Mastering Your Mean Girl

January 11, 2016
Health and life coach Ambrosini will charm some readers and push others away with this guide to silencing one’s inner critic, the titular “Mean Girl,” and making life choices out of love instead of fear. Tactics to “flex your self-love muscle” include scheduling relaxation time, meditating, and using self-affirmations. Ambrosini encourages developing a healthy relationship with food, independent of the Mean Girl’s (and society’s) judgments, an admirable pursuit even if the food philosophy she outlines is a bit severe. Career advice focuses on finding and articulating a passion and rethinking limiting beliefs about money. Her thoughts on interpersonal relationships include avoiding the “expectation hangover” and “comparisonitis” in favor of genuine friendships with appropriate boundaries. Perhaps Ambrosini’s wisest words concern getting over past wrongs, especially self-perpetuated ones. Throughout the book, exercises called “Inspo-actions” provide space for readers to reflect on managing expectations for themselves and others, expressing gratitude, and recognizing self-sabotage. For readers who would like to leave your “penthouse in Fear Town” for a “mansion in Love City,” Ambrosini is here to help. Those who cringe at phrases like those (not to mention “be your own bestie,” “soul sisters,” and “goddess night”) should seek help elsewhere. Agent: Bill Gladstone, Waterside Productions.