It’s my belief that this book became a bestseller based on title alone. And while that may be probable, You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero definitely has merit as an inspiring self-help book.

I picked up this book because 1) that title, duh and 2) it’s been recommended on several blogs that I read. But really though, the title alone is all the affirmation you need.

It was a little less focused on the “badassery” than I expected though. It was a little less edgy than I thought it would be. But it was full of motivational genius.

There wasn’t actually anything new in this book. I felt that I’d heard it all before. Sincero did not tell me anything I didn’t already know. She even alludes to that a few times though.

What made this book special, inspiring, and tipped the scales on that bestseller title was the fact that it was written like Sincero is talking to you. And she’s talking to you exuberantly and emphatically and she’s using a lot of sarcasm and witticisms. She’s talking to you like you actually are going to get up off your ass this instant and take her advice. She’s talking to you like it’s real, like her advice works, like she’s done this before. “This” being everything – the giving advice part, the changing your life part, the manifesting your dreams part.

In this book, Sincero is the friend you’ve been looking for to be actually 100% real with you.

That was the best part of the book.

Now the part where I said I’ve heard all of this before – it didn’t matter so much, since it was written so well. And since no one ever changes their life after being told to just once. People who change their life have read every self help book, get all the advice, pay for all the training, and hire all the coaches. You have to be told over and over again how to do it and why it matters before it actually makes a dent. Kind of like advertising, now that I think about it.

This book felt to me like a perfect blend of The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne, and Playing Big, by Tara Mohr. I didn’t love The Secret because it was a little too woo-woo for me. I did love Playing Big because it was super practical. So You Are a Badass just brought the whole Universe-thing from the Secret into Playing Big, twisted the words into punchy, energetic, pithy language and slapped a swear word on the cover.

I’m sure I’m making it sound like a superficial excuse for a self-development book that’s supposed to change your life. In reality, I read this book in three days because I couldn’t put it down.

The biggest thing I got out of this book is that it takes a lot more dedication and commitment to changing your life than most people ever put in. Most people never dream big enough, never decide what they want, and never go after anything with their full might and conviction. And so most people don’t believe any of it’s possible. As Sincero says, they’re stuck in the Big Snooze. They’re stuck with their limiting beliefs that were drilled into them from the moment they were born. They don’t dare to dream bigger than what they’ve been told is possible. But they’ve never even challenged it.

What I also loved about this book was that each chapter felt like a little wake-up call. A little kick in the butt. A reality check, to remind you that your life could be so. much. better. And then she tells you how.

So, read this book if you’re ready for that reality check. Read it if you need some straight talk. And read it if you’re ready to actually commit to something in your life that you’ve been told is impossible.