Oof. This was a weird combo of self-help and memoir that didn’t work for me at all. It’s very surface level and if you’re at all familiar with mindfulness or slow living, there may not be much here for you.
Despite the author’s note at the beginning, this seems heavily geared to partnered, middle-aged woman that have kids and enjoy disposable income.

What worked for me:
👍 Ditching goals and the dangers of conflating goals with purpose
👍 A job is just a way to sustain your financial needs, life and identity is to be found elsewhere
👍 SMART goals are stupid

What I wasn’t so keen on:
👎 Writing style is almost condescendingly simplistic and cheerleadery, like the author is writing for children, not adults.
👎 So many platitudes and social media-esque quotes with no substance.
👎 Too much religion
👎 Censored curse words
👎 That’s not what Vision Quest means
👎 So much advice from Disney and millionaires 🤢
👎 Embarrassing acronyms: rule one of accessible writing is don’t bury stuff in acronyms. Doubly so when it’s acronyms you’re literally inventing.
👎 The advice to too surface-level and the author is too present for this to read convincingly like a self-help non fic.
👎 For the love of god, folks, don’t throw out everything in your home. Consider the planet and release things into the circular economy… then practice mindful purchasing so you don’t accumulate stuff
👎 There’s a lot of repetition and filler within these pages, I don’t get the impression this content naturally stretched to a book
👎 The financial section is oozing with privilege and makes a lot of harmful assumptions and generalizations
👎 I didn’t like how the whole book was presented as a formula that you need to follow… kinda like a get rich quick scheme for wellbeing.
👎 The introverted/extroverted table is just plain wrong? More yeses equate introversion yet 50% of them are extroverted biased in their wording?!
👎 The formulas, annoying acronyms, repetition, fake matey-ness, pyramids all made me feel like the author was trying to sell me something. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
👎 Where was the environmental stewardship in this book?!

Do I think this has some good points?
Sure.
Do I think this works as a book?
Not really.

🤷‍♀️ I can’t in good conscience recommend this. It’s all over the place… and not in a fun way. I never want to see an acronym again.

This guide to Simple Living is easy to read and full of actionable suggestions. It helps us take stock of our lives, our choices and enables us to move to a slower pace of life, enabling us to concentrate on what matters most to each one of us. Humans were not designed and built for the constant grind of modern life, We push our selves at work, come home to work on a side hustle and have no time for ourselves or our families. Let’s stop believing that we can have it all, do. It all and still thrive. Slow living is what we all need more of. It will just look different to each one of us.

I really enjoyed this book, although the language at times felt a little bit too hokey for me. I will definitely take a lot of tools from this book and I do feel slightly more motivated to tidy/organize my space after reading!

Really enjoyed reading this and absorbing the tips on slowing down our lives. Recommended to all. Thank you for the ARC.

I have followed Stephanie since she had started her 365 days of crockpot meals years ago! I still use several of her recipes so when she started into the concept of slow living I was on board. This was a great book detailing how to slow down and focus more on just being present rather than so overstimulated in a fast paced life. Really enjoyed it and will recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley, Stephanie O'Dea, and Dexterity books for allowing me to review this ARC!

I like this book. It’s concise, makes sense and gives you actionable pointers. I found that it was relevant to what I needed and was a good start to making life more fulfilled but at a more sensible pace.

I followed O'Dea years ago when she was known online for her crockpot recipes. She's back with a book on simplifying your life, using her PROM method of purging, removing, organizing, and maintaining. A good resource for those looking for a simpler life!

This book is great for someone like me who is always go go go and anxious. It really teaches you how to slow down and do things with more intention and enjoy life.