The Big Life: Embrace the Mess, Work Your Side Hustle, Find a Monumental Relationship, and Become the Badass Babe You Were Meant to Be by Ann Shoket

The fact that I am even talking about this book is incredible. If you know me, you know Ann Shoket is my role model. When I found out that she was coming out with a book, I screamed. She is the reason I wanted to be a part of the magazine world. Why I wanted to be a part of the media community.

Now, back to the book, I’m not going to lie to you guys, I was already crying while I read the introduction (which I included a major part below) because I felt like she had described my life perfectly. I felt like she was sitting in my bedroom when I was in high school and watched my journey since then, and simply saying what she saw: my struggles and my wins. And I kept feeling like that chapter after chapter. I felt like Ann was calling me out on putting my dreams on hold, lifting me up on that I can achieve my goals and encouraging me to get up off my ass and off my blog and get back out in the dating world.

As soon as I finished this book, I immediately wanted to read it again. I wanted to soak up the words more. This book left me feeling uplifted and hopeful. This was the book I had hoped Lean In would have been for me.

I am excited to continue to watch Ann’s career skyrocket, I’m excited to start my journey and hope that once day, I’ll be sitting at a Badass Babes dinner, sharing my story.

You can get this book for $17.79. Please check it out and sign upfor her weekly emails, they are so inspiring.

Favorite Quotes

• “You always knew you’d do big things. Even when you were sitting in your teenage bedroom in some sleepy suburb, you were already plotting the limitless possibilities that life had in store for you. First, you’d move to a bigger city, you imagined. Maybe you’d start a fashion company, revolutionize the tech industry, claim stardom as a digital influencer, shape national policy, find a cure for a massive public health threat, or land a glamorous job in publishing. You could even picture your first apartment – totally Instagram-worthy, even though you’d rarely be there between work, spin classes, networking coffees, and brunch with the squad. You’d plan voluntourism vacations to Nepal, where you’d help create sustainable businesses for local girls and women. There’s be a partner, too, whose eyes would light up when you talked about the delicious possibilities for your life. In that teenage bedroom, you were able to envision a life that was bigger than anything you could see around you.   How do I know? Because I was there fanning the flames of that first spark of inspiration. As the editor-in-chief of Seventeen for the better part of a decade, I made it my mission to help you imagine a life that was exciting, fun, and meaningful. I helped lead some of the complex conversations that helped you navigate the tricky terrain of adolescence. I have always been your biggest cheerleader.                Those early dreams are a promise you made to yourself in your teenage bedroom, you vowed that you’d go after every opportunity and not settle for the easy road; you vowed to honor your ambition. And those dreams are the most powerful because, at that moment, you are a blank canvas. You’ve made no mistakes that can;t be fixed, and you are not beholden to one city or one job. Your life is endless possibility. You are pure potential. The biggest disappointment would be not fulfilling the promise of that dream and finding yourself sidetracked by a life that’s made small my busy tasks, daily annoyances, and must-dos.
• And yet now, as you’re putting muscle on the framework of your life, the road ahead is even rockier, and those dreams, which should be closer than ever, can feel hopelessly out of reach.”
• “I know that feeling in your soul that you have so much more to offer the world, if you could just get your shot.”
• “It’s a powerful message: You just have to keep going. Nothing is perfect. No one is perfect. And this process of building a Big Life is messy and hard, but amazingly rewarding. It doesn’t matter whether or not you come out on top – you simply have to keep moving. Every day, put one foot in front of the other. It might not be perfect, but it’s good enough.”
• “As her vision for herself started to change at work, her vision for herself changed in her personal life too. As one part of your life evolves, so do other parts, and the pieces start to better fit together.”
• “Ultimately, you are the hero of your story. And it is an essential part of becoming who you were meant to be. The best part: You never stop becoming. With every story, your life is becoming better, happier, smarter, more interesting, and bigger than anything you could have ever imagined.”