You’re Not That Great (But Neither Is Anyone Else)
Harness the power of negative thinking!
You’re Not That Great (But Neither Is Anyone Else). Yep, if you read my blog, you’ll understand why this book caught my eye. This fresh new wave of frank, ‘real-life’ motivational books have become very popular, and I’ve enjoyed some of them immensely. Get Your Sh*t Together, and Unf*ck Yourself were both great reads, and the very popular The Subtle Art Of Not Giving a F*ck is still flying off bookstore shelves.
So, what is there to know about You’re Not That Great (but neither is anyone else), and is it any different to the other motivational books out there? Elan Gale writes with an energetic, pumped up tone rather than an aggressive ‘get yourself together loser’ tone which particularly helped when reading such passages as ‘Say Goodbye To Happiness’. Elan also uses his own experiences and is incredibly honest when sharing his own personality failings and extremely regrettable, awkward life situations.
The mantra of You’re Not That Great (but neither is anyone else) is to not be addicted to being the best, instead, try and be a bit better each time. It makes sense. How many of us have beaten ourselves up because we’ve stuffed a whole bag of Caramelo Koalas in our face halfway through a 3 day juice cleanse and triggered a shame spiral that lasts for days? The mindset of giving it another go and maybe completing your juice the cleanse and only having 3 Freddo Frogs might offer a small sense of comfort. Don’t aim to be the best. Just aim to be better.
“Regret is powerful. It stays in your body. Like swallowed gum, regret just lives in your intenstines and bowels tile the day you die” – Elan Gale
It’s all well and good stuffing your instagram feed with daily affirmations to make you feel like a good person, but do you actually live by them, or to you just scroll through mindlessly activitating the little red heart, only to go and comment on a funny wine meme? Does everyone in their perfect instagram world inspire you really? Or do they, in reality, leave you feeling insecure about your looks and your life as you scroll through social media feeds on the couch in your dirty trackpants and your hair in a messy bun?
Duffy’s thoughts on You’re Not That Great (But neither is anyone else)
This book tells you to not believe the hype and perfection that everyone is meant to strive for as it’s simply not attainable for most of us. We can’t all be Beyonce. Harness the negativity of others who say you can’t do something, and get up and give it bloody good crack to prove them wrong, but don’t think that you’ll be a billionaire by the time your 40 with a model partner and perfect kids because you eat a clean food diet and listened to a Tony Robbins podcast or two. Life for most of us is a bit harder than that.
This book didn’t tell me anything I didnt already know, but it did remind me that I can’t just sit back and go through the motions if I want to be more successful, however this book did tell me fair and square that being the next JK Rowling just isn’t on the cards, and dreams crushed can be a bitter pill to swallow. Gale explains it best. We are told as kids, by our parents, that our piece of crap artwork is the best thing in the world and put on the fridge, you only need to look at American Idol to see that the most terrible singers are told they sing like angels by their mothers. This is engrained in us, that we can do anything we believe we can. Sometimes it happens, but sometimes these are falsehoods.
A quick, enjoyable, sometimes confronting, sometimes funny, guide to surviving life if you arent so perfect.
Pre-Order now from Booktopia for dispatch Dec 5th in time for Christmas!
About Author Elan Gale
ELAN GALE is living proof that if you hate yourself enough you can accomplish anything. It was his own self-loathing, combined with his anger over the terrifying flood of inspirational messages that were giving people all over the world false hope, that propelled him to write YOU’RE NOT THAT GREAT (BUT NEITHER IS ANYONE ELSE). Elan has spent the last eight years working as an executive producer on the wildly successful BACHELOR TV franchise and so, as you can imagine, he has a rather unique knowledge of human nature. Some famous fans of his include Harry Styles, Ariana Grande and Jason Biggs.
