Recommendations based on "I Decided to Live As Me How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others So You Can Learn to Love Yourself"

"Part advice, part personal narrative, and part artwork — full of reflections, encouragements, and insights on personal transformation to help you nurture and celebrate yourself." -New York MagazineNational bestseller * IndieBound * LA Times * BookshopAn honest and relatable guide to figuring out where you're headed—and feeling okay in the meantime.When life feels uncertain, or just plain out of control, making intentional choices can help us move forward and find our way. Sometimes all it takes is a gentle nudge, but for anyone waiting for that big, obvious sign from the universe: This is it!This candid collection of essays and artwork is full of reflections, encouragement, and insights on the theme of personal transformation—realistic perspectives to help you move from "staying alive" to nurturing and celebrating the person you know you really are.From the generous and slightly jaded mind of artist Adam J. Kurtz, these pages explore mental health, identity, handling setbacks, and finding humor in the unknown—and will be a touchstone for seekers, graduates, creatives, and anyone who's trying to figure out what's next (and maybe even feel a little hopeful about it).

J.k. Rowling, One Of The World's Most Inspiring Writers, Shares Her Wisdom And Advice. In 2008, J.k. Rowling Delivered A Deeply Affecting Commencement Speech At Harvard University. Now Published For The First Time In Book Form, Very Good Lives Presents J.k. Rowling's Words Of Wisdom For Anyone At A Turning Point In Life. How Can We Embrace Failure? And How Can We Use Our Imagination To Better Both Ourselves And Others? Drawing From Stories Of Her Own Post-graduate Years, The World Famous Author Addresses Some Of Life's Most Important Questions With Acuity And Emotional Force.

"An indispensable resource for women of all ages, this is a guide to help us better connect to ourselves, to value ourselves, to love ourselves, and ultimately, to be ourselves."—Chelsea ClintonPositive body image isn’t believing your body looks good; it is knowing your body is good, regardless of how it looks.How do you feel about your body? Have you ever stayed home from a social activity or other opportunity because of concern about how you looked? Have you ever passed judgment on someone because of how they looked or dressed? Have you ever had difficulty concentrating on a task because you were self-conscious about your appearance?Our beauty-obsessed world perpetuates the idea that happiness, health, and ability to be loved are dependent on how we look, but authors Lindsay and Lexie Kite offer an alternative vision. With insights drawn from their extensive body image research, Lindsay and Lexie—PhDs and founders of the nonprofit Beauty Redefined (and also twin sisters!)—lay out an action plan that arms you with the skills you need to reconnect with your whole self and free yourself from the constraints of self-objectification.From media consumption to health and fitness to self-reflection and self-compassion, Lindsay and Lexie share powerful and practical advice that goes beyond “body positivity” to help readers develop body image resilience—all while cutting through the empty promises sold by media, advertisers, and the beauty and weight-loss industries. In the process, they show how facing your feelings of body shame or embarrassment can become a catalyst for personal growth.

For those who are givers, carers, and empaths, a guide to focusing that energy on yourself—even if that feels frightening, from popular LGBTQ+ activist and advocate Jeffrey Marsh.Like many of us, Jeffrey Marsh was conditioned to have an outward focus—to give to others, to be a good listener, and to be the one who gave the best advice. In Marsh’s case, it was a method of survival. Growing up genderfluid in an unaccepting family, Marsh did everything they could to meet the needs of others and not have needs of their own. And ultimately, this meant Marsh put themself in the backseat of their own life.In this heartfelt and sincere book, Marsh shares their story and the lessons they learned on the path back to themselves. Whether you’re a survivor of abuse and trauma like Marsh or you’ve passively accepted that your worth ought to be defined by your usefulness to others, Take Your Own Advice will give you the confidence to lead your life on your terms, and to prioritize what’s important: you.It’s time that you learn to put yourself first, to take care of yourself, and to ask others to listen to you for a change. You do give the best advice, after all!

Psychotherapist Josh Fletcher takes us on a tour of the inner mind of a therapist—revealing a hilariously candid point of view on the therapeutic process, a practical guide to therapy, and maybe a few more cobwebs and dark corners than one might expect. It’s everything you ever wanted to know about therapy (and maybe a few things you didn’t).Trauma, heartbreak, anxiety, and mourning are all parts of the human experience, and Josh Fletcher’s mission in life is to normalize the need to find a trusted professional with whom you can discuss all of life’s scariest aspects. Through the lens of four of his patients—Daphne, a wildly successful actor who still struggles to find contentment; Levi, an intimidating bouncer with obsessive tendencies who’s trapped in a sex cult; Zahra, an anxious, people-pleasing doctor in the midst of unpacking serious trauma; and Noah, a shy newcomer with some major closet skeletons—you’ll share in their self-discovery and recovery as they untangle themselves from an all-too-familiar web of emotions. In between sessions, Fletcher struggles to balance his own well-being with that of his patients as details from his sometimes messy but always heartfelt personal life reveal that therapists aren’t immune to getting tripped up by the same hurdles as the rest of us.And How Does That Make You Feel? is a primer on what to expect from therapy, how to find the right therapist, and the most common afflictions treated in therapy (such as depression, OCD, and panic attacks) as well as a darkly hilarious narrative about what’s going on in your therapist’s mind before, during, and after your session. Above all, it’s filled with the promise that a better future is always possible . . . if we’re willing to seek help and do the work.

“[Beauty Sick] will blow the top off the body image movement…provocative and necessary.” — Rebellious MagazineAn award-winning psychology professor reveals how the cultural obsession with women's appearance is an epidemic that harms women's ability to get ahead and to live happy, meaningful lives, in this powerful, eye-opening work in the vein of Peggy Orenstein and Sheryl Sandberg.Today’s young women face a bewildering set of contradictions when it comes to beauty. They don’t want to be Barbie dolls but, like generations of women before them, are told they must look like them. They’re angry about the media’s treatment of women but hungrily consume the outlets that belittle them. They mock modern culture’s absurd beauty ideal and make videos exposing Photoshopping tricks, but feel pressured to emulate the same images they criticize by posing with a "skinny arm." They understand that what they see isn’t real but still download apps to airbrush their selfies. Yet these same young women are fierce fighters for the issues they care about. They are ready to fight back against their beauty-sick culture and create a different world for themselves, but they need a way forward.In Beauty Sick, Dr. Renee Engeln, whose TEDx talk on beauty sickness has received more than 250,000 views, reveals the shocking consequences of our obsession with girls’ appearance on their emotional and physical health and their wallets and ambitions, including depression, eating disorders, disruptions in cognitive processing, and lost money and time. Combining scientific studies with the voices of real women of all ages, she makes clear that to truly fulfill their potential, we must break free from cultural forces that feed destructive desires, attitudes, and words—from fat-shaming to denigrating commentary about other women. She provides inspiration and workable solutions to help girls and women overcome negative attitudes and embrace their whole selves, to transform their lives, claim the futures they deserve, and, ultimately, change their world.

The Best Graphic Book of 2021 by Publishers Weekly | A New York Times Best Graphic Novel of 2021 | A New York Times Notable Book | An Autostraddle Best Queer Book of the Year | A Boston Globe Best Book of the Year | A St. Louis Post Dispatch Best Book of the Year | NPR, 12 Books NPR Staffers Loved | Shelf Awareness Best Books of 2021From the author of Fun Home, a profoundly affecting graphic memoir of Bechdel's lifelong love affair with exercise, set against a hilarious chronicle of fitness fads in our timesComics and cultural superstar Alison Bechdel delivers a deeply layered story of her fascination, from childhood to adulthood, with every fitness craze to come down the pike: from Jack LaLanne in the 60s ("Outlandish jumpsuit! Cantaloupe-sized guns!") to the existential oddness of present-day spin class. Readers will see their athletic or semi-active pasts flash before their eyes through an ever-evolving panoply of running shoes, bicycles, skis, and sundry other gear. But the more Bechdel tries to improve herself, the more her self appears to be the thing in her way. She turns for enlightenment to Eastern philosophers and literary figures, including Beat writer Jack Kerouac, whose search for self-transcendence in the great outdoors appears in moving conversation with the author’s own. This gifted artist and not-getting-any-younger exerciser comes to a soulful conclusion. The secret to superhuman strength lies not in six-pack abs, but in something much less clearly defined: facing her own non-transcendent but all-important interdependence with others.A heartrendingly comic chronicle for our times.

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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In hilarious and tender essays, Chelsea Handler shares her unforgettable story of becoming the woman she always wanted to be.“A raw and raucous exploration of Handler’s ongoing search for self . . . [She’s] disarming us with humor to get at our softest selves and meeting us with her own.”—Oprah Daily There’s a woman I want to become, Chelsea Handler thought as a child. She’ll be strong and confident. She’ll light up a room and spread that light to make others feel better. She’ll make a living being herself. She’ll be a survivor. At ten years old, Chelsea opened a lemonade stand and realized she’d make more money if the drinks were spiked. So she added vodka to her recipe and used her earnings to upgrade herself to first-class on a family vacation—leaving her parents and siblings in coach. She moved to Los Angeles and got fired from her temp job when she admitted she didn’t know how to transfer calls. She’s played pickleball with the scions of an American dynasty. She’s sexted a governor. She shared psychedelics with strangers in Spain. When she accidentally ended up at dinner with Woody Allen, she was not going to leave the table without asking him a very personal pointed question. She went on national television and talked about having threesomes. She's never been one to hold back. But this life of adventure and absurdity is only part of her story. Chelsea knows what it is to truly show up for her family—canine and human, biological and chosen. She’s discovered how to spend time with herself, how to meditate, how to be open to love, and how to end a relationship with dignity. She is a sister to the many women who rely on her.Surprisingly vulnerable and always outrageous, Chelsea Handler captures the antic-filled, exhilarating, and joyful life she’s built—a life that makes the rest of us think, I’ll have what she’s having.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER"By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Hannah Hart’s new book is a roaring, beautiful, and profoundly human account of an extraordinary life."—John Green "Hannah shares her truth with an honesty that is inspiring—one that makes me believe her when she says that it’s going to get better or that laughter is just around the corner or that you aren’t alone."—Jenny Lawson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Let's Pretend This Never Happened and Furiously Happy Hannah Hart, wildly popular YouTube personality and author of the New York Times bestseller My Drunk Kitchen, is stirring up tales from her past with a collection of narrative essays about family, faith, love, sexuality, self-worth, friendship and fame.Personal note:Hello, my darlings! I am incredibly pleased to present Buffering: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded!As a big fan of memoirs, I wanted to try my hand at writing about the events of my life that deserve a little more consideration than can be accomplished in 140-characters or a 6-minute vlog. Now on the cusp of turning 30, I'm ready to expose some parts of my life that I haven't shared before. Before, it was all about privacy, process and time. And now the time has come! I’m ready to put myself out there, for you.  I'm a little nervous about all these vulnerable words going into the world, these tales about my love life, the wrestling I’ve done with faith, how I feel about sex and my family and myself. I’ve had a lot of trials, a lot of errors, but also a lot of passion. Here’s the thing--I've always found comfort in the stories shared by others, so I hope my stories, now that I feel ready to tell them, will bring you some comfort too.And when you read this book please remember: Buffering is just the time it takes to process.Enjoy!Love,Hannah