See Me by Hailey Rodgers

First, I'd like to thank Hailey for trusting me with her book, it was certainly a book that made me ponder over a lot of things.

The book, See Me, focuses on the experiences of a lot of people ranging from students to speakers to yoga instructors. Hailey has written down the experience of all of these people in a way that the readers could relate with them and try to implement their learnings in their own lives.

"Talking about authenticity and actually being authentic are two different things."

The major focus of the book is on making the reader understand the importance of being authentic to their own selves and how only by being authentic can a person achieve success. Success, not just in terms of money and fame, but in terms of satisfaction and happiness.

Now, the cover: The cover of the book is of minimalist design and is pleasing to look at. I associated the chameleon on the cover with something that I read in the book, that change is an integral and important part of life. While the book focussed on being true to yourself and being authentic, Hailey also mentioned the importance of growing and changing yourself. Sometimes it's the experience of a person that pushes them to change, but through her book she has tried to give us a glimpse into the lives of different people and understand the importance of changing ourselves, for the better, on the basis of their stories. No, she did not mean that their experiences and choices should govern your life, but that the experiences of others often teach us lessons that we might have ignored in own lives.

The book also sheds light on different topics like understanding your own self, learning to say no, putting yourself and your values above others, learning the difference between being selfish and caring for yourself, taking no's and our defeats as not setbacks but a stepping stone in order to achieve our goals, and many more.

"We feel detached from our lives because we don’t know every single piece about it."

Often we are unsure about what we want, about what we're going to do after a particular degree or course or even a job. And not knowing these answers makes us believe that we are somehow failing ourselves and those who expect something from us. But that is not really the case. Being insure is a part of the journey, nothing else.

The book also made me ponder over things like the Doormat Syndrome, how difficult people often find it to deal with rejection and how fitting in is more than just speaking the same language and wearing the same clothes. All of these are things we struggle with every single day and often term ourselves failures because of. But that is not really the case. Hailey presents various instances and incidences when people thought of themselves the same way, and how they all realized it, someday or the other, that they are not failures themselves, they failed in certain things.

"Life is fundamentally nonlinear…enjoy the ride!"

Some of the best things about this book:

1. It is non-linear, much like life. The book isn't required to be read from the start to the beginning or from one chapter to another. Each part of the book has a story and a learning of its own and can be read in combination, at once, or at a gap of months, as per your convenience.

2. There is a short summary after every chapter about what the reader must have learnt from the story or the incident and what they can do about it. They're in form of bullet points and are something you can get back to any time you feel the need to read about a particular topic again.

3. The language is engaging and simple, which made it a worthwhile read.

4. The things discussed in the books ranged from failing an exam because of 0.5% marks, or cocaine addiction and everything in between. The topics varied greatly and were focused on one thing: Making yourself a better person.

5. It taught me that "No one can "fix" you. Change ultimately starts with you." And change is something to embrace, not something to run from.