I was introduced to Mel Robbins through an ad for her latest book “The 5 Second Rule“. Her straight-shooting, no B.S. attitude had a “Sassy” feel to it and the title of this excerpt’s book caught my eye.
Let me know if there is a part of you that identifies with her words. This is the Introduction:
STOP SAYING YOU’RE FINE
Introduction
“Every day you’re bombarded with images of people doing better than you. There is an endless stream of reality shows selling the fantasy that somewhere out there are celebrity trainers, designers, and talent scouts helping people just like you lose weight, spice up their wardrobes, or launch music careers. Hollywood cranks out movie after movie about “ordinary people” who are impossibly sexy, funny, and adventurous. Log onto Facebook, and it seems as if everyone but you spends all his or her time having fun.
“Of course, you know this isn’t how the world actually works. There’s no reality-show fairy godmother coming to whisk you away to a magical life. You don’t have an entire Hollywood makeup team helping you look good, or screenwriters coming up with adventures to spice up your day. Facebook is nothing but heavily packaged “Kodak moments” that bear no relation to how people really live
“But even though you know all these things are fake, there’s still a part of you that wonders why your life isn’t more satisfying. You know life isn’t a movie, but does it have to be so boring? Does it have to require so much effort? It’s not that things are awful, they just… aren’t that great. You say you’re “fine”, but you want more from life. The gap between the life you secretly wish you could lead and the life you’re leading seems to be growing every day. This is your reality.
“But it doesn’t have to be.
“In fact, the truth is that at this very moment, you couldn’t buy better odds for success.
“Everything you need to get whatever you want is there for the taking. There’s a step-by-step instruction book for any subject, written by a fully credentialed expert. There are millions of blogs to walk you through every conceivable lifestyle change. There is free technology available to help you launch a business, sell your stuff, or publish your ideas. There are a thousand different networking tools to help you make new friends or find true love.
“No, you don’t have a reality show or a Hollywood team doing everything for you – but you don’t need them. You are very powerful when you put your mind to it. Everything you could ever need to live the life you want is there at your fingertips. If you feel bored or stuck, it isn’t because of the economy, or a lack of resources, or because America hasn’t voted you its next idol. The real reason you feel stuck is you.
“You are in your own way. If you don’t feel like it, you don’t do it. If you think you can’t, you won’t. If you can avoid confrontation or challenge, you do. If you can figure out a way to do nothing, you will. Your feelings are in charge of your head and they are running you into the ground. It is you who are robbing yourself of power and happiness.
“If you could get out of your own way, you could have everything you want. You could be healthier. You could be more confident. You could be more successful. You could be happier. You could be more powerful. You could shrink that gap between the life you want and the life you lead, until it doesn’t exist at all.
This book will teach you how.”
To order your own copy of either of Mel’s books: this one is “Stop Saying You’re Fine” and her newest one is”The 5 Second Rule”, follow one of the links at her website: