One-sentence summary: Rachel walks us through several “lies” that we tell ourselves that keep us back from living a full life.
B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 6
Our favorite thing about it: The stories embedded in this book are easily the best part of the book.
Our least favorite thing about it: The advice overall wasn’t for us. There was some truth there, but we pushed back on a lot of it.
Main Topics of Discussion: work, kids/parenting, family roles, success, goals, habits, personalities
Our favorite quote: “Someone else’s opinion of you is none of your business.”
Notes: Well. Our thoughts about this book in a nutshell: We could have gleaned some wisdom from it if we had read it when we were younger and still didn’t know some of this stuff (like, 10-15 years ago) and would have probably loved it. Or, this book could have been more of a memoir instead of a self-help book and we probably would have liked it much more because we loved the stories in it. But despite picking out a nugget of truth here and there, reading this book just made us tired. We are not driven to success (at least not this kind) like the author is. We really felt like her Enneagram 3 tendencies showed up BIG TIME in this book. We could not identify with a lot of her advice as we are simply not motivated the same way she is. Or even motivated toward the same types of goals at all. More of our thoughts:
1. She made it sound like everyone has a BIG dream. We do not find that to be true. Sure, we have goals and things we work toward, but they are not all big, huge things we want to accomplish in our lives. Accomplishment is not our main goal.
2. We felt that the book came of as self-congratulatory a lot and it rubbed us the wrong way. We like Rachel, but this was noticeable to all of us when reading.
3. We did not love the chapter on weight, exercising, or eating. Not at all.
4. We are not necessarily waking up every morning “trying to be a better version” of ourselves like Rachel is. This is one of the things that made us tired. And we’re just not going to do it. At least not in the sense that she means.
5. She makes it sound like every method she uses to accomplish things in her life (along with the assumption that everyone is as obsessed with accomplishment as she is) is the right way. The only way. Obviously, we do not find that to be true. Occasionally she would throw in a “you do you” thought, but mostly her suggestions came off as the “right” way to do things. Again, we all felt this. Ironically, chapter 19 is entitled, “There’s Only One Right Way to Be.”
6. We did agree with her idea of “slow down your yes.”
7. She says the idea of doing nothing makes her skin crawl. Insert our eye rolls here.
8. The chapter on sex had some sound advice, but advice we could have used when we were younger. Also, it seemed out of place in this book somehow. We weren’t offended by it. It just seemed random.
9. She talks about her fears and anxieties as a mom, which we all share. We did identify with some of this.
10. This quote, “Lord, why would you put this desire on my heart if it wasn’t ever going to come true?” Problematic in so many ways. Just no.
Memorable Meeting Moments: We celebrated Stephanie’s birthday month with cards and books. She got to use the birthday wine glass. Amberly also gave us face wash wipes because of the title of this book!
What We Ate: Rachel Hollis’s recipe for sausage pasts, a delicious chopped salad, and caramel chocolate oat bars. And some delicious sparkling wine!
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