes recognizing and shifting our thoughts to manifest our desired reality purposefully. She admits how woo-woo it sounds, but her stories make these concepts relatable.
“Take care of yourself as if you’re the most awesome person you’ve ever met.” ― Jen Sincero, You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life
This book helped me see that I wasn’t taking care of myself like a badass would. I wasn’t talking to myself like one either. My thoughts were creating my stressful, scattered, annoying reality. My inner dialogue was getting old!
I had to choose this book for my book club. I want to share with others this profound lessons. Plus, Jen Sincero has a great sense of humor so it’s fun to read. I had to get another copy to read it with fresh eyes for the club.
This book focuses on these five easy-to-read (or listen-to) sections.
- How You Got This Way
- How to Embrace Your Inner Badass
- How to Tap into the Motherlode
- How to Get Over Your BS Already
- How to Kick Some Ass
Each section has a plethora of insights. (Plethora is a fun word to say!)
Here are some insights into the five sections.
ONE: How You Got This Way
Basically, what you tell yourself is how you will perceive the world. Brene Brown also talks about the stories we tell ourselves, but basically, the streaming dialogue in our heads helps shape our outer world. Ever been in a happy mood and stuck in traffic. Hey, the tunes are good, so why not rock out? But if you are focused on some drama that you can’t leave behind at work, low and behold, someone cuts you off, and you get mad. What you put out there is what you get back. And your ego is a big culprit of this.
Your ego comes from your conscious trying to make sense of your subconscious- or the things we have learned over time that get stuck in the reptilian part of our brain. It screams, pay attention to me, or nobody likes me and even I am not good enough to do that. These limiting beliefs of ourselves are what hold us back from making any fundamental, lasting changes in our lives. Believe me, I have tried quitting drinking like a gazillion times. The ego battle can be seen in a multitude of ways.
“I can pretty much guarantee that every time you tearfully ask yourself the question, “WTF is my problem?!” the answer lies in some lame, limiting, and false subconscious belief that you’ve been dragging around without even realizing” ― Jen Sincero, You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life
TWO: How to Embrace Your Inner Badass
You are an amazing, unique, incredible being having this human experience. Love yourself every minute you can. You are the only you there is, and the world needs your essence to shine. So, don’t be concerned with what others think, and get clear on your unique purpose in life. Yes, you can have more than one. So, stop apologizing for everything! Your existence doesn’t deserve an apology for turning the corner and almost running into your co-worker. Maybe a little joke about paying attention or turning that moment into a dance-off would be more appropriate.
“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 a source outside of yourself for validation. Then you wind up chasing after something you have no control over, and should that something suddenly place its focus somewhere else, or change its mind and decide you’re no longer very interesting, you end up with a full-blown identity crisis.” ― Jen Sincero, You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life
THREE: How to Tap Into the Motherlode
Ok. THE MOTHER LOAD, where the magic happens. How to tap in? ((BREATH))) Meditate. Affirmations. Do what you enjoy (or find others to do what you don’t). Give away things that are stuffing up the air in your house. Be in a state of gratitude, like all the time! Forgive. Let it go. Be Elsa. And also surrender to the flow. All of this sounds like a checklist, but when applied to your life, you will start seeing the moments bibbity bobity bop into joy! (That’s a fairy-godmother reference).
“When you are consistently in a state of gratitude, and aware of all the awesomeness that already exists, it, among many other things, makes it much easier for you to believe that there’s more awesomeness where that came from, and that this yet-to-be-manifested awesomeness is also available to you. You’ve received awesomeness before, so of course, you can receive awesomeness again. This is how gratitude strengthens your faith. And having strong faith is a major key in transforming your life.” ― Jen Sincero, You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life
FOUR: How to Get Over Your BS Already
Ever notice when you make a change, the world seems to throw you crappy situation after crappy situation? Jen says to get over your BS already. Again, back to what you choose to believe becomes your reality. So, stop procrastinating and waiting for it all to be perfect. (Oh man, this is hard though. I do an inner dance battle with myself every time I publish an article. Is this good enough? Like really real? For realz?) But it’s kind of like becoming a parent. You aren’t ready when you see the results on the stick. But you shift into your new role. You face your OMG, I am a parent fear and start getting to work. Electric socket plugs and diaper gene and all. Time flies and suddenly people are asking you for parenting advice!
“Stop talking about how busy you are. Focus on what you enjoy about what you do and the spaces in between the doing instead of feeling weighed down by it all. Decide that you live an awesome, relaxed life full of interesting projects that you love doing and communicate that to the world and yourself. And then go out and merrily do it.” ― Jen Sincero, You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life
FIVE: How to Kick Some Ass
Start doing some of this! Hang out with people who are living on purpose. Get rid of bad habits. Go enjoy people in the world. Pay for the help you need to elevate. Move your damn body around. Play music that inspires you to stay elevated and pump you up! (Mark-e-Mark style. Pump Up the Jam, pump it up!) and love yourself.
“The people you surround yourself with are excellent mirrors for who you are and how much, or how little, you love yourself.” ― Jen Sincero, You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life
In Summary
Overall, people enjoyed studying this book in my book club. Some comments were:
“Wow! I really like this book. I find it really funny. This is super entertaining.”
“I listened to her first two chapters. And I know everyone is like, watch her language, but I really like her. I think her stories are great! I am looking forward to reading more!”
“Something about this chapter really speaks the truth to me. It bothers me, and I am sure it’s because it hits home-which is a good thing.”
“I am really grateful you chose this book!”
So, would I recommend this book? Heck yes! I would definitely recommend this book for people who feel stuck in self-doubt and have a dream life they find themselves daydreaming about in the break room. This book will help you look at yourself in different loving ways while motivating you to get off you @&$ and start taking charge of your life!
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