[Book] You First: Journal Your Way to Your Best Life by Lea Michele

As this year comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on all that 2015 brought to me: the new adventures and challenges, the personal struggles and opportunities for growth, the accomplishments, the happy memories, and the moments that made this year an amazing year I will never forget. Turning 30 back in May also allowed me plenty of reasons to reflect on who I am and where I am in my life. For the most part, I’ve made quite a bit of progress toward my big goals. In order to really reach them in 2016, it’s time for me to get organized and be intentional with my time and the things that I do. I have so many things going for me and this coming year will be when all the pieces finally fit together perfectly to reveal the bigger picture. There are three things I’d like to focus on this coming year: getting organized, setting and accomplishing a series of goals, and blogging. You will notice that my blog will begin to come alive and in doing so, I will be able to hold myself more accountable in everything that I am working on as I share pieces of my business and family life with all of you. The best way to plan for the future and where you want to be is to first understand where you are. I recently read a book by Lea Michele called You First: Journal Your Way to Your Best Life and for those of you who are on a journey to personal development, I highly recommend this book! In her book, Lea Michele covers a variety of topics from family to goal setting to creativity and fitness and all areas of life. There are four main sections of this book: You (roots, fitness, diet and nutrition); Ambition (goals, role models, mind-expanding challenges); Relationships (friendship, romantic relationships, colleagues); and Happiness (hobbies, charity and giving back, and gratitude). The book is layed out by topic and arranged in weekly formats so you complete a variety of challenges and writing exercises that allow you to get to know yourself a little bit better while also bringing your vision to life and accomplishing goals. Each chapter begins with short blurbs from the author followed by a series of themed and carefully planned writing exercises. The book is beautifully styled with fun colors and fonts and although it does include spaces for writing directly in the book, I choose to do my writing activities electronically. I’m an old school book lover and can’t bring myself to write in books 🙂 I’m sure some of you could also copy the pages as well and write on there. This hardcover book has a beautiful design and would make a great gift! While I feel like You First would be ideal for single young women in their early 20’s, I still found many parts of this book to be useful as a 30-year-old married mom of two. My goal for this book was to help me find some creative inspiration for blogging and there are certainly many things I will be able to use for that this coming year. Using the creative challenges in You First is a great way to find content topics for blogging and get yourself going in the right direction, or if you’re a more private person, to just use a journal inspiration as it’s intended for. Grab a snack and your favorite pens and set some time aside each evening or morning to start creating your own personal growth plan! I received a sample of these YUMMY Pop Works & Company Cookies & Cream Popcorn snacks from Influenster to try and oh my goodness, they are SO yummy! Nothing like a tread, a good cup of tea, and some ME time at night to get things organized and let the creativity flow!

About the Author:

LEA MICHELE is a best known for her performance as Rachel Berry on the critically acclaimed, Golden Globe-, Grammy-, and SAG-award-winning Fox television series Glee, as well as Ryan Murphy’s newest series, Scream Queens. She is the author of New York Times bestselling health and lifestyle guide, Brunette Ambition, and her chart-topping album Louder debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200. She has starred in four Broadway shows, and has been nominated for an Emmy, a SAG Award, and multiple Golden Globes. She lives in Los Angeles.

Lea Michele’s New Years Resolutions for 2016

LIKE Lea Michele on Facebook!

Buy the book on Amazon for $10.76! Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for sharing my honest review. All thoughts are my own!  ]]>