Soundtracks - by Jon Acuff (Hardcover)

Jon Acuff is so fun to read. He really gets to the heart of what I am experiencing and helps me figure a way through. He uses humor and experience to get you where you need to be. I bought 4 books to share with others it was so good!

Jon always provides helpful, honest, and often humorous advice. Soundtracks provides great insight on why we overthink, as well as practical advice on how to combat it.

I love this new book from Jon Acuff called Soundtracks. I've read many of his other books and I've been a huge fan of his work for many years. I love the practical advice and self-help tips intertwined with humor that this book offers. I've struggled with overthinking and poor soundtracks all my life and I've felt so refreshed and gained so many insights from reading Soundtracks. It's been so nice to feel understood and gain practical tools for changing my negative soundtracks. Thank you Jon!

Soundtracks is a must read, we all need this book! Jon Acuff’s concept of Soundtracks will help all of us shift our own mindset but especially after this last year. The concept of setting our own mindset (soundtracks) is intriguing. I am an over-thinker and I am paid to overthink in my profession. It has been my role to think about the “what ifs” of a variety of scenarios and situations for potential solutions, the good, the bad and the ugly. And I am good at it and have won in the work situations because we were prepared for the strange situations that happen. But how do you turn that off when it is your personal life and not let the bad or negative thoughts win in overthinking. That sounds interesting and easy but we all know that it is anything but easy! But the book provides some very simple steps and some entertaining stories to go along with it. I am enjoying have the future of that control back that I really took away from myself. Which is a fantastic learning for us over-thinkers, perfectionist and control freaks. Check out this book today to reset your own thoughts to go after what you want and use your super power!

This book simplifies and provides easy examples to show how overthinking attacks a person's self worth and provides ways to change that over thinking negative mindset into a positive one!

If you struggle with overthinking, this book is for you! We all have soundtracks playing in our head, and Jon Acuff does an excellent job of outlining how to replace your negative soundtracks with positive ones. No need to overhink it, this book is for anyone who wants to turn their overthinking to positive actions.

Never have I ever turned on a self-help audiobook and made my whole family of 9 listen through. As a music-loving family, I knew they'd get a kick out of the topic and, honestly? I just wanted peace in the car and hoped there would be enough humor for the several-hours-ride we were on. I've always enjoyed Jon Acuff, but this is even beyond being a fan of his.Every one of my 7 children has had a positive comment on it. My 6 year old said, "Mama, can we listen to that again? He makes me think happy!!" My 18 year old daughter listened to the entire book in 3 days, and my 16 year old son requested the hardback to take notes in. The 12 year old, at the height-of-parental-distain-stage admitted that it made her feel better about herself inside (this was between her epic eye rolls, obviously). And my husband? Yeah, he doesn't hate that I was right about how much he needed this. He wants to gift it to friends and family now. This book truly has given my entire family tools to regain balance on our thoughts and pursue a whole and healthy mindset as a family unit. I never expected that. I thought I was only buying the book for me! This is the book the world needs at this moment. When we are all weary from the political overload and the overthinking of surviving this pandemic and the upheaval of normal, taking charge of our overthinking is globally needed in a way than it has ever been. This book is the key to giving ourselves permission to de-bully our inner septics. Read it.You will not be disappointed.

Almost all of us struggle with overthinking! And because of this, we lose time, creativity, and productivity. Jon Acuff has written an intuitive solution to overthinking with the book, Soundtracks. In a humorous and simple way, he teaches us where these soundtracks come from, how we can retire and replace them with new soundtracks and accomplish our goals. This is a book that I will read many times because I know it will impact me differently each time. I give this book 5+ stars!

This book was written just for me. And there's a good chance it was also written for you. Are you are guilty of overthinking? Do you occasionally (or frequently) have cringeworthy memories pop up randomly reminding you of embarrassing things you said or did ages ago? Does your brain sabotage your goals with doubts and fears? Listen, run - don't walk - and buy this book. Jon Acuff is supremely equipped to deliver straight-talking truths in an engaging way using his signature humor. I have learned so much from this book, and I can't stop telling people about it. I have new soundtracks now and I'm loving them!

Ever have a favorite song run through your head or maybe a song that annoys you that repeats over and over in your head (Baby Shark comes to mind in recent years - sorry for bringing that to your brain and now the rest of your day!)? Jon Acuff explains with great humor and easy to read format in this book how we all have a variety of what he terms soundtracks that we play over and over in our brains that are making us want to turn up the volume or delete the song from our playlist essentially. The great news is we can switch up our playlist and he gives us great examples of how we create our playlist in the first place as well as how to create an optimal playlist for our optimum listening pleasure, if you will. His premise begins with appealing to those of us overthinkers of the world (hand raised), and promotes awareness of how we can tune out the noise we create ourselves in our own heads and replace it with something that provides us with so much more possibility.

Thanks to Jon Acuff’s new book, I’m beginning to unlearn and replace my negative self-talk with new positive phrases that encourage me. “Overthinking is when what you think gets in the way of what you want.” This opening line of the first chapter jumped off the page and smacked me upside the head. Over the years, I’ve gotten really good at overthinking everything to the point of mental paralysis, unable to make any decision that will move my life forward because it might not be the perfect option. It’s why I never finished collage (“All you’re doing is racking up debt for a future you may not even want”) and why I stayed for years at a job I hated (“You don’t have a degree, so you’ll never find something better”) and with a toxic ex (“You can’t make it on your own with what you earn”). The more I heard the broken soundtracks playing in my head, the more I believed them, and the more they guided my actions—or rather, my inaction. This book is full of real-life examples that are research-based and have been tested and peer reviewed, from the science behind choosing your thoughts to tips on forming new habits that stick. Anyone who has struggled with finding direction or who gets bogged down by their own thoughts will find the techniques and motivation to break through into a new world of decisive action. “The only one standing in my way is me, and I quit doing that yesterday.”

Do you have broken soundtracks that play in your mind, stealing time, productivity and creativity? Most people have an unkind story playing on loop inside their head. Jon will help you change the story that you tell yourself, about yourself. He will teach you how to retire the broken soundtracks, replace them with new ones and then repeat the new ones so much that they become as automatic as the old ones. Jon's books are always funny, relevant and full of amazing content, but this one is a firehose of awesome! If you are ready to change the way you think to change your life for the better, buy this book today!

Not only does this book belong to the business section of a bookstore, it could also be in the parenting category. So many things I am learning in this book can overflow into my parenting. As a busy mom-- with parenting so "in your face" during Covid and children being ever so present with me--I needed a new way to break the soundtracks that I kept hearing from my children. From ages 5 to 14, I have used parts of this book to help re-shape the way we are seeing and speaking about ourselves and those around us. The entire section about: "Is it true? Is it helpful? Is it kind?" has been the talk of the household for weeks. For me personally, I have learned to cherish every moment and have shifted from Survival Mode to Purpose in Every Day with my kiddos. Thank you Jon Acuff and Baker Books for making this change possible. I am forever grateful. I highly suggest you buy a copy now and then another so that you have them on hand for birthdays, graduation and Christmas! I can't think of one person who wouldn't benefit from the wisdom shared in the book.

If I drank a cup of coffee for every time I heard a friend say, "You're overthinking it," I'd be extremely sleep deprived and shaking uncontrollably. So I could barely contain my excitement when Jon first announced a few years ago that he was "researching overthinking" for his new book. I wondered; "How long will it take Jon to write the book? Will he come to Lancaster to promote it like he did with Do Over? Would he think it's weird to meet him a third time? Could I successfully engage in the trademarked side-hug without the awkward waist wraparound I did last time? Will there be a course? A speaking tour?" Do you see why I needed this book in my life? So when I had the opportunity to be part of the launch team and a few pre-launch courses, I eagerly signed up for everything. But this was not a typical launch because this is not your typical self-help book. No, it's far more than that. Along with a team of researchers and a plethora of feedback, Jon has essentially cracked the overthinking code. In fact, he's rewritten the code by showing us how to rewrite our Soundtracks! While I have loved Jon Acuff’s work since his early writings, Soundtracks may be the most widely-relatable work he’s ever penned. It doesn’t matter who you are, where are you are in life, or what you are overthinking, Jon easily connects with your mind and your heart on this one. He infuses his signature humor frequently, but it doesn’t distract from the message. In fact, it enhances the truths he provides. I found myself laughing right along with him as he described the uncanny twists and turns life can take and the soundtracks that we play along the journey. I couldn’t help but read excerpts aloud to my wife! Between Jon’s whit and his incredible insight into mindfulness, I just had to share his simple, yet life-changing approach to thinking...and thus, overthinking. A standout thought caught my attention early on in Soundtracks. Jon says, "Fear does not take work. Doubt does not take work. Insecurity does not take work.” Have you ever stopped to think about that? Me neither! What does take work? Breaking free from fear, doubt and insecurity by playing new soundtracks that are louder than the old broken ones that keep us stuck. Jon shared three questions we must ask our current soundtracks. I didn’t know how much I needed these three questions in my arsenal. I won’t spoil the learning by sharing them, but I believe they have the power to free you from some badly broken soundtracks. In the past two weeks, I've used these three questions to help reshape the way our family communicates in the present, ruminates on the past, and dreams about the future! So if you'd be drinking as much overthinking java as me, Soundtracks is for you. It's time for me to get back to work on writing my new anthem for life. I truly believe every person still reading this review will be challenged and inspired to do the same. Let's be like Jon. Let's change our super problem into a superpower, and take back our time, creativity and productivity in the process. You deserve (new) Soundtracks!

In Soundtracks, Jon Acuff uses humor and a simple step-by-step guide to help identify the what and why of your overthinking and turn those negative thoughts into something useful and productive. No one is immune from overthinking, but there is something you can do about it. Jon has this incredible way of tapping into negative thoughts you didn’t even know were there and then gifting you real, relatable, and attainable examples and stories making thought control a reality instead of wish. Soundtracks is light, easy, funny, and inspiring. It literally changed my life and gave me back time and energy wasted on second-guessing my every move and thought. It can do the same for you. I always thought overthinking was just part of who I was but now I have a mental playlist of positivity to prove change is possible. It can’t really be that easy, can it? Yes, it can. And in Soundtracks, Jon Acuff will show you how.

This book is a quick read packed with powerful, research-based information. If you overthink, then you’re not alone because almost all of us admit that we do. What I loved about this book was that it was a quick, digestible read filled with valuable tools to recognize, tune out, and replace your overthinking soundtracks. You finish the book with actual, tangible tools to use to overcome overthinking, which honestly gave me hope. Jon teaches you to be kind, but honest with yourself and equips you with the kinds of tools we all need to move forward in life, take risks, and believe in ourselves. Oh, and you’ll laugh a lot along the way.

received my advance e-copy of Soundtracks via NetGalley as part of Job Acuff's launch team for this title. My thanks to NetGalley and Jon Acuff for this opportunity. Once again, Jon Acuff mixes belly-aching humor with sharp imagery and relatable example, and somewhere along the way teaches you valuable, life-altering lessons free of lectural tedium. (Is "lectural" even a word? If not, it should be.) Acuff's newest endeavor challenges our pesky brains to dial down the negatives, turn up the positives, and turn our automatic thoughts on their heads so we can jam to a new beat. I haven't even started digging into the specific suggestions of forming new "soundtracks" but even just pausing and catching automatic negative thoughts has already changed my life in one short week. 2020 was "catnip for overthinking" and as we carry the scars and soundtracks from 2020 into 2021, the load is very heavy. But it doesn't have to be this way. Changing your Soundtracks is where to "Start" so you can be "Finish"ed with bad soundtracks. -- I had to make a book pun, right? I'm no 'Quitter." Should I get a "Do Over"? --

That song is in your head now, isn't it? It's a soundtrack you are playing over and over and over again. We do that all the time and, more often than not, it is something we are telling ourselves over and over again that may not be true. Well, in his latest book/research project, Jon Acuff tackles the subject of soundtracks and overthinking and will give you a new perspective on yours I suspect, as he did for me and mine. He will also give you some suggestions on how you can change your soundtracks to make them work for you and not against you as they are probably doing right now. He did his research as he did for his last book, "Finish", so the suggestions are research-based along with his experience and that of others. As always his own brand of humor is present throughout to help make it an enjoyable as well as educational read. You will laugh and learn as you read. That is a great combination. Don't overthink this one. Order your copy today and begin the process to reset your playlist. Until then...It's a small small world.

I've read most (if not all?) of Jon Acuff's books and I think this is definitely his best yet. He is a goal guru and his writing, as well as the community groups he hosts on Facebook, is changing how I deal with perfectionism, procrastination, and overall negative thinking. He has done numerous online challenges in the last few years that I've participated in. Some of the challenges he hosts are paid but he brings the same value and enthusiasm to others that are free. The community of people that results from these challenges is one of a kind on Facebook and is quite honestly one of the most supportive and kindest places you'll find online. Truly enjoyed this book. His humor and his down-to-earth practical ideas are what set him apart from the numerous other positive thinking, productivity/hustle 'experts' out there today. Although he has been honing his goal and productivity ideas over the last few books he's written and with the feedback he gets from thousands of his readers/fans/challenge participants, he also hired a Ph.D. researcher to 'bring the data' to this book. Tons of real-life, practical examples of the principles he's discussing. Really brought it to the next level with this one! - Neal O.

Jon Acuff has nailed it out of the park yet again! If you have ever had second thoughts about anything; making that career move, heading back to school to further your education, moving to a new city...this book is for you! If you have ever laid in bed at night, replaying that conversation you had earlier in the day and kicking yourself while thinking of all the things you could have said differently...this book is for you! Soundtracks give you real life examples and simple yet effective strategies to turn negative soundtracks (the voices inside of your head) into positive, life changing mantras. As the book mentions, your brain is "kind of a jerk". We have all been there. Sometimes even as we say, think, or do something we know that it is not having a positive impact on our life. Soundtracks is full of stories and advice. You can find yourself in AT LEAST one of these stories and learn how to turn your jerk of a brain into a tool that makes you a stronger, happier, and more successful person! This is a multiple-read book...it is THAT good!