From life-changing advice, and honest accounts of anxiety and alcoholism, to the stories behind celebrity scrutiny, these books might help change your new year mindset …
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The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions Of People Can’t Stop Talking About, Mel Robbins, Hay House
The premise behind public speaker and podcaster Mel Robbins’ new book is simple. It’s a guide to stop letting other people’s opinions, drama and judgement impact your life. These two simple words – “Let Them” – will set you free from the exhausting cycle of trying to manage everything and everyone around you. Using her renowned no-nonsense, science-backed approach, Robbins explains how you can apply this theory to eight areas of your life. In the process, readers learn how to stop comparing yourself to other people, break free from fear and self-doubt, release the grip of other people’s expectations, pursue what truly matters, and build resilience against everyday stressors and distractions.
Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity and Finding Your Life’s Purpose, Martha Beck, Piatkus
In Beyond Anxiety, self-help superstar (and Oprah Winfrey’s life coach) Dr Martha Beck explains why anxiety is skyrocketing. Her premise is that we should harness the anxiety within us to propel us into a life of creativity. Using a combination of neuroscience, as well as her background in sociology and coaching, Beck explains how our brains tend to get stuck in an “anxiety spiral,” a feedback system that can increase anxiety indefinitely. To climb out, we must engage different parts of our nervous system – those parts involved in creativity. Beck provides instructions for engaging the “creativity spiral” that not only shuts down anxiety, but leads to problem-solving, a sense of meaning and purpose, and joyful connection with others. Fortunately, Beck reassures us that “creative expression” doesn’t have to be high art, it could be a working out how to fix the car, creating a dinner party, doodling or setting up a fort with your child.
Greenlights, Matthew McConaughey, Crown Publishing
“Ever since I learned to write, I’ve been keeping a journal. Writing down anything that turned me on, turned me off, made me laugh, made me cry, and made me question what kept me up at night. Two years ago, I worked up the courage to take all those journals off into solitary confinement just to see what I had and I returned with a book,” so explains actor Matthew McConaughey. He describes the finished work as a “collection of stories, prayers, poems, people and places, and a whole bunch of bumper stickers.” One of these bumper stickers being, “Don’t walk into a place like you wanna buy it, walk in like you own it.”
As for the title, he chose to name it Greenlights because, “We don’t like red and yellow lights because they take up our time. When we realise that they all eventually turn green, that’s when they reveal their rhyme. That’s when life’s a poem and we start getting what we want, and what we need at the same time”.
Brooke Shields is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on ageing as a woman, Brooke Shields, Piatkus
Out January 14, in Brooke Shields new book she describes growing up as a child actor and model, when her every feature and movement were judged. Now, she faces a different kind of scrutiny: that of being a “woman of a certain age”. And yet, at 59, Brooke feels more comfortable, more empowered and confident than she did decades ago in her famous Calvin Klein jeans.
In Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old, she hopes to change the narrative about women and ageing. This is an era, she insists, when women are reclaiming agency and power, not receding into the shadows. Brooke paints a vibrant and optimistic picture of being a woman in the prime of her life. Not only does she share her own experiences with humour and humility, she also weaves together research and takes aim at the systemic factors that contribute to age-related bias. Her honesty and vulnerability is sure to resonate with women everywhere, and spark a new conversation about the power and promise of midlife.
Bad Drunk: How I found my freedom from alcohol – and you can too, Millie Mackintosh with Dr Ellie Cannon, Piatkus
Set to be released on January 16, this is a practical guide to going alcohol-free from lifestyle influencer and Made in Chelsea alumna Millie Mackintosh, writing with NHS GP Dr Ellie Cannon. Millie took the decision to give up alcohol after observing the impact drinking had on her health and wellbeing. More than two years into her sober curious journey, Millie shares her experience with honesty and warmth from the events that led to her decision to stop drinking, through to the positive effects of the alcohol-free lifestyle she enjoys today. Writing with NHS GP Dr Ellie Cannon, Bad Drunk combines practical, scientific advice with Millie’s personal experience – what has worked for her, what hasn’t, what she has struggled with, as well as tips on how to navigate the road ahead. Whether you’re struggling with Dry January, looking to cut back your alcohol consumption, you’re ready to quit drinking altogether or you want to understand how to help a loved one, this book could help you make decisions for your future health and happiness.
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