Author: Nicola Findlay
Publisher: Clink Street Publishing
Format: Paperback
* I was sent this book for free, all opinions are my own, for more information please read my Disclaimer.
I'm a very negative person, I personally don't think it's a bad thing but at times I'm negative even if my anxiety isn't at play. I put myself in such a mindset that everything is bad when that isn't the case. I'm very fortunate to be able to have a roof over my head, parents who cared for me and to be able to carry on and push myself despite my chronic illness. This isn't going to be a bullshit post on positively it's going to be a post on my thoughts on a book called live like you give a f**k that talks about positivity. Nicola Findlay is the author of this book, she doesn't like to sugar coat it and if you don't like swearing this book isn't for you. I hate life coaches I find a lot of them to be full of shit and not listen to the problems at hand, from what the book says Nicola helps people in personal development which in a way is a bit like life coaching I guess but after reading the book she takes a different approach to help others. Her way of thinking is to do things you do give a f**k about not what you don't give a fuck about and that's I thought I could take something I can get on board with before I got properly into the book.
I'm forever stuck in this loop of conflicted feelings in my life, my health is a big factor as to why I'm unable to do things but there are things I am unable to do which I put off, but other days I can't physically do them and when I can I tend to lose that motivation when I feel well enough to do them and I need a push to make me do it. I want to start off by saying that I don't think this book factors in those who are disabled or those who suffer from Mental Health, I'm not bashing it at all but a lot of points within the book are very hard to do when you suffer daily with both a disability and your mental health, now don't get me wrong I would love to sit and not give a shit about anything and take my life into my own hands but sometimes it's not as simple as following the steps within a book.
In the book, Nicola states that she has created the five accessories which help you live like you give a fuck, each of these accessories as she called them is listed in accessory numbers throughout the book no1 is Beliefs. Beliefs talks about how the way you think about yourself is what you are, again people who suffer from mental health can have a very negative way of the way they speak and see themselves at times and limiting the bullshit beliefs won't help change that, but one thing that Nicola does I think this is great, she leaves spaces within the book for you to write down where your beliefs of yourself originated from and tries to make you face that head-on, she believes that positive thoughts and beliefs equal positive habits, this is true in a way but again some people aren't in the right situation/ able-bodied to be able to do this.
The second accessory is called "Self Love", I liked this one because I think self-love can benefit a person, it's taken me a long time to love myself but it's taken a very long time to do that, there is a section that says treat yourself the way you would want to be treated and I like this notion because I'm so hard on myself and I know if someone turned around and said a lot of the thoughts I have of myself to me it would upset me, the section to write down why I love myself is a good one because reading it back would make me see how far I have come from hating the person I was. There are a few pages asking what you have done this week/month to make you proud which I think addresses how you can achieve something no matter how small which is an achievement to be proud of. As I got further into this accessory there a section called "calm is crazy..." which is about that staying in the right mental zone, the name of this accessory is a bit below the belt for me, mental health can be a fragile thing, being negative at times isn't a bad thing I feel like being positive about everything, isn't good for a person and although being mindful is all well and good at times but it's not as simple as switching a switch and following steps in a book to help put you in a positive mindset.
The third accessory is goals, it has a mixture of things and does touch a little bit on what your mental health goals are along with health goals, as a person who suffers from mental health and my own health it's not very easy to plan goals as things can change at anytime with a chronic illness, one day I can feel good the next day I can feel like my body won't even let me move. If you're wanting to change your life, however, Nicola has some ways of making you turn things around for yourself and assess the goals you want to do. The fourth accessory goes hand in hand with goals it's called commitment, it's all about mastering your obstacles which apparently will be your key to success, this covers goals again and taking on fear of these goals and punching them in the face. The last accessory, number 5 is called "just fucking do it" and helps people see where they lack confidence, how their qualities can help build their skills characteristics and confidence and goes on to stepping in another person's shoes and using their aspects of confidence which is something I wouldn't want to do, I would rather find my own. The book is packed full of a lot more than I listed in this post and although I'm not a huge fan Nicola is using her own experiences in life to talk about how she tackled what she wanted to do which is a huge achievement for her and I applaud her for it, from the sounds of it she turned her life around and just wants to share how she did it through this book.
I'm not going to sit there and say this was the best book I've read etc because it's not as I find it to be ableist, I agree with some bits of the book to an extent but as I said before I do have a chronic illness so some of the accessories she listed would be harder for me to do. I would say if you're looking to get motivated and love a good rant this book is perfect for you. As a whole, I've promised myself to start concentrating on what I want and what I want to do lately and I hope I can keep to it. I actually have a book Sarah sent me that lets me write down what I'm grateful down whenever I feel like it and it has some pretty cool quotes in, which is a little similar to parts in this book. For those of you who have read this book and love it you need to remember that not everyone can just not give a f**k, we all have different ways of coping with things and having mental health or a disability doesn't mean we are using it as an excuse to not follow steps in a book, we have to take a different kind of approach to things in life at times, and can't just turn things around with the steps that are in this book, the book is more so for abled people so my overall rating for this book is 2/5.
Elle May
Comments
Any hate will not be published.