Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“It takes action to grow, change and attain success.”

I reached for this book after a particularly tough week. I was feeling low, and so many things had started to creep up on me, making me feel like a deflated balloon. This book gave me a little bit of that strength back, and I can’t believe just how my mindset has changed because of it! I’m absolutely thrilled to be sharing my review for this book, one that has helped my mind and saved my sanity a little. I can’t thank the author enough!

About the book

Real Resilience is not just another self-help guide. It is the self-help guide to reinventing, retooling, and reimagining your incredible life in the New Normal. This practical, insightful, and uplifting book has the power to change your life in the most exciting ways. Find out how you can:

✔ Apply the principles of resilience to find a new career path, relationship, or happiness.

✔ Use the 10 tools for resilience to create magic in your personal and professional life to realize more joy, fulfillment, and success than you’ve ever known.

✔ Not just get through the New Normal, but rise above it to creatively build a new life.

✔ Find more happiness than you ever thought possible.

Real Resilience is your guide to successful living in the New Normal.

My thoughts

I read the first few pages of this book and it instantly felt as though the author was speaking directly to me. The pandemic has affected SO many people in different ways, and it was clear this book had the ability to speak to so many people, with each person taking the words and applying them to their own individual lives and experiences. From the start, I found the book to be so brilliantly positive, so even if you don’t want to read books that focus on the pandemic, this can still be something you can get on board with! I appreciated how the author placed focus on the reader, telling us that we can work on our resilience, we can get stronger and we can overcome the problems we’ve faced over the last year. Once we overcome them, we can work on making life better than it has ever been, and making happiness and success our priority.

The author reflects on that ‘day the Earth stood still’, a time where it really hit home just what was happening and the impact it would have on everyone, no matter where they were in the world. Just thinking back to that time sets off those scared and anxious feelings that consumed us well over a year ago. I found the earlier pages of the book to be super informative, and even though COVID-19 is something we all want to forget, I already felt that the information included would be a fantastic tool to look back on years from now, something to teach new generations exactly what we experienced and how it changed the world. I really liked how the author explored how we can become stronger people from these experiences, and the book is highly detailed to set us up for those real lesson-learning chapters.

“Even if you don’t feel it at the moment, have faith that there will be a better tomorrow.”

The book mentions so many points that made me say ‘that’s me!’ or ‘I’ve experienced that!’ which really helped me to feel close to the author. It felt like I was having a conversation with a friend, or I was having a counselling session with a professional – this little detail alone made me feel at ease and really trust the information we were being given. After the main, thorough introduction to the world’s situation, we reach the steps to resilience, all of which I knew I would be able to apply to my own life:

• Acknowledge your authentic truth
• Take ownership of your life
• Commit to change
• Reprogram your thoughts
• Have the courage to change
• Persist
• Reap the rewards

Each of these points are covered in a matter-of-fact way, encouraging readers to follow this advice. Not only was the advice brilliant, but it’s also written in a way that makes you think, “You know what? I can do this!” The positivity is truly contagious here, and just by reading the author’s points on each of these categories, I instantly felt more determined to better myself.

I found that Chapter 5 – Create Your Vision really spoke to me, and I was surprised at just how accurate some of the points were when I compared them to the life I was living. Learning how to find/define your vision isn’t easy, but I loved how the author mentioned the $10 million question. If you have $10 million, what would you do differently? The answer may help you to define your vision, and I found that my answer was certainly one to think more about. The author has a clever way of really changing how you think by using simple techniques that wouldn’t usually come to mind. Something that I really appreciated!

“If you assume control over your thinking and empower yourself with positive actions, you will maintain your mind towards positivity. You will revolutionize and transform your self-defeating behaviors.”

The book continues to have such an invaluable forward-thinking approach, with each chapter pushing you as much as possible without it seeming like the author is nagging you to make a change. Each paragraph empowers you and motivates you to the core! The step-by-step processes to making a plan were really useful too, and I felt as though these steps could really be implemented by anyone, no matter what their goals are in life. Negative self-talk and thoughts has always been something that’s held me back, and I was really grateful that the author covered this. Seeing the new normal as a new opportunity instead of something negative we’re all forced to adapt to is such a refreshing way to look at things, something that can open up opportunities for you and further strengthen your resilience.

By the final couple of chapters, I was feeling so much better in myself and ready to set some new goals in motion! The final chapter in particular was all about keeping your mind in a positive place with quick-start tips for positivity that can easily be implemented throughout each day. Again, these tips are so simple but so achievable, which gave me a can-do attitude and ended the book on a high. The concluding chapter rounded off the book well, skimming over the importance of kindness and mindfulness, gently nudging you on your way to a better, more fulfilled life in the new normal. I ended the book feeling much more empowered than I did before – and for that, I have the author to thank!

Overall thoughts

If you feel that the pandemic has had a negative impact on your life, buy this book! As a certified Business, Life and Mindset Coach, the author uses proven techniques to not only help readers to embrace the new normal and see it as an opportunity for new beginnings, but to also help them learn and understand the tools needed for resilience, helping you apply this to every aspect of your life. I found this book to be an invaluable read, one that would be perfect for anyone who has felt the impact of the pandemic in some way. I’ll definitely be reaching for this book again in times of doubt or when I simply need a refresher on how to use the tips described. A brilliant book to have on your shelf!

A huge thank you to the author, Selwa Berbawy Hamati, and Michelle Gamble at 3L Publishing for my copy of the book to read and review! You can purchase your own copy of Real Resilience: How To Thrive In The New Normal on Amazon.com or the 3L Publishing website.

About the author

Certified Business, Life, and Mindset Coach, Selwa Berbawy is a Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) and Hypnotherapy Practitioner. Her experience, extensive course study, and insight qualify her to coach at executive levels. Her clients are able to focus on their dreams and goals, bringing harmony back to their life’s endeavors by overcoming challenges that were once overwhelming.

Selwa is the author of Once Upon A Recession, and co-author of 7 Keys to Freedom and 10 Powerful Women. It is her passion to help as many people as possible to achieve their goals and dreams in order to live a life full of abundance, happiness, and self-fulfillment.

Her new projects include an additional book, Real Resilience; a booklet and companion workbook, Mind Your Wellness; a children’s book, Ant Trails and Butterfly Dreams—A Story About Happiness, and other projects that will support her passion to help others. Find out more at Real-Resilience.com.

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