I really enjoyed Jen Sincero’s first book, You Are a Badass, and would love to read some more of her self-help books. I was so excited when I heard about Badass Habits, especially because I am currently exercising more, eating right, and drinking a litttttle less wine. 😉 This book was okay, and did offer some good advice, but it fell flat for me compared to her original book. That being said, it might be just the right book for you!

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The summary, from Amazon:

New York Times bestselling author Jen Sincero gets to the core of transformation: habits–breaking, making, understanding, and sticking with them like you’ve never stuck before.

Badass Habits is a eureka-sparking, easy-to-digest look at how our habits make us who we are, from the measly moments that happen in private to the resolutions we loudly broadcast (and, erm, often don’t keep) on social media. Habit busting and building goes way beyond becoming a dedicated flosser or never showing up late again–our habits reveal our unmet desires, the gaps in our boundaries, our level of self-awareness, and our unconscious beliefs and fears. Badass Habits features Jen’s trademark hilarious voice and offers a much-needed fresh take on the conventional wisdom and science that shape the optimism (or pessimism?) around the age-old topic of habits. The book includes enlightening interviews with people who’ve successfully strengthened their discipline backbones, new perspective on how to train our brains to become our best selves, and offers a simple, 21 day, step-by-step guide for ditching habits that don’t serve us and developing the habits we deem most important. Habits shouldn’t be impossible to reset–and with healthy boundaries, knowledge of–and permission to go after–our desires, and an easy to implement plan of action, we can make any new goal a joyful habit.

Buy Badass Habits here!

Jen Sincero sets you on a 21 day journey to form or quit the habit of your choice. I guess the one I had in mind when I started this was to quit/lessen my almost nightly wine habit, and I did sort of do that while reading this, but I think that had more to do with the health journey I’m on in general. (Though maybe this book also helped with that?)

The first few chapters are a lot to get through, IMO. Sincero lays out who you are/think you are when it comes to your habits, creating healthy boundaries, shapeshifting into the new you, and then delves into a 21 day plan to create your new habit or break your old one, which you can repeat as needed.

Honestly, I just found the plan to be meh. I liked creating a mantra, and I did like returning to the book every day to read a little more. But what I read in this book was nothing revolutionary. I’ve heard all of it before in other motivational texts. Furthermore, Sincero repeats herself A LOT in this one. For example, when telling you your next step, she’ll provide an example. And then another one. And then another one. I get it already!! I felt like half of this book was just examples on examples.

For a self-help, habit-breaking or -forming beginner, I think this is probably an easy and practical read. For me, it was meh, a 3 star read. My thanks to the publisher, author, and Edelweiss for giving me a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Find out more about how I rate books here.

Badass Habits: Cultivate the Awareness, Boundaries, and Daily Upgrades You Need to Make Them Stick by Jen Sincero
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While I loved You Are A Badass, this one was meh for me. While I believe it had good advice and that Sincero’s 21 day course is pretty solid and keeps you going with your habit for a few weeks, I found it to be super repetitive. I’m not sure I’ll remember much of what I read from it aside from my mantra. 🤷🏻‍♀️ My thanks to the author, publisher, and Edelweiss for sending me a copy in exchange for my honest review.

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Book Club Questions

1. If you feel comfortable sharing, which habit did you set out to make or break when you picked up this book? How did it go for you? Will you be repeating the process or any exercises again?
2. Which of the exercises was your favorite? Least favorite?
3. Have you tried other methods for forming or breaking a habit before? What were they, and how did they go? Share your best resources.

Interested? Buy Badass Habits.
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