Overwhelmed and Over It

August 31, 2020
Arylo (Choosing ME Before WE), a leadership coach, explores ways for women to define their personal success in this energetic, empowering guide. Arylo challenges what she sees as the original intentions of the women’s movement, positing that women were only given “choices based on conforming to or fitting into the images or following the path set by a society” and argues that women need to break out of “the prescribed paths of success” in order to live fulfilled lives. To do this, she asks readers to fill out a “burnout imprint” questionnaire in order to discover how one’s “choices, thoughts, and habits” are connected. She then nudges readers toward choices that are “aligned and in harmony” with one’s existential self, and provides maxims to help one decide what should be released and what should be embraced. For instance, she advises releasing notions of a “work/life” balance in favor of personal harmony, or releasing ideas of “taking it all on” in favor of embracing “focus on my part.” While her advice is often more inspirational than concrete—based on “liberating” one’s success, energy, heart matters, time, and power—her “acts of liberation,” such as bookending one’s days with meditations and resetting one’s weekly routine to a slower pace, offer a few practical steps. Readers will find some good cheerleading here, but may be disappointed with the amount of actionable advice.

September 1, 2020

Arylo (Choosing ME Before WE: Every Woman's Guide to Life and Love) aims her book at women who are trying to do it all, experiencing stress and burnout, and coming up short with the results and accolades they had hoped for. Arylo addresses the seven root causes of feeling overwhelmed, and emboldens readers to liberate their success, life force, heart, time, and power, offering tips under each category. Among her instructions for releasing a particular behavior and embracing another, the author advises staying focused on one's own part rather than taking on more than one's share. Sidebar self-assessments reflect on harmonizing practices and knowing oneself, offering insights into signals of burnout, and solutions for reversing course. Arylo provides mantras and self-talk phrases to help readers concentrate on self-care and put energy into high-priority goals. VERDICT Helpful for women willing to do some soul-searching to shift course and focus on what really matters to them.

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.