Book Review: Badass Habits (Jen Sincero : 2020)

Written during the pandemic “Badass Habits:  Cultivate the Awareness, Boundaries, and Daily Upgrades You Need to Make Them Stick” is the fourth book in Jen Sincero’s Badass collection and my first introduction to Sincero’s writing. So will this book upgrade your life?

Sincero also offered a 21 day course on building badass habits and this is exactly how the book plays out. There are 3 chapters introducing the key learnings of habits, boundaries and self awareness, followed by the 21 day challenge to implement that new habit, all in that inimitable Sincero style. There are conflicting ideas as to how long it takes to anchor a new habit; 6Minute Diary states 66 days, James Clear opines 30 days whereas Sincero is in the 21 day camp. Sincero instructs you to read Chapter 4 over the 21 days, learning a new mindset technique, building on tools or exploring our self awareness each day to really double down on that new habit.

What I liked about this book is that it is super easy to read. Sincero uses real life testimonies as well as her own experiences along with multiple examples, all of which make the subject more accessible and simple for readers to introduce into their own lives. Sincero has a great way of delivering content to resonate with the masses and tips such as piggybacking on existing habits and routines to simplify those upgrades. I also appreciate how boundaries are discussed in such a positive way to support our development, a welcome conflict to the usual discussion of boundaries which can often be dismissive.

I am currently undecided about Sincero’s writing style. When reading it feels as if we are almost in the midst of her thoughts, the pace is quick and the language is quite colloquial which at times I struggled with. I would have also preferred all of the content upfront and then the 21 day challenge to anchor and build on the techniques. Perhaps this is just me? But that is how I read the book… all the way through, not with the suggested teaching a day.

That being said, I would suggest this as an accessible book with some great takeaways on the importance of habits, boundaries and self awareness and I would also go back to the book, completing the 21 days if I had a new habit I was struggling to anchor or a bad habit I wanted to overcome.

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts?