Executive Summary: I do not recommend this book.

Dave Hollis is mostly known for having been married to Rachel Hollis, author of Girl Wash Your Face; Girl, Stop Apologizing; and Didn't See That Coming. Of these, I have only read Girl Wash Your Face, and here is a quote from my review that applies fairly well to this book by Dave Hollis, as well:

One of the things that made me go "WHAT?!?!" early on was the author's mention of the book having a "Christian publisher." That was not made obvious in any way. Often throughout the book, Hollis refers to God's plan; hearing the Lord quietly speaking to her, etc. I found myself recoiling whenever she did that. I'm neither Christian nor religious.

Rachel Hollis is your friend who thinks she can be your therapist because she goes to therapy herself. She's your friend who lost weight and thinks she knows the cure to everyone's fatness. She's also the friend who posts Jesus memes on Facebook and then doesn't understand when her Jewish friends don't like them.

Dave Hollis is slightly less overt about religious references, though he does throw in the occasional Bible quote. He leans more heavily on a generalized "you were made by your creator for a specific purpose," and the language of what "the universe" wants for you (ingredients of the Prosperity Gospel and Law of Attraction).

Backing up a bit, for those not well-versed in All Things Hollis.... Dave Hollis used to be a Disney Executive (something readers are reminded of frequently in this book). His Disney money allowed Rachel to transition from running a party-planning company to a "lifestyle"/"media" company (Chic Media, which I'd legit never heard of before I read GWYF) to moving into the realm of women's conferences and the self-help guru space. This included, unfortunately, Rachel being a speaker at various MLM conventions, but that is a whole other story.

According to Dave, when Rachel conducted her 2017 Rise Conference in Austin, TX, he was so impressed by Rachel's magic that he wanted to be a part of it. This led to his leaving his Disney job in 2018 and becoming the CEO of The Hollis Company. The family left LA and moved to Austin.

So, Dave straight-up says that when he left Disney and joined HollisCo, he was having a mid-life crisis and he mistook Rachel's dream for his own. Keep that in mind.

Fast-forward to 2020. In June, Dave and Rachel both released statements that they were divorcing. Dave shared that it was Rachel who had asked for the divorce. Dave also shared that they'd been considering divorce for years. While all that had been happening in the background, Dave and Rachel had been running Rise Together conferences for couples. People paid thousands of dollars for the conferences, despite the Hollises having absolutely no credentials or qualifications in counseling of any kind--a fact they flippantly acknowledged in a promo video for their conference.

So the central premise of this book is that the year since the break-up has been the hardest but best year of his life. And he's here to advise/counsel people based on that experience. And use nautical metaphors throughout.

You see, there is a quote that Dave loves so much, he has had it tattooed on one of his forearms: "A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are built for." This is his guiding metaphor through the whole book, and he endlessly urges his readers to leave their "safe harbor" to go out into the ocean to pursue their true purpose (that their "creator" made them for). Spoiler alert: It gets old fast.

Dave has a line, "YOU CAN’T SAIL THE OCEAN WITH SOMEONE ELSE’S MAP." Dude that is LITERALLY how maps work. We don't all make our own map when we go on a trip. We use maps that Google or a mapmaker created. I eventually realized that he was propably confusing "map" with "itinerary." It seems that when Dave impulsively quit Disney, he was sailing the ocean with Rachel's itinerary.

But here is the piece that puzzles me. After saying he was trying to follow Rachel's dream rather than his own, he also describes something that sounds very much like trying to make his own version of Rachel's brand: being in the self-help space (without credentials or qualifications), "coaching," planning conferences. I can't help thinking that it is too soon for Dave Hollis to declare what his dream even is. He writes about surviving this year since the divorce, but he must have been writing the book less than a year into divorced life. It seems to me he is much too close to the trauma to teach or advise from it.

In the book, Dave Hollis describes meeting and becoming romantically involved with Heidi Powell. Heidi had recently gone through her divorce from Chris Powell (formerly of the show Extreme Weight Loss). Not to bring too much "outside" information into this review, but Dave and Heidi have apparently gotten "serious" very quickly, and are living their relationship very publicly on the socials. And both seem to be trying to rebrand themselves in the context of being part of an "influencer" couple. It's rather hypocritical that Dave comments in the book about fighting for eye contact with his kids, without their staring at a screen. Dave and Heidi are constantly pointing their phones at their kids (each has four kids), putting everything on video for Instagram.

Some of the advice in the book is not terrible, some is just so-so, and some strikes me as potentially harmful. Anything of value in the book can be gleaned from more qualified sources. To his credit, Dave Hollis does promote seeking therapy. Anyone feeling stuck in their lives should begin there, not with a Dave Hollis book.

There is a moment in the book where Dave shares that he doubted his competence and qualifications to write a book like this. I think that was good instinct that he should have stuck with.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC; this review is my honest opinion.

Dave Hollis does it again!!! This is such a great read and Dave nails helping you find your courage. This book will help you dive deeper into figuring out who exactly you are and why you do the things you do. You will learn how to be the best "YOU" you can be. I loved all of these lessons and hearing Dave's story really helped me relate and gave me a few "a ha" moments. This is a very practical book that can truly help anyone become a better version of themself!

This book came along at a time when I think all of us are saying "Is this who I want to be when I grow up?" With so many people re-evaluating their lives, companies they work for, and the very nature of our lives... this book is a beacon of light that screams "You are destined for greatness! Go get it!" It makes you realize how much we hold back, stay in comfort zones, stay in situations that are wrong for us simply because we never had the little push that says "Go forth and share your gift!"
I found this book relatable and inspiring. If you aren't fired up to go live your purpose after reading this book, I can't help you. This is a well executed guide to help you lift your anchor and head out to sea!

I enjoyed Dave's first book, and this was an excellent follow up. He gives concrete ideas to help readers learn ways to get out of their own way and build happier futures. His practical tips and exercises at the end of each chapter seem quite useful. I wasn't the target demographic for this book, but I still found value in Dave's words.

I am new to Dave and was not a follower of his and Rachel's Rise/Hollis empire. I'm not sure exactly who this book would be good for. At first I thought it could be helpful for those going through a divorce, yet, at the end of the book, he talks about finding a girlfriend rather quickly after Rachel's departure.

The ships, seas, harbors, rough sailing examples were overused. However, I thought the journal logs were excellent - the questions for you to ponder about your life are valid.

Readers will find this book to be like most other self-help books - while there's some information you can pick and choose that will be relatable, there's a lot of material that's just not.

There's a big segment of the population that loves their self-help gurus, so for those that are Dave Hollis fans, you will enjoy this one.

This book is essentially “Self-help 101.” Mostly solid advice - about choosing a positive attitude, not letting failure make you give up, the power of re-framing, etc. But it is absolutely at a beginner level. Which Hollis has conceded that he is - not too long ago, he was a successful executive at Disney who thought all of this self-help stuff was nonsense. In the years since then, his life (marriage, career) has kind of collapsed, and unfortunately this book came out before he had time to make sense of all that he’s been through. So while most of what he says is decent enough advice, it’s very basic, and there are no deep insights to be found here. I’m not sure he’d share them if he had them, as he seems like a surface sort of guy, at least in his public persona. Hollis confesses to being a Christian, which feels more like a nod to his fan base than a motivating force behind his writing. This book would have been much stronger with more mystery and faith and questions about how God works, and less rah-rah/you can do it/don’t give up self-reliance/self-care/self-motivation jargon. Because eventually that always fails, and one gets the sense that Dave is speaking from some quickly-shifting sand in this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book.

It's really really really hard for me to find something charitable about this White Privileged Dude Bro preaching to people about courage. Specifically, the "courage" to leave his C-Suite and start his own consulting business? Or the "courage" to go do a triathlon that you haven't prepared for? When this field is filled with people who fought in the Middle East, or faced American racism or immigration, I'm not sure who would pick up this book to get life advice from a Cis-Het Upper Class educated American man.