"Insight without action is worthless. Taking action is the only path to change." - Marie Forleo
I'm a huge fan of Marie Forleo. As a female entrepreneur, I admire her so much. Not to mention she has incredible energy and such a positive vibe. Her book Everything is Figureoutable is just another reason to love her work. This book is packed with life changing advice on how to achieve everything you want in life. I enjoyed it so much I finished it in half the time it usually takes me to read a book.
I must admit that her attitude and personality seem to align perfectly with mine, which may be the reason I was so drawn to this book. Her no excuses, work hard approach is such a breath of fresh air from what I see so often today. There is no shortcut to success. You can't talk about your dream and never do anything about it. You have to take your dreams, break them down into manageable steps, and start working.
"The most powerful words in the universe are the words you say to yourself." - Marie Forleo
Ok, let's get into the book.
I could tell immediately I would love Marie's writing by the story about her mom and the Tropicana orange radio in chapter 1. Such a great way to reveal her background and introduce her philosophy that everything is figureoutable.
Marie starts out by showing the significance our beliefs have on our life. She explains how you can train your mind to truly believe you can figure out any problem you are facing. She asserts it all starts with having a growth mindset. One of my favorite lines in the book is "I win or I learn, but I never lose." What a perfect statement to encourage growth. I loved it so much I taught it to my 5 year-old son. One of my previous posts is about developing a growth mindset. This mindset will set you up for success and help you never worry about failure as you try to reach your goals.
Marie follows that by helping you understand the excuses you make that are holding you back. When you catch yourself making excuses for why you haven't done something you want to do, she directs you to look inward. Do you really want this particular dream? Excuses might be telling you to redirect your attention to something you want more. We make the time for things we really want.
"If it’s important enough, I’ll make the time. If not, I’ll make an excuse." - Marie Forleo
One of my favorite concepts in the book is her response when asked what she does for a living. She considers herself a multipassionate entrepreneur. I love that. Many of us don't fit into a box with one defining career or goal. We have many interests we want to pursue. For example, at this moment, I have started five businesses and sold one. They are all non-related and each focuses on something I find interesting. If Marie saw that, I'm sure she would say please pick one and focus on making it a huge success. In fact, she has an entire chapter on identifying your dreams and selecting one to accomplish. The book actually helped me figure out which one of my many interests matters most to me and how to take the first steps in achieving that dream.
Two other valuable figureoutable principles Marie discusses are progress not perfection and starting before you are ready. If you are waiting for perfection to get started, you will never do it. Work with your current skills and develop them as you go. Just get started and make progress towards your dream. Marie encourages you to take small steps towards what you want and avoid trying radical changes. That is the key to real change over time.
Everything is Figureoutable presents a feasible approach to achieving all you want in life. I highly recommend this book. At the end of every chapter, Marie has a section called Insight to Action Challenges. These are questions to help you apply what she is teaching in your own life. The prompts help you define your dream, identify the beliefs holding you back, and the actions needed to achieve it. She insists there is power in writing these down and reviewing your answers as you work towards your goal.
If you are ready to plan the life you want or tackle any problem you are facing, get a copy of Marie's book. Grab one of our notebooks and start defining the actions necessary to achieve your dream. Just keep repeating Marie's favorite phrase, everything is figureoutable!
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