Book Review: Trust Yourself by Melody Wilding
I have never felt so seen by a book in my life!
To my fellow high achievers, honor roll students or “good girls” out there, “Trust Yourself” may change your life. While the some of the ideas presented in this book are things I have learned along the way in my own career, for the first time, I finally felt like I wasn’t alone. I felt relief reading words that resonated with who I am at my core.
I picked up this book on a whim after reading about it in a blog post somewhere (I wish I could remember the link). Lately, I’ve been on a journey of self-acceptance (flaws and all) and thought it would be a timely read. It proved to help me honor my strengths and quirks and find new ways to use them as my superpowers at work.
Highlights of the book:
Reading about the term “sensitive striver.” My entire life, I have been told “you’re too nice, Olivia” or called sensitive by different people. While today, I see this trait as a strength, there were many years where I tried to toughen up and grow a thick skin. I’m thankful for this book acknowledging “being sensitive” as a strength. And in fact, I know it’s what has helped me succeed as a PR professional and communicator.
It offers actionable steps and exercises to practice in your career and life. While I didn’t work through all of the activities, I found them helpful and will refer to them in future.
Core values! I have brainstormed my core values during different seasons of life, but this book offers actionable ways to follow your core values in the day to day. While reading this book, I wrote down a list of my core values. The book taught me that using my core values, I can identify the “why” behind moments when I feel frustrated or get stuck. I learned when something doesn’t align with your core values, that’s when the friction happens. And this book helps you recognize that so you can work through the emotion and move on.
Things that didn’t work:
I’m going to revisit the Wheel of Balance activity again. I was surprised that my initial score was so high and balanced when in reality I feel a little off balance at times.
There are a lot of exercises and I began the book taking my time so I could work through them, but then my impatience kicked in and I sped through the final chapters.
Rating: 5/5
