Just finished this bad ass book by Jen Sincero. Exactly a year ago I read her other book on being a total bad ass and that propelled me to dig myself out of depression, buy a one way ticket to Amsterdam and fulfill my dream of backpacking Europe. 3 months later I came back re-charged and feeling like myself again. It was exactly what I needed to get the courage to go and ignore all the haters that were giving me grief for wanting to go.
I did enjoy this book though but I didn't find it so revolutionary as the first bad ass book. It could be because a good portion of the book is dedicated to getting rid of this guilt that some of us have when it comes to money and I can't really identify with that and it's hard for me to understand it. If I could I would roll around naked in dollars. I love money, I love making it and I love spending it. Money gives me the freedom to do what I want and when I want and I never, ever feel guilty for having it or for wanting it. I don't think that people that have a lot of money are bad people, I admire them cause they have found a way to make a ton of it and enjoy life to the maximum.
Now I didn't always have money. In fact there were times when my family was hella brizoke. We were refugees in two countries and I distinctly remember living with no furniture for a good year when we came to Toronto. I remember my parents being very frugal and scrimping and saving for basics. I also remember being envious of the other kids who had cool lunches and brand name clothing while I had second hand recycled things. Anyways none of that made me bitter towards money. I was in debt for years and didn't break even till I was in my late 20s. But Jen is right, the more you focus on being broke, the more broke you'll be. I fantasized about traveling the world and having money to buy whatever my heart desired. I guess all this day dreaming (visualization) paid off! I didn't know how I was going to do it but I knew I was meant to do it. I have now been to nearly every continent on the planet and I have enough money to fulfill every desire that I have.
But like with the 4 hour work week by Tim Ferriss and Jen's other Bad Ass book, one thing is for sure; you have to take risks and get uncomfortable. Great things happen to those people who stick to their guns, have faith in the unknown and get uncomfortable. If it doesn't make you uncomfortable or scared, your dream is not big enough. In my current job I have tackled so many things that made me uncomfortable that they no longer make me uncomfortable. You have to take risks to live out your dreams or you will never grow and never achieve what you truly want. This is my biggest take away from this book.
The book also talks about the 'Hows'. A lot of people worry about 'how' things will happen. I leave it all to the universe. I don't sweat it. It will all happen in one way or another, you just have to believe. I knew I was destined to see the world, I was broke and I didn't know how I was going to do it. I sent out 70 applications to different companies in the hospitality industry in hopes of scoring a job. Nothing panned out. I thought to myself 'if there's a will, there's a way'. I continued working part time and I signed up to upgrade my education and get my Business Degree. Year and a half later I got a call to do a interview with a cruise line. I had no experience in the industry, didn't have any particular outstanding skills but I rocked the interview, impressed them and three weeks later I was on a flight to Miami crying my eyes out cause I was so nervous. Now I've set foot on nearly every continent and I am the highest ranked female on any ship I go on. If you told me this is where life would lead me when I was counting my pennies I would have never believed you. But one thing I had going for me was faith. You just have to believe. Where there's a will there is a way.
So now I think to myself if this is how far I've gotten by simply believing, what's else is possible?
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