I'd Rather Be Reading Amy Morin on 13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don’t Do — and Why Mental Strength Is So Important
We have so much good for you even before 2024 closes, and especially as 2025 kicks off. We’ll be bringing you lots of new books, especially in the new year, but as we close 2024 and look ahead to what next year will bring, I’m also going to bring in some conversations about books from years past that will make you think about the type of person you want to be going forward into this next chapter. That includes today’s conversation with Amy Morin about her 2018 book 13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don’t Do: Own Your Power, Channel Your Confidence, and Find Your Authentic Voice for a Life of Meaning and Joy. In addition to this book, Amy has written a number of books about things mentally strong populations don’t do — people, couples, kids, parents. We are zooming in on women today, but I think anyone will be able to take something from this conversation. Today we talk through each of the 13, spotlighting some of my favorites; I ask Amy, if she could revise this book — which came out six years ago this month — what she’d add or take away; and we talk about three components of mental strength. We also talk about what mental strength brings to a life, and I’m really excited for you to hear what she has to say. Amy is a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, college psychology instructor, keynote speaker, author, and expert on mental strength. Her books have sold over 1 million copies and have been translated into 40 languages, and, in addition to being an accomplished writer, she’s also an award-winning podcast host, hosting “Mentally Stronger with Therapist Amy Morin.” She is also the former editor-in-chief of Verywell Mind and has been featured everywhere from Today, Good Morning America, Time, Fast Company, Success, CNN, CNBC, and more. Amy’s TEDx talk “The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong” is one of the most popular talks of all time with more than 22 million views, and Amy’s quest to find mental strength is hard won: she lost her mother at 23, and her husband died when she was 26. As she puts it, “Losing the two most important people in my life sent me on a quest to learn as much as I could about how to be mentally strong.” In 2013, during one of the lowest moments in her life, she wrote a letter to herself about what mentally strong people don’t do, and 13 things emerged that could rob her of her mental strength if she let them. She figured her letter could maybe help someone else, so she published it online, thinking maybe a few people could benefit from it. It went viral, and more than 50 million people read it. From there came her book deal, and the rest is history. We are all better for her message.