Power Your Happy

Last month I finished a copy of Power Your Happy by Lisa Sugar. The fact that it’s taken me a full 30 days to write about it… well, I think it says something. It left me feeling tepid.

The conversational tone of the book was nice. It was absolutely a quick and easy read. Lisa’s story of leaving her stable career in media buying to create PopSugar was inspiring and it made me daydream about turning one of my passions into a career. I also appreciated that when she talked about having it all, she was clear that everyone’s definition of all varies.

I don’t think I’m the target audience for this book. At age 32, I’m 10 years out of undergrad and have worked full-time since my junior year of college. A lot of the advice Lisa shared is more applicable for someone just learning to network and advocate for herself.

A few pieces of advice really left me cold as well. In particular, she advocated for treating yourself during rough times with food, drinks, shopping, etc. Maybe it’s because addictive tendencies run in my family, but this advice didn’t feel sound. Anything can be unhealthy in excess, but if I’m going to go overboard I would rather it was with reading a good book or taking a warm bath. This is probably a personal thing, but worth noting.

I think the fact that this review is coming to a close already also speaks volumes. There’s not much else to say. The book was fine. I don’t regret reading it because it didn’t take long, but I there are plenty of other books out there that are more inspiring and share more concrete tips for being successful, both at work and at home.