Sovereign

Reclaim Your Freedom, Energy, and Power in a Time of Distraction, Uncertainty, and Chaos

By: Emma Seppälä PhD

Narrated by: Emma Seppälä PhD

The acclaimed author of The Happiness Track maps a bold and fresh, science-backed path to break the bonds of self-destructive patterns and beliefs and live a fuller, more authentic life.

"Sovereign is one of the most influential books I have read in years. It's loaded with ideas that will recharge your life and change the way you think and act right away. By far the most highlighted book in my library!"
— Tom Rath, #1 New York Times best-selling author of How Full Is Your Bucket? and Strengthsfinder 2.0

In the post-pandemic era of war, polarization, and economic and environmental challenges, is it any wonder that we’re questioning a lot of things we thought we knew? We’re ready to reevaluate what’s important and rethink how we are living our lives. We need a new perspective—and acclaimed psychologist Emma Seppälä offers one.

Sovereign delivers a radically new and enlightening message, made for this age of suffering and confusion. It’s a manifesto that awakens us to all the areas in our life where we have subjugated ourselves to self-destructive beliefs and tendencies. And it’s a roadmap to reclaim our full psychological sovereignty so we can live free, happy, and authentic lives.

Seppälä’s voice is raw and honest, laugh-out-loud funny, and deeply reflective, delving into topics ranging from the nature of self-loathing to the nuances of relationship as she shows us how to unbind ourselves in every area:

· In our working life and our family life.
· In our physical health and our emotional well-being.
· In our minds, our spirits, and our connection to our very selves.

Backed by psychological data, neuroscience, and empirically validated methodologies, Sovereign takes us further along the path of personal transformation than we may ever have ventured before—and gives us the true freedom to live life to our fullest potential.

This audio product contains a PDF with supporting material, and the PDF is available to download.

©2024 Hay House, Inc. (P)2024 Hay House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“It is no exaggeration to say this book is life-changing. I couldn’t put it down. Emma Seppälä gives us wisdom and guidance in the form of unforgettable human stories of fallibility and courage, of astonishing scientific research (for any skeptics among us), of humor and vulnerability, and inspiration that is nothing short of poetry. This book is a gift.”
— Faith Salie, Emmy-winning contributor to CBS News Sunday Morning, panelist on NPR’s Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me!, and author of Approval Junkie

“Sovereign is an insightful and entertaining guide to living life on your own terms—backed by science, spiced with humor, and laced with love.” — Dr. Jennifer Aaker, General Atlantic Professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and best-selling author of Humor, Seriously

“With clear stories, science-backed skills, inspiring poetry, and gentle humor, Emma Seppälä invites us to explore the key experience of ‘sovereignty,’ a state of clarity and well-being beyond simply our capacity to be self-governing. In this illu­minating exploration of the essential ingredients of a resilient mind, rewarding relationships, and a meaningful life, we are empowered to develop and strengthen this liberating way of being grounded in our lives. Reading this book will be a gift that keeps on giving for all those in your life, including you.” — Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., New York Times best-selling author of Mindsight, Aware, and IntraConnected

The lessons at the end of the chapter

I loved this book as it helped me realize I’m bigger than my emotions. Such a great reminder that we can be who we feel we were supposed to be.

In times like these, we need books like this

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it is such a wonderful framing of what every human facing the challenge. Modern world throws at us means, now more than ever.

A positive internal dialogue which was much needed!

A must read for everyone looking to break their inner shackles (As cliche as it sounds, but very true). This is such a great book, I felt the author was on my side and truly wants me to be free, to be sovereign.
We are our hardest critics, but that is a disservice to ourselves. I loved that in the book Dr. Seppala distinguished between self awareness and self criticism, how self awareness makes you sovereign and the later pulls you down.

There are many such nuggets in the book, and by the end I felt like I was so connected to myself, this planet and was so grateful for life, and me.
Definitely unlocked something for me.

Be Sovereign!!

So much wisdom in one book!

This book is powerful! Buy it!

Personally, I love the concept of being sovereign. I love what personal sovereignty entails and I appreciate how important this practice is in today's world; when everything we thought we knew is changing and we are in danger of becoming slaves to the nefarious forces at work. But most of all, I love the framework that the author has laid out for us. It is a path we can follow, and a deeply wise and informed path at that! Sovereignty can be the lodestar we need to find our way through the uncertainty and precariousness of this decade.

I should also say that while this book is clearly aimed at women, as the constant, and sometimes grating, references to "husband" can attest, it was just as powerful for me as a man because it is aligned with universal truths about our common humanity. This is the best kind of feminism, if you will, unabashedly pro-women but also genuine, honest, truthful, clear-eyed, real and profoundly human. The agenda is to help us all become better people.

This is a book I will listen to again and again, and share with all the people I care about.

Very highly recommended.

Most impactful self-help book I have read so far

So many great takeaways in this book! I have never gone through a book twice, but I couldn't help it with this one. I listened to it the 1st time for content as my work group was going to be discussing it, but I went through it a 2nd time for questions and specific takeaways for myself. I consider this book nothing short of life-changing and have recommended it to people closest to me to help them as well. A great big thank you to author Emma Seppala for writing this book.

Empowering

The book was amazing with a lot of good take aways. Normally I don’t like how these end but I was left feeling at peace. However it took me a second to want to listen again after chapter 4 explained below.

The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the part of sky breathing in chapter 4. I’ve heard Dr, Seppala on podcasts before and it seems like she it set on making money for the art of living foundation. What about people who also need this help and don’t have hundreds of dollars to pay them. It makes me feel as if the most useful part of the book is being gate-kept by this foundation and a Yale Professor and we don’t have access to it….

Good but lost me at the chemical fear mongering

Researcher went outside of their expertise to assert things without evidence. Should have picked a different counter argument.