Rachel Hollis has some new advice
Hollis back with a plan for achieving your goals
“Girl, Stop Apologizing” says it all. Books,
What does the author of “Girl, Wash Your Face” want us to do now? Her new advice is, “Girl, Stop Apologizing.”
Following last year’s motivational work (which sits at No. 3 on USA TODAY’s top 100 books of 2018), Rachel Hollis, a writer, motivational speaker, podcast host, businesswoman and mom of four, has written a new book, “Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals” (out Tuesday).
In an approachable style, Hollis encourages readers to go for it in the book broken down into three parts: “Excuses to Let Go Of,” “Behaviors to Adopt” and “Skills to Acquire.”
“The worst thing I can imagine is that you might die with that potential still untapped inside of you,” Hollis writes in the book’s introduction. “And so I wrote this book ... as encouragement, as a field guide, and also as the wind that fans the flames of your what if spark so that it turns into a wildfire.”
Here are five tips from “Girl, Stop Apologizing” to get you motivated.
1. “Talents and skills are like any other living thing – they can’t grow in the dark.”
Reflecting on her decision to actually bring her dream of creating a platform to help improve women’s lives to life, Hollis recalled a time when she used to keep her wants tucked away, and the danger that poses.
“I kept these secret dreams locked up nice and tight where nobody could consider them weird or judge me for them,” she writes, “and where, by the way, they’d never truly see the light of day or have a chance to manifest.”
2. “A goal is a dream with its work boots on.”
Hollis explains the difference between a goal and a dream, as she sees it.
“A goal is a dream you’ve decided to make real. A goal is a destination you’re working toward instead of an idea you’re only considering or hoping for,” Hollis writes. “Hope is a beautiful thing and an incredibly valuable tool to help keep us motivated and inspired about the possibility for the future. But let’s be very clear on this point: hope is not a strategy ... You’ve got to be intentional, and you’ve got to decide right now that you can be whoever you want to be and achieve whatever you want to achieve.”
Later, Hollis writes of the permanence of goals: “Really, truly chasing down a goal changes not just that specific aspect of your life but how you approach life on the whole. Forever.”
3. “You aren’t going to find the time to pursue your goals; you’re going to make the time to pursue your goals.”
Hollis drives home: “You are in control of your schedule.”
“Girl, the question is never, ‘Do you have enough time?’ ” she says. “The question is, How are you using the time you have?” Hollis suggests readers make a timeline of their weeks and figure out how to devote five hours a week to their goal.
4. “You are enough. Today. As you are.”
Hollis had words for those who aren’t going for their desires because they are focused on what they believe they lack: “Stop beating yourself up for being on the beginning side of yet, no matter what age you are. Yet is your potential.
Yet is a promise. Yet is what keeps you moving forward. Yet is a gift, and you are enough to get to the other side of it.”
5. Aim for being centered instead of focusing on a work-life balance.
Hollis believes that “work-life balance is a myth.” She instead puts her energy toward being centered.
“Centered means that you feel grounded and at peace with yourself,” she says. “Centered means that you can’t be knocked off balance regardless of how chaotic things become. If I prioritize myself and make sure I”m centered, then everything else runs smoothly ... even when it’s running at a hundred miles an hour!”