Recently I've been on some sort of reading mission, where I buy a book and unintentionally read it in under 24 hrs. I did this with Sophia Amoruso's #GirlBoss and I've also done this with Laura Jane Williams' The Book of Brave.
The Book of Brave is a 93 page ebook about what it means to be brave and to love yourself, in Laura's own words reflecting on her life and lessons she has learned and is now passing on.
Now, just because I read this book so quickly, that's not to say this book wasn't well written or well thought out, I'm definitely sure a lot of thought went into it, incredible amounts and the writing style/language in the book is brilliant. Laura is a truly intelligent woman. That's just to say that this book was so gripping, I felt I couldn't sleep until I'd absorbed every ounce of information it had to offer, as though it was going to be the answer to all my questions.
It wasn't.
But it didn't need to be and it wasn't meant to be, but it taught me something else. Something Better.
Image source: @superlativelyLJ Twitter.
I don't know what I expected to get out of this book, all I knew is I was curious about it and I was curious about my own life so maybe reading about someone else's could help me find my way.
I began reading this book at around 10pm Monday night (last night) and I finished it at 4am this morning, despite having to be up for a meeting at 9am, I just couldn't put it down.
This book has made me realise so many things, but most importantly that I am in charge of myself and that only I can have a say in my life, or at least I have the only say that matters.
It made me feel better about some of the choices I've already made in life, namely leaving university. I have never regretted leaving university but felt as though because I did leave that I had failed and that I couldn't possibly have a successful career without a degree, Laura gives you insight on how sometimes, not following the easy, safe or normal path to getting a career can be a good thing.
Obviously if you love university and you know your path and feel in your gut that that IS the right path for you, then good, stay on that path! The book isn't about saying "Hey, I did this and this and it worked out great for me so if you copy me it'll work out great for you too" in fact it's definitely not about that, this book is about saying do what feels good and be brave, do what you feel you want to be doing and don't something because you feel should/have to do it a certain way. There is no "right" or "wrong" way to do life.
Image source: @SuperlativelyLJ Twitter
This book is not a self-help book, let me stress that, NOT a self-help book. The only person who can help yourself, is you and that's what this book reinforces over and over, The notion that You are enough. This book isn't going to give you every answer about life and it is not going to give you answers to becoming successful but it will help you to believe that you are in charge and you are worth it.
Isn't that lovely? Isn't that more of what we need in this world?
One section of this book that really made me smile and think "Hey, maybe I can do this" was the Choosing Your Way section. In this section Laura talks about how to go against the norm and do what makes you happy and not to settle with just a "fine" life because as Laura so brilliantly puts it, "Fine isn't good enough for you." It'll help you choose which path to take "Their path or yours". How you should be curious and question everything and take the path lesser travelled. To question fear and to accept it in your life.
One particular quote made me smile and it was "What would you do if you weren't so afraid, cutie?"
It's so personal and so friendly that you can't help but smile, but then beyond being called a cutie, what would I do if I weren't so afraid. This book asks you to question yourself and asks you to get to know yourself because when you answer the question "What would I do if I weren't so afraid?" Changes are made. Thought provoking, right?
Basically, as Laura puts it, "You're not fucking up like you think you are." So don't be so hard on yourself. Failure is only what you perceive it to be, to conclude something a failure is to give it a foreseeable ending, if you're not finished living your life, then it isn't a failure but a mistake which you learn and grow stronger from. It's a fun book giving a different perspective on life, one that truly is amazing.
Learn to love yourself and everything else will fall into place.
If you would like to buy this ebook, click here (just FYI this isn't a sponsored review, I just really enjoyed this book and think many others will too!)
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed my review of The Book of Brave, as you can probably tell I thoroughly enjoyed it! Have you read it? What do you think of it? Let me know in the comments!
Love Alicia x
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