Year of Yes (Shonda Rhimes)
Are you a huge raving fan of any of the following shows?
- Scandal (my personal fav)
- How to get away with murder
- Grey’s Anatomy
If you answered yes to any of the above (or perhaps all three!?) then I can almost guarantee you’ll love this book. Written by Queen Shonda herself, the writer/creator behind all three shows this book is all about her own personal transformational journey.
It’s not particularly about marketing, more about life and (as she puts it) standing in your sun and being yourself.
I loved this book for the advice and I adored it for the writing. Imagine if your Shonda was your best friend and your sitting down on a cosy couch to have a large glass of red wine, while she dishes the dirt and the advice on life and love – that’s what this is like. You truly have to read it to understand how funny, honest and wonderful the writing is.
As you might expect from the title the book is about saying yes to the things that scare you, the things that push you out of your comfort zone and the things that just might improve your life. (hint: these things are all the same).
It follows (more or less) a year in Shonda’s life as she attempts to say yes for one whole year to ALL the scary things.
There’s also some amazing pieces of the book which are full speeches that Shonda has given- you can read (or watch) one of them for free over here which is the Dartmouth commencement address.
Here’s some of my favourite insights and quotes from…..
The wonderful world of Shonda
(headings = mine, all quotes directly from the book)
Pose like wonder woman
“Standing around like Wonder Woman in the morning can make people think you are more amazing at lunchtime. Crazy. But true. How awesome is that? (You don’t believe me? Watch the TED Talk.)”
Dump the dream
“It doesn’t have to fit your vision of the perfect job or the perfect life. Perfect is boring, and dreams are not real. Just . . . DO.”
You’re not Prince William
“Get one. ANY JOB. Don’t sit at home waiting for the magical dream opportunity. Who are you? Prince William? No. Get a job. Work. Do until you can do something else.”
On being a Mum
“Being a mother isn’t a job. It’s who someone is. It’s who I am. You can quit a job. I can’t quit being a mother. I’m a mother forever. Mothers are never off the clock, mothers are never on vacation.”
On being a working Mum
“Being a mother still happens if you don’t stay home with your kids. It still happens if you get a job and go to work. It happens if you are an Army Ranger and you’re deployed overseas and your kid is staying with your parents.”
On balancing work and play
“I’ve been guilty of working straight through far too many weekends in order to get ahead. There’s no such thing. The work is always there in the morning.”
Being and becoming a badass
“Badassery: 1. (noun) the practice of knowing one’s own accomplishments and gifts, accepting one’s own accomplishments and gifts and celebrating one’s own accomplishments and gifts; 2. (noun) the practice of living life with swagger : SWAGGER (noun or verb) a state of being that involves loving oneself, waking up “like this” and not giving a crap what anyone else thinks about you. Term first coined by William Shakespeare.”
Own your truth
“Normalize your lives, people. You don’t want a baby? Don’t have one. I don’t want to get married? I won’t. You want to live alone? Enjoy it. You want to love someone? Love someone. Don’t apologize. Don’t explain. Don’t ever feel less than.”
Love yourself
“Staring at those photos, I know now that is what my Year of Yes has always been about. Love. It’s just love, is all.”
Grab a copy of this book and give yourself an early Christmas pressie!
Happy reading,
C x
The Marketer's Bookshelf 