Book Review - “Girl, Stop Apologizing” By Rachel Hollis

Yes… I am a dude...and yes… I did read a book called “Girl, Stop Apologizing” and let me tell you why.

I’ve always hated the “Personal Growth” Industry. Though that may seem like a weird way to start explaining why I bought and read a book about personal growth, I promise it has a meaning.

I’ve always hated the idea behind selling personal growth. That if people X do certain things one way than if you want to be successful you need to follow exactly what people X are doing. But in reality, there are a ton of different types of people out there in the world. I always hated that personal growth wasn’t talked about in a way that could make it personal for everyone. Take “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” I had to read this book in high school and in college. It was the worst reading experience I’ve ever had. It was like someone judging me through the pages that if I didn’t follow these habits I’d never accomplish anything. This sort of “Personal Growth” book was totally void of the personal element for me.

Fast forward to a couple of months ago, I was looking for some new podcasts to listen to on the 5 and a half hour drive to visit my parent's house in Arizona. If anyone has done the “California to Arizona” drive then you know it is one of the most boring car rides ever. So I found myself just looking at the top podcasts and I found the “Rise” Podcast by Rachel Hollis. I downloaded a couple of episodes that sounded interesting to me and by the time I got to my parent’s house I was HOOKED! Rachel Hollis is an advocate for woman empowerment to become leaders. She is an advocate for women to unlock the better version of themselves. I’m obviously not a woman, but I relate to women a lot more than I do to men. While I was listening to Rachel I noticed that her advice, or her interviews with other leaders, we’re so much more universal which made it personal to me. She would relate life lessons to experiences that she, or her guests, had been through and translated that lesson into general advice for her listeners.

So I’ve been following Rachel’s “Rise” Podcast since Christmas time, which is just around when she started to talk more about this new book she was writing. I grew interested in this book so I got it and went through the whole thing! I’m sorry for the long intro but I felt like I needed to lay out a foundation that I really did not like Personal Growth, and now I am a huge fan of it! Let’s Start the Review: I listened to the Audio book. I know, I know. That’s kind of cheating when it comes to reading books, but I am an auditory learner which makes the ideas stick better with me when I am listening. I also travel a lot in my car, so audio books and podcasts are a MUST. My first point of this review is that Rachel Hollis narrated the whole thing, and it was great! It felt like a Private 1 on 1 swift kick in the ass to become a better person. Since Rachel has one of the most successful podcasts she really knows how to speak to her audience in an entertaining way. You won’t fall asleep to this audio book. My next point is that this is a book that is meant to kick your ass! It will wake you up to the possibilities you are capable of while being completely honest with the amount of hard work that comes with potential. Nothing here is sugar-coated. This is a real honest book that builds on the life lessons that Rachel has gathered along her own journey to success. The best part about this book is that all of the advice is personal to anybody by being general. In the book she describes many times “If you want to work out, if you want to read a book, of you want to pray, if you want to write your first novel....” Basically always saying that no matter what you want to do this advice will help you. By doing this she is able to give the best advice for someone to make a positive difference in their life for whatever difference they want to make. "Girl, Stop Apologizing" Is broken down into three basic sections. The first section is all about tearing apart the tons of excuses we tell ourselves every day that prevent us from following our dreams. The middle section gives helpful behaviors to adopt that will help you be better in any situation. Finally, she talks about the general skills you need to learn to accomplish all the dreams you've just allowed yourself to shamefully have. There are some sections of this book that are obviously intended to be just for women. In the book, Rachel goes into detail about why she got a boob job, how the procedure went, and how it made her feel afterward. It is long and detailed to basically tell her readers to not be afraid to do what they want to do to feel beautiful because when you think you look beautiful you’re going to feel more positive about yourself. What I personally got out of a story like this is preparation for my future wife and mother of my child. She spills all the beans on the affect childbirth had on her. I learned more about how I could be a better supportive husband one day by learning how woman feel about themselves after that big moment. So yes, even if you are a guy and all the advice doesn’t seem to be generalized for a male, we can learn a lot from reading this book on what woman are going through so we can better respect them! In summary: “Girl, Stop Apologizing” is a totally honest book coming from a strong woman who has put in a lot of work to get to where she is now. It is a book written with a passionate, fired up heart that wants you, the reader, to succeed at whatever you’re doing. It is definitely a great book that will help you Be Better!