Book: Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
By: Dr. Julie Smith
Reviewed by: Shelby Brown
The Premise: This book, Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?, came on my radar at the start of January as I was looking to head into the New Year with a refreshed sense of calm. Dr. Julie Smith is a clinical psychologist with over 10 years of experience in the field. Perhaps it’s the millennial in me, but I was curious to see what Smith had to say as she was the first professional to use TikTok as a platform to give insights on therapy and made professional mental health education more accessible. In the book, Smith uses her 10 years of experience to create a guidebook to help you navigate everyday challenges. She specifically focuses on raising awareness around how to take charge of your own mental and emotional health. Emotional and mental health are so important, and still likely not emphasized as much as it should be, but Smith does a great job of making navigating this accessible.
The Bottomline: Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? serves as a fantastic toolkit. I particularly loved how Smith teaches you ways to maintain your mental health throughout her book. Maintenance is key, and this book serves as a toolkit to do just that. I always love a book that is packed with research and facts, and this book satisfies that. Smith provides her expertise and shares different coping mechanisms to manage different aspects of your mental health – weather it be how to stay resilient, how to keep yourself motivated (or find motivation you may have lost), deal with tough criticism (from others and yourself) and strengthen your confidence. One of the best parts of the book for me was the practical solutions that are offered to the above. Smith provides specificity for each of the mentioned categories and outlines how you can remain resilient, confident and calm.
One of the main messages throughout the book is that your mental health is as important as your physical health. Nurturing your mental health is as important as practicing regular physical exercise. The mind is a muscle and deserves to be treated as such. This book will give you a deeper understanding of the physics of the mind and how “mental health works”. Smith emphasizes that you should nurture your mental health every day, and if you do, it just might change your life.
Recommendation: I recommend this book for anyone who is looking to reset for the New Year and take control of their mental health. This was a great book to start of the New Year and remind me that making my mental and emotional health a priority is of the utmost importance.
