Stop Saying You're Fine

By: Mel Robbins

Narrated by: Joyce Bean

Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's Summary

Right now, over 100 million Americans secretly feel frustrated and bored with their lives. If you've come to regard yourself as your own worst enemy; if you constantly daydream and wonder, "Is this all there is?"; if you have a tendency, when asked how you're doing, to just say "Fine," you may be one of them. If this sounds familiar, there's clearly something missing from your life. This book will help you discover what it is, and how to win it back.

Written by Mel Robbins, one of America's top relationship experts, this hands-on guide not only shows you how to put your finger on the problem, it reveals what to do about it. Mel Robbins has spent her career teaching people how to push past their self-imposed limits to get what they truly desire. She has an in-depth understanding of the psychological and social factors that repeatedly hold you back, and more importantly, a unique set of tools for getting you where you want to be. In Stop Saying You're Fine, she draws on the latest neuroscientific research, interviews with countless everyday people, and ideas she's tested in her own life to show what works and what doesn't. The key, she explains, is understanding how your own brain works against you. Because evolution has biased your mental gears against taking action, what you need are techniques to outsmart yourself. That may sound impossible, but Mel has created a remarkably effective method to help you do just that---and some of her discoveries will astonish you. By ignoring how you feel and seizing small amounts of rich possibility---a process she calls "leaning in"---you can make tiny course corrections add up to huge change. Among this book's other topics: how everything can depend on not hitting the snooze button; the science of connecting with other people; what children can teach us about getting things done; and why five seconds is the maximum time you should wait before acting on a great idea.

©2011 Advice for Living, Inc. (P)2011 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"Mel Robbins has the guts to tell you why your brain is your biggest problem---but only if you listen to it." (Chris Brogan, author of Trust Agent)

STOP and buy The Five Second Rule instead.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I LOVE Mel Robbins. However, I first listened to her newest book The Five Second Rule and the bulk of this material is in The Five Second Rule but is fresher in that new text and has been rebranded. This is What The Five Second Rule was Before I Called It That.

What didn’t you like about Joyce Bean’s performance?

She isn't Mel Robbins. Mel is a renowned speaker and has an amazing way of delivering her message that is very engaging. Hearing someone else "pretend" to be Mel isn't Mel. Shame she didn't record the audiobook of this herself but she does in her next title that I mentioned above.

Any additional comments?

Don't get me wrong, love her, love the message, love the content but so much is repeated it's just better to buy the newer book with newer name and you'll still get 90% of the information in Mel's own voice.

93 of 95 people found this review helpful

Exceptional truth

I saw Mel Robbins do her TED talk and just had to get this book. Thankfully it fulfilled many of my expectations. I only think it might have been better if the author had read her work herself. Thanks for a powerful book from a powerful person.

23 of 24 people found this review helpful

No surprises here

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

While this book held no dazzling insights, it did act as a reminder to become more focused on goals and to take action. She provides clear action steps and encourages readers to get take action. She makes it clear that the reader alone is responsible to get things done and to move towards their goals. Don't have any goals? She also provides help to identify goals based on your own interests and experiences.

What didn???t you like about Joyce Bean???s performance?

While the book's strength lies in the action steps provided, the weakness in this audio version is the narrator who sounds angry and annoyed throughout. While Robbin's words clearly place responsibility on the reader, they are made harsh by the narrator. The reader feels shamed at the mess they've made of their lives and the actions they haven't taken. I found her tone to be sharp and cold. I doubt that the author's intent was for readers to feel as though they've been scolded.

40 of 43 people found this review helpful

Extraordinary Audiobook

I totally recommend this audiobook to any person that is interested and ready to improve their life and business 👍👊👊👊👊

14 of 15 people found this review helpful

humble pie never tatsed so sweet

I'm a huge fan of Mel's work since i first started reading her articles in Success magazine. (top fav by the way) This listening was a well deserved punch in the gut. "Internal snooze button?" Niiiice. looking forward to more from my girl Mel.

16 of 18 people found this review helpful

This actually provides real motivation and action.

Fantastic. This book is not fluff and actually inspired real action. I honestly feel like this was the book that made things finally "click" for me! Thank you!

16 of 18 people found this review helpful

I am better!

I love this work and will listen again even when I am not "stuck". Probably the best how to book in a decade. Love Mel's approach, personality and relatability. It's like taking advice from my best friend.

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

Effective and inspiring

At first the narrator was slow to pique my interest. Then I got over it and really enjoyed her narration and the content. I am a self-help book lover. Of course, I listen, but don't really do anything about it. That's what this books about, getting yourself to do what you know you should, even though you don't want to.

20 of 23 people found this review helpful

The reader killed it for me.

I couldn't even get through chapter 2. I guess i should have listened to this one first. Mel just puts enthusiasm into it. This reader is just so monotone I couldn't even finish it.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

Horrible. THE worst self-help book I've ever read.

What disappointed you about Stop Saying You're Fine?

If you want a book where the author makes sweeping judgements about your life and then goes on to berate [you the reader] in between irrelevant hypothetical stories, then look no further. It's littered with accusations and statements like 'YOU are the problem!', 'YOU, and YOUR DUMB*** excuses', and you're 'acting like a chicken or a jerk.' Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up. It's like a bad parody of the self-help genre, only it's not. Sorry Audible, but this isn't even worth the Daily Deal price I paid.

Has Stop Saying You're Fine turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, but this is the most condescending and depressing self-help book I've read. Her point about our tendency to self-sabotage or limit ourselves isn't necessarily wrong. The problem is how she delivers the message. The repeated accusations and long drawn-out stories are both unprofessional and shows she lacks the material to produce a serious self-help book. In fact, you could close your eyes and pick ANY self-help book off the shelf and do better.

How could the performance have been better?

A different book by a different author with a different narrator perhaps?

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Stop Saying You're Fine?

This book is very repetitive. After an hour of listening, she was still hammering home the same point she was making in the first five minutes. I got it. I'm a lazy jerk or a chicken. I'm amazed they actually published a book like this in the first place!

Any additional comments?

I'm not sure why someone would willingly sit through hours of this condescending audiobook. I have more respect for myself and my time than to waste it being scolded and talked down to by someone who measures success in life by shallow and conventional means. There are better, helpful books out there, like 'The Confidence Gap', 'Your Erroneous Zones', 'Pulling Your Own Strings', or 'Rejection Proof', to name a few.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful