If you’re a woman with any interest in personal development, it’s almost guaranteed that you’ve heard of Rachel Hollis.
The New York Times best-selling author, media mogul and mother of four is working hard to deliver motivational tools and inspiration to women all over the globe. And if her social media followers are any sign, she’s doing exactly that.
Straight talking, entertaining and beautifully supported by her husband Dave, thirty-six year old Rachel is a huge hit on both Facebook and Instagram. This is likely due to her ability to make you feel like you are having a conversation with a cross between your best friend and your favourite coach.
Last year, Rachel released her sixth book, Girl, Wash Your Face. To call that book successful may be the biggest understatement of all time. To date, Girl Wash Your Face has sold almost three million copies, making it the second biggest selling book of 2018.
As a follow up to her last best seller, Rachel has recently released Girl, Stop Apologizing – A Shame Free Plan For Embracing And Achieving Your Goals. This book trumpeted its arrival by debuting at number one on the New York Times Best Sellers list.
As the title suggests, Girl, Stop Apologizing centres on how women can set big goals and then achieve them. Given how much I enjoyed Rachel Hollis’ last book, I snapped up a copy of Girl Stop Apologizing as soon as I could. And I’m so glad I did. It’s another excellent read.
Title: Girl, Stop Apologizing – A Shame Free Plan For Embracing And Achieving Your Goals
Author: Rachel Hollis
Published: 2019 by Harper Collins Leadership
What I loved
The chapter entitled Skill 2: Confidence.
I’m going to leap straight to my absolute favourite part of Girl, Stop Apologizing. It’s the primary reason that I wanted to share this book with you as soon as possible. I’ve reviewed lots of books over the years. But I don’t think I’ve ever named an entire chapter under the “what I loved’ section of a review. Stay with me though – my reasoning for my excitement about this chapter is easy to fathom.
It boils down to Rachel’s belief that you don’t start to feel confident until you like how you look.
‘Can I get an Amen?’, as Rachel would say.
As a certified Style Coach™ these words resonated loudly with me. While some would argue that it is a superficial place to start when talking about women’s confidence, and it certainly highlights some issues with society today, my clients have demonstrated again and again that if they don’t like how they look, it stops them from taking next steps in their careers and their lives.
I absolutely agree with Rachel when she makes the point that you don’t have to look like anyone else. Nor do you need others to affirm how you look. To start increasing your confidence, you have to start liking how you look.
The fact is, when you don’t like how you are presenting yourself to the world, you are more likely to hide.
When you feel better about how you look, you are more likely to put yourself out there. You are more likely to bring attention to yourself. You might speak up in a meeting. Or turn your camera on in a webinar. Or try something else that you are too scared to do today. Why? Simply because when you like how you look you feel better about yourself.
If you would like to take steps towards liking how you look, I’d suggest you tackle one area at a time. Book in for make-up lesson at your local store. Head off to a professional bra fitting. It’s amazing what a difference proper underpinnings make to your overall look. Sort through your wardrobe and remove anything that either doesn’t fit or make you feel great. Once you’ve nailed one small area, move onto the next.
The honest approach
As she did in Girl, Wash Your Face, Rachel again shares incredibly personal information to illustrate her points. Her vulnerability is part of the charm. However, she never plays the victim, always using her experience to help motivate her readers towards achieving their goals.
The layout of the book
Girl, Stop Apologizing is split into three sections. The first and largest section focusses on the excuses that women use to hold themselves back from chasing their goals. In the second section, Rachel recommends the behaviours women should adopt if they want to achieve big things. And in the final section of the book, Rachel outlines the skills she believes women need to get to reach their aims.
The format is easy to follow, and makes sense, in that each new section builds on the last.
What I wasn’t so sure about
If you’ve read my reviews on Distant Francophile, you’ll know that I rarely review a book without finding something that I think could be improved.
Not so in this case. I love everything about this book.
If I was pressed, about the best I can offer is that I didn’t like the ebook version as much as I enjoyed the audio recording of the book. I highly recommend that you opt for the audio version as opposed to the printed or ebook options. Rachel says that she wrote the book with narration in mind. And I thought it was a very easy and entertaining book to listen to.
Have you read Girl Stop Apologizing? Are you a fan of Rachel Hollis’ work? I’d love for you to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Warmest, Janelle.
