52 Weeks of Wellbeing Book Review

— Reading Time: 2 mins —

— W. Clement Stone

January is one of my favourite months. This year, my new-year-new-me energy was channelled wholly into stacking as many self-development books as my poor end table (and brain) can endure. When I saw a few Kogan Page titles appear on NetGalley’s offering, of course I had to sign up for them. Here is my honest review of 52 Weeks of Wellbeing by Ryan Hopkins.

True to its title, the book consists of 52 chapters, one for every wellbeing topic imaginable, every week of the year. Music to my brain! Due to this structure and the amiably casual voice of the author, this book makes a light read, perfect for consuming in bite-sized pieces, be it first thing in the morning, during your commute, or a chapter before bedtime.

I love that each chapter introduces you to the theory / research behind each wellbeing concept, translates what it means in everyday contexts, and, most importantly, offers the reader a bullet-pointed list of actionable suggestions of how to apply these learnings to better our daily wellbeing.

Whilst some wellbeing books can veer towards “preachy”, this is far from the case with 52 Weeks. Ryan Hopkins is a friendly, humble, and down-to-earth guide on this whistle-stop tour in wellbeing. He writes from a place of compassion, understanding, and personal experience that doesn’t take away from your own wellbeing journey.

A quote that the author uses throughout the book is: “big doors swing on little hinges”  — by embracing small changes little and often, we create significant change overtime. This is exactly the philosophy this book adopts and instils in its reader.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this well-paced introduction to wellbeing (in my case, reading it in 2 weeks instead of 52, it was more like a crash course!). This book definitely has a wide appeal, I would especially recommend it to those who would like to learn more about wellbeing but don’t know where to start. If you are, like me, somewhat well-versed in the world of self-development books, a lot of the subject matter covered won’t be new to you. You may come across a few new and intriguing ideas, but due to the introductory nature of this book, you’ll need to find your fix elsewhere if you’re after anything beyond a chapter’s worth.

All in all, 52 Weeks of Wellbeing gets a solid 4/5 star rating from me! You can find out more and pick up a paperback copy here.

Stay tuned for more self-development book reviews…