I don’t know about you, but my day-to-day existence has been challenging recently. So much is happening at any given time, that the focus on my mental health has diminished. However, it is time to prioritise it again and what better way to do it than going back to self-help guides!

As a self-proclaimed semi-veteran of such audiobooks, there is nothing somebody has not told me about before. They all share the same message, there is no brand new, golden, miracle advice any one of those books will come up with.

So why do I, and many other people, read them?

Because I need a reminder. Life gets hectic at times, and it’s easy to get lost in its whirlwind. Those guides offer some good advice on how to try and tackle it. Some are more practical than others, and people will prefer one presentation over another. That’s why we think one book is better than another, despite the fact that they talk about the same topics – it really depends on what we want, what we need to hear and what we resonate with at the time.

‘Why has nobody told me this before?’ written by clinical psychologist, Dr. Julie Smith, is her debut book designed to offer everyday tools to handle life’s ups and downs. Julie draws on years of experience to provide her readers with a guide on how to navigate and remain resilient in the face of day-to-day challenges.

Some of the topics covered include management of:

• Anxiety
• Critisism
• Motivation
• Confidence

It offers practical techniques to try and give insight into your mental health. In the audiobook version of this book, which is what I have, this comes in a form of a hefty, printable PDF.

This is one of those situations where I am happy that this book is here for anyone who might find it beneficial, but unfortunately, that is not me. The audiobook itself is easy to follow – it uses plain language, and you just need to be willing to listen. It offers great insights to people, maybe a little bit newer to the genre of self-help novels, but it hasn’t told me anything new. Having said that, it never hurts to listen to good advice again as a reminder when days become overwhelming. I hope it offers its readers a little mental reset and well-needed break.