While I may not be a collegiette™ just yet (high school graduation in 2 weeks!), my life is still extremely chaotic. If I’m not stressing about an 8-page-paper, I’m dissecting what sort of craziness went down this weekend. Sometimes it would be good to have more control over everything from my school life to my social life — wouldn’t you agree?
After reading Maria Menounos’s The EveryGirl’s Guide to Life I have tips on everything from controlling the chaos to decorating my future dorm room at USC. Journalist, actress, and reporter of ‘Access Hollywood’, ‘Today Show’, and ‘Nightly News’, Maria Menounos authored this empowering book that will give you the confidence, knowledge, and drive to attack your life from every angle and get it back on track in no time, just like she did! Over the span of 275 pages, Maria tackles an array of topics including organization, do-it-yourself home improvement, style, relationships, health, exercise, travel, business, and more.
Although this book has so much to offer, the goal is not to brainwash readers into becoming mini-Marias. The key to getting the most out of this book is to keep an open mind. Maria now lives by the EveryGirl motto: minds must remain in possibility, and she really strives to help the audience to understand this concept. In order to accomplish your goals in life, you must focus on what is possible rather than what isn’t.
While I may not agree with everything she writes about, the book helped me to examine personal situations and develop various approaches to making things better in my life. One of my favorite lines from the book is, “Run your life like a business. Your life is the corporation and you’re the CEO.” That is the ultimate goal, to persistently improve yourself and your foundation. I found this to be particular inspiring.
As the CEO of my life corporation, I need to remember that I make the deals and call the shots. It’s up to me (and you!) to customize the path for my journey and prioritize what is truthfully necessary and important for my particular stage in life.
Some of the valuable tips Maria offers readers in her guide…
- Organization: Invest in a good laptop, but save old desktop computers for things you don’t need to access very often such as recipes, instructions, etc.
- Home-Improvement: In décor, less is truly more – instead of trying to fill every square inch of your mantle with trinkets, pick one or two to really showcase and act as focal points.
- Skin Care: To pop pimples (which you really should steer clear of doing but EveryGirl knows it’s hard to resist popping before a formal or date!) clean the skin & sterilize with witch hazel, then squeeze the pimple through tissues so germs aren’t spread onto the skin.
- Makeup: NEVER rub your lips together after applying lipstick or lip gloss.
- Fashion: When dressing for a first date, don’t overdo it, wear something casual with a splash of color (jeans, cute top, blazer, boots/heels).
- Friends & Family: If you were not blessed with a family, create one of your own from the people surrounding you — I found the girls I’ve been going to school with since 7th grade to be like sisters to me.
- Love: Don’t expect a Tiffany’s necklace from your college-aged boyfriend; expect loyalty, dedication, respect, and consideration — hello! That’s most valuable of all!
- Health: Stop trying to look like “her”, you will only end up feeling defeated if you are constantly comparing yourself.
- Business: Be sure to send thank-you cards to people you interview with.
- Travel: Instead of tagging your luggage with your address, tag your cell phone number so someone can reach you if they happen to pick it up.
If you’re anything like me you just noted those all — whether it’s in your brain or on sticky notes on your desk. With Maria’s style, personal anecdotes, and heartwarming moments with her Greek-American family, you’ll never want to put this book down!
Her wisdom, encouragement, and helpful tips will have you sprinting on the road to success. And after turning that last page, in addition to filing away all this new knowledge, I gained a new best friend (Maria Menounos)! The EveryGirl’s Guide to Life is definitely a must-read and should remain in your back pocket at all times! (Well it might be a little too big for that, but you know what I mean.)
Want more Menounos? Check out Maria’s great video tips here!