Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? by Julie Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“Our attention is like a spotlight. We have control of that spotlight, but we cannot control the actors who come on stage. We cannot control how long they spend there, what they say, or when they leave. What we get to do is focus that spotlight on one or two of them at a time. If we settle our focus on the anxious thoughts that tell stories of worst-case scenarios and images of you not coping, they get the chance to feed back to the brain that all is not well. When you shift the spotlight of your attention to other thoughts on the stage that offer a different story, they will have their influence on your bodily reaction too. While you are focusing on them, the other thoughts may not leave the stage. They may stick around, waiting for the spotlight again. But without it, they have less power over your emotional state.”
There’s much I loved about this book. I didn’t know who Julie Smith is and hadn’t seen any of her videos before this book. When I first got the book, I thought it was going to have stories from clients to help illustrate her concepts. It does not. But it does have a lot of concepts and a lot of food for thought. Some were new to me, some familiar, and some were great to re-remember. The tone of the book can be dry in a few instances and I did wish she had examples so that I could internalize the concepts better (where she did have scenarios, I connected with that material more easily.)
I have now started following her videos, too. If you want clear, simple but profound concepts you can use to help with your life, I recommend this one.
with gratitude to edelweiss and HarperOne, HarperCollins for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
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