The Mountain Is You

“Wiest is realistic. The Mountain Is You is best approached as an exercise in harm reduction rather than a recipe for perfection. Even if you never reach the top of your mountain, you'll gain grace, resilience, and introspection that define modern leadership as you climb.”– Inc. This is a book about self-sabotage. Why we do it, when we do it, and how to stop doing it—for good. Coexisting but conflicting needs create self-sabotaging behaviors. This is why we resist efforts to change, often until they feel completely futile. But by extracting crucial insight from our most damaging habits, building emotional intelligence by better understanding our brains and bodies, releasing past experiences at a cellular level, and learning to act as our highest potential future selves, we can step out of our own way and into our potential. For centuries, the mountain has been used as a metaphor for the big challenges we face, especially ones that seem impossible to overcome. To scale our mountains, we actually have to do the deep internal work of excavating trauma, building resilience, and adjusting how we show up for the climb. In the end, it is not the mountain we master, but ourselves.

This is a book about self-sabotage. Why we do it, when we do it, and how to stop doing it—for good. Coexisting but conflicting needs create self-sabotaging behaviors. This is why we resist efforts to change, often until they feel completely futile. But by extracting crucial insight from our most damaging habits, building emotional intelligence by better understanding our brains and bodies, releasing past experiences at a cellular level, and learning to act as our highest potential future selves, we can step out of our own way and into our potential. For centuries, the mountain has been used as a metaphor for the big challenges we face, especially ones that seem impossible to overcome. To scale our mountains, we actually have to do the deep internal work of excavating trauma, building resilience, and adjusting how we show up for the climb. In the end, it is not the mountain we master, but ourselves.

Brianna Wiest’s audiobook also seems like a personal coaching session due to its plethora of insights and practical advice, helping one to recognize the patterns that they have been stuck in, and for them to start to create the routines which they need for growth and fulfillment. I selected this (audiobook) because I have always been interested in personal development, and I love contemplating the psyche of humans. It is truly diverse in its subject matter, mentioning self-sabotage, resilience, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence, and is able to discuss these issues authoritatively and in a way that is easy to digest. I was also drawn to the book because I have had my own struggles with self-doubt and negative habits. I was looking for more than just understanding; I was wanting a way to create real change in my life, and this turned out to be the perfect audiobook. Throughout the discussion, while feeling comforted, I noticed these chills or emotional rushes from her remarks and insights. I loved the fact that it was a way to listen to an author, and then hearing the type of voice that I could read her words in. Throughout the audiobook, you will feel a range of emotions; you may feel a sense of understanding during some of the more challenging parts where she calls you out on some of your own habits, while at another time you may feel that sense of motivation and empowered by these reminders of your potential. The journey is introspective and emotion, full of challenges and change. When you start caring about yourself and what you put into your body, health becomes part of your life. Some people don’t like what you’re doing but stay committed to your health. Start caring about you and the rest will follow.

I have a bachelor degree in psychology and i work with people living with eating disorders. I figured I'd pick up this book to help with certain patterns and behaviours I've noticed through my professional experiences. I was highly disappointed. It didn't help that I saw this book glorified on TikTok because it set my expectations way too high. From what I've gathered online, Wiest is a writer and a poet. She seems to have no education or training on psychology or therapy (I couldn't find anything on that). I found that her facts were a little shaky and looking through her references, I could see why. There's 24 references in total for her whole book and very few are scientific articles. Some of it is from psycho-pop online articles and there's even one reference from a LinkedIn post. I believe she based most of her observations on experience, this is not to be diminished, but the book lacked scientific support. Overall, the tools and strategies she gave were fine. I actually have a few pages with post-its on them. There's some parts of the book that felt empty as if the words were to fill the chapter instead of giving substance. The first two parts were the most helpful to understand self-sabotage and learn about unhealthy patterns of behaviours. The rest was a little repetitive and more inspirational than resourceful. I won't recommend this book to people who go through self-sabotage tendencies. I believe that good old therapy works best and that there exists other self-help books that are way more scientifically approved. I recommend The Happiness Trap by Dr. Harris to change your perspective on life instead of this one. Also, there's mentions encouraging diet culture when it is in no way relating to the subject. Eating fast food is not "self-sabotage". It can be part of a balanced diet when you work on your perspective over food and then adjust your behaviours to fulfill your needs (biological and emotional).

𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗳𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲. 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲, 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗼. This is one of the best books I've read in 2021 and that's a huge statement considering how I've been reading like a lunatic this year. If you are so tired of being too hard on yourself but don't know why and how to stop, this book is for you. If you just feel too much and can't seem to let go of the things hurting you, it's for you. Long story short, if you're a breathing human being living during these hard times, pick!!! up!!!! this!!! book!!!! I don't always tell people what to do but I'll do it this time. I love the style of writing and how the writer validates every single feeling and thought and starts from there instead of offering you unrelated positive suggestions. I've never felt this comforted in a while. I thought, perhaps I wasn't crazy after all. And this is not the kind of book that only knows how to point what is wrong and leave you dumbfounded. There are action points and guidance on what to do next in every chapter and honestly it's so helpful. I love this book so much I made a summary document on Notion so even if you don't read it, just go through my notes. Or you can use it as your notes after reading the books. I'll put the link in my bio. some extra quotes I loved: • Get angry, determined, and allow yourself to develop tunnel vision with one thing and one thing only at the end: that you will not go on as you are • Mental strength Is not just hoping that nothing ever goes wrong. It is believing that we have the capacity to handle it if it does. • Happiness is not something you can chase. It is something you have to allow.

"If you can begin to see your life as a feedback mechanism that is reflecting who you are with the ultimate goal to help you live better and more fully, all of a sudden you realize that it was never the world standing in your way, but your own mind." This book is great if you truly want to understand the importance of inner peace and gratitude. We need to learn to lean into the little joys when we find them. this book basically taught me that sometimes even if we make a detailed and organized plan to achieve something and things don't go accordingly then maybe it's not situation or shit maybe it's you who's holding yourself back from achieving the things that are best for you. this book talked about many reasons that could stop you from reaching your highest potential and being the best version of you. it also provides alot of self awareness moments where you can evaluate yourself and know what , where and when did you went wrong. This book also talks about the depth by which a trauma can effect a person and can be major barrier affecting not only their present but future as well and all of it is just because we're not giving enough attention to things triggering us and we are just trying to find happiness by focusing on what could or might happen in the future not knowing that it actually is a process of disassociation. It also focuses on the point that happiness is not something you can force but it's something that you can allow. Happiness is not only having your dream job or body or literally anything but it is also taking time to embrace the simplicity of everyday moments. It’s sitting back and reading a book, talking over dinner with someone you love, or just enjoying the small things each day. It also tells the importance of healing and protecting your inner child as it's nothing but a scared version of you still stuck in that trauma loop. And tbh this book was not just filled up with some overly positive advices, it have some deep, harsh truths that forces you to face the reality as it is rather than creating a delusional version in your head. honestly this is the best self help book i have read by farrrr! 🤍

The book is filled with ridiculous phrases that can sound like a mantra but is actual bullshit. “Deep down you know it’s not right” Nope, that’s not how our brain works. Has the author ever hear about childhood trauma? Or any real person? The thing that feels “right” most of the time is what is familiar, and what is familiar is not always good for you. All new things come with discomfort which can feel wrong and very few of us can distinguish what is actually right for us, like being safe and healthy would feel boring and weird for many. “You might think that trauma is in your head but it’s actually in your body” Dude, your head is literally a part of your body 🤦🏻‍♀️ like read a biology textbook once. I see that she’s trying to tell something about somatization of mental illness, but damn phrase it better. And dozens of that throughout the book, like that your mental health would not get better without organising and cleaning your house (probably she never heard about OCD and coping strategies and personality differences either…). And then she’d elaborate with some pretty sentence which essentially sound like an Instagram quote that people put on a darkened flowery background. The book is basically a collection of half-correct half-stupid advice on well-being which would have been way more scientifically precise and fun (and more time efficient) to watch on Instagram reels from therapists. It’s readable but the content is repetitive, unoriginal, and vague (you know… “spiritual”) and ultimately rather useless and boring. I shouldn’t have started a book by an author who wrote something called “the truth about everything”. For real? EVERYTHING?! I tried to find her credentials that would justify her teaching others how to live and she seems like a blogger/influencer coming out of nowhere. The only thing you find on her website in “about me” is how many bestsellers she wrote and tour dates (seriously? Book tours are a thing?) and her Instagram feed. The mountain metaphor when you listen to how she explains also seems problematic cos she essentially tells the reader that whatever is happening the answer (and the problem) is always yourself. (Singing quietly “it’s meee hi I’m the problem it’s meee”). So you know, if you’re poor and have nowhere to live, it’s you, stop building the mountain and get happy. Or if you’re being held back by depression, it’s still you, cos why the hell wouldn’t you clean up your house and get better? Or if you’re being bullied, stop overreacting, it’s you and your stupid human emotions, let it go! So yeah, sometimes I’m the problem it’s me, but dammit author, at least get a smarter editor.

Man. That is what I mean when I say sometimes one is better off reading nothing at all. I grew stupider with each page. I called it quits halfway through—I don’t have enough IQ points to spare. The Moutain Is You. Yes, the title is as kitschy as the author’s ideas. The mountain is you; thus, you have to climb (aka explore and master) your own self—blah blah blah. Everything you’ve already heard watching 20 minutes of motivational TikToks. Not a single original idea. One page, or, actually, one paragraph, no—one sentence of Schopenhauer’s is more valuable than the entirety of this book. He legitimately delves into human nature, mind, and our (in)ability to master ourselves. Brianna just throws polished but empty post-worthy quotes everywhere. Who will gain self-mastery from this? It’s almost satirical. I hate to sound snobbish (I actually don’t), but we are all better off reading writers who wrote for the sake of principle—not some cash, social media fame, and bestseller author’s title at 28. There are worthwhile self-help books, but this is not one of them. However, I was bored, so I gathered some quotes that will look good on the Instagram if you are twelve (there isn’t another reason to buy the book): “Happiness is not something you can chase. It is something you have to allow.” “Your new life is going to cost you your old one.” “The greatest act of self-love is to no longer accept a life you are unhappy with.”

I really had high hopes for this book but quite frankly...it was riddled with empty platitudes. Don’t get me wrong Wiest included some insightful reminders and interesting "future self" exercises, but for the most part it felt like a surface level observation and continuous simplification of many important, complex and deep topics such as trauma. There is quite a bit of redundancy throughout this book which eventually becomes tautological, especially when there are generic quotations and ideas mentioned. It did at times feel vague and painful to read and kind of reminded me of what a Pinterest page would look like… It doesn't convey a lot of value (some chapter titles felt like a collection of empty Instagram slogans). A few parts of the book were captivating and resonated with me but then drifted off into a massive mountain (no pun intended) of self help cliches... Some quotes I found to be disappointing and degrading as well : “self sabotage is ultimately just a product of low emotional intelligence” p.103 (I mean…really ?!) « The Mountain Is You » reminded me of a recycled version of ‘101 essays that will change the way you think’ with some concepts and morals being hammered over and over again.. Overall, there’s some solid wisdom within the book, but I think it’s really more of an introduction to growth and self-help rather than a deep dive into concrete actions the reader can put to practice. You could definitely enjoy it if you’re new to self development, but if you’ve been reading about it for some time already, you may not get what you need from this book specifically.