I don’t remember how I stumbled upon I Am That Girl by Alexis Jones but I purchased the book on Amazon alongside Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything. I was immediately intrigued when I took a peek inside and read Jones’ That Girl Manifesto which stated “I am enough. I have enough. I do enough.”

It got my thinking. Often times we don’t give ourselves enough credit and put pressure to be 10 stages ahead of where we are now.

Say it with me now: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Someone whom I love dearly had to slap those words in my face when I was in an environment where I was told repeatedly that I’m not confident enough, not smart enough, not cool enough. It wasn’t until I got the eff out of there I realized that my enough was actually exceptionally enough all along.

Reading further into the epilogue it seemed Jones (who was once a contestant on the reality TV show Survivor) and I had a similar outlook on life. Throughout the book she gave real, no bull life advice and I appreciated her suggestions on how to deal with scenarios such as what to say when someone comes between your passions or when you need to say no. Her affirmations were easy to read, even though there were cliché AF moments but if you’re having a bad day sometimes cheesy words of wisdom can be nice. I also appreciated that within every chapter there were stories of real-life women, their hardships, and how they triumphed over obstacles.

I would recommend Jones’ book to anyone under the age of 25 who are looking for a positive boost of #girlpower inspiration.

Here are a few of my favourite quotes:

“I remembered something my friend Jo likes to say whenever any of her friends are criticizing themselves. ‘Hey. That’s my best friend you’re talking about like that.'”

“It is only important that you do something that fuels you.”

“My dad told me once, ‘The true character of a person is not seen in their everyday routine or even in their greatest accolades; the true test of a person’s character is witnessing the immediate steps after one of their greatest mistakes.'”

“Are you surrounding yourself with negative influences or compassionate, creative, kind, challenging, humble, and socially conscious individuals?”

“You have this one, precious life and you alone dictate the colorful resplendence of your mural. You decide the spectacular spectrum of shades and brush strokes you’ll use to illustrate your story. And while I can’t fathom what life has in store for any of us, I do know that life is not too short, but rather, far too long for you to waste another day not seeking out every adventure calling your name.”