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Doable: The Girls' Guide to Accomplishing Just About Anything
Got goals? This empowering guide shows how to tackle your to-dos with confidence and enthusiasm so that you can transform anxiety into accomplishment.
It’s great to dream big, but with day-to-day demands and stresses that seem to dominate our lives, larger goals are easily overlooked or can seem completely out of reach. Procrastination, insecurity, and negative thinking can get in the way as well. But with the eight simple steps in Doable , anything and everything becomes possible.
Ambitious teens have an incredible ally in Doable , which outlines strategies for success and includes profiles of young women who have already found it in areas like activism, entrepreneurialism, philanthropy, and more. From getting clear on what your “to-do” is to determining what success looks like and dealing with setbacks, the clear and concise tactics offered here feel like advice from a (very wise) friend, and before you know it you’ll be delivering the goods and achieving your dreams.
It’s great to dream big, but with day-to-day demands and stresses that seem to dominate our lives, larger goals are easily overlooked or can seem completely out of reach. Procrastination, insecurity, and negative thinking can get in the way as well. But with the eight simple steps in Doable , anything and everything becomes possible.
Ambitious teens have an incredible ally in Doable , which outlines strategies for success and includes profiles of young women who have already found it in areas like activism, entrepreneurialism, philanthropy, and more. From getting clear on what your “to-do” is to determining what success looks like and dealing with setbacks, the clear and concise tactics offered here feel like advice from a (very wise) friend, and before you know it you’ll be delivering the goods and achieving your dreams.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 6, 2015
7 people are currently reading
278 people want to read
About the author
Deborah Reber
46 books84 followers“DIFFERENTLY WIRED: Raising an Exceptional Child in a Conventional World” was released with Workman Publishing in June 2018. To sample the book, download the first chapter here.
I'd love to be in touch with you! Here are a few places we can connect online:
- TiLT Parenting
- Facebook.com/tiltparenting
- Twitter.com/tiltparenting
- Instagram.com/tiltparenting
ABOUT DEBBIE
Deborah Reber is a New York Times bestselling author, certified life coach, and speaker who moved her career in a more personal direction in 2016 when she founded TiLT Parenting, a website, weekly podcast, and social media company for parents like her who are raising differently wired children. The TiLT Parenting Podcast has grown to be a top podcast in iTunes’ Kids and Family category, with more than 260,000 downloads and a slate of guests that includes high-profile thought leaders across the parenting and education space. Debbie’s next book is Differently Wired: Raising an Exceptional Child in a Conventional World (Workman Publishing, 2018).
Prior to launching TiLT, Debbie spent the past fifteen years writing inspiring books for women and teens. In doing so, she built a successful brand as a teen authority, was frequently interviewed and spoke about issues like media literacy, self-esteem, and confidence, and consulted for clients including the Girl Scouts, the Disney Channel, McGraw Hill, and Kaplan.
Debbie is no stranger to writing and publishing books. Since 1999, she’s authored many books, including Doable: The Girls’ Guide to Accomplishing Just About Anything (Beyond Words/Simon Pulse 2014), Language of Love (Simon Pulse 2012), Chill: Stress-Reducing Techniques for a More Balanced, Peaceful You (Simon Pulse 2008), In Their Shoes: Extraordinary Women Describe Their Amazing Careers (Simon Pulse 2007), the teen self-help series Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: The Real Deal (HCI 2005-2006), Run for Your Life: A Book for Beginning Women Runners (Perigee 2002), and more than a dozen preschool books based on the series Blue’s Clues. In 2008, she had the privilege of creating and editing the first-ever series of teen-authored memoirs with HCI Books, Louder Than Words (six books published between 2009 – 2010).
Before becoming a writer and coach, Debbie worked in TV and video production, producing documentaries and PSAs for CARE and UNICEF, working on Blue’s Clues for Nickelodeon in New York, and developing original series for Cartoon Network in Los Angeles. She has an MA in Media Studies from the New School for Social Research and a BA in Communications from Pennsylvania State University.
In the summer of 2013, Debbie moved from Seattle to Amsterdam, where she currently lives with her husband Derin, homeschools her 13-year-old son Asher, and serves as lap-of-choice for her mischievous cat, Alex. She is an avid runner, traveler, and hiker, and claims reality shows and Twizzlers as her guiltiest of pleasures.
I'd love to be in touch with you! Here are a few places we can connect online:
- TiLT Parenting
- Facebook.com/tiltparenting
- Twitter.com/tiltparenting
- Instagram.com/tiltparenting
ABOUT DEBBIE
Deborah Reber is a New York Times bestselling author, certified life coach, and speaker who moved her career in a more personal direction in 2016 when she founded TiLT Parenting, a website, weekly podcast, and social media company for parents like her who are raising differently wired children. The TiLT Parenting Podcast has grown to be a top podcast in iTunes’ Kids and Family category, with more than 260,000 downloads and a slate of guests that includes high-profile thought leaders across the parenting and education space. Debbie’s next book is Differently Wired: Raising an Exceptional Child in a Conventional World (Workman Publishing, 2018).
Prior to launching TiLT, Debbie spent the past fifteen years writing inspiring books for women and teens. In doing so, she built a successful brand as a teen authority, was frequently interviewed and spoke about issues like media literacy, self-esteem, and confidence, and consulted for clients including the Girl Scouts, the Disney Channel, McGraw Hill, and Kaplan.
Debbie is no stranger to writing and publishing books. Since 1999, she’s authored many books, including Doable: The Girls’ Guide to Accomplishing Just About Anything (Beyond Words/Simon Pulse 2014), Language of Love (Simon Pulse 2012), Chill: Stress-Reducing Techniques for a More Balanced, Peaceful You (Simon Pulse 2008), In Their Shoes: Extraordinary Women Describe Their Amazing Careers (Simon Pulse 2007), the teen self-help series Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: The Real Deal (HCI 2005-2006), Run for Your Life: A Book for Beginning Women Runners (Perigee 2002), and more than a dozen preschool books based on the series Blue’s Clues. In 2008, she had the privilege of creating and editing the first-ever series of teen-authored memoirs with HCI Books, Louder Than Words (six books published between 2009 – 2010).
Before becoming a writer and coach, Debbie worked in TV and video production, producing documentaries and PSAs for CARE and UNICEF, working on Blue’s Clues for Nickelodeon in New York, and developing original series for Cartoon Network in Los Angeles. She has an MA in Media Studies from the New School for Social Research and a BA in Communications from Pennsylvania State University.
In the summer of 2013, Debbie moved from Seattle to Amsterdam, where she currently lives with her husband Derin, homeschools her 13-year-old son Asher, and serves as lap-of-choice for her mischievous cat, Alex. She is an avid runner, traveler, and hiker, and claims reality shows and Twizzlers as her guiltiest of pleasures.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
September 17, 2015
Geared towards teen girls, but really, some good advice for just about anyone. I like the author's style, as it comes across much friendlier than most self-help books (which sound like I'm doing everything wrong...or as if written by a drill instructor).
A lot of this is common sense advice: get rid of your distractions, find your style of doing things (start-and-work-until-it's-done? short spurts broken up by fun things?), re-evaluate goals if it seems like you're not getting anywhere (have you perhaps changed your mind about the original goal?), etc.
The author has a website where the reader can register for lots of free online workbooks and such. Nice...not necessary to do while reading the book, but definitely an added bonus.
A lot of this is common sense advice: get rid of your distractions, find your style of doing things (start-and-work-until-it's-done? short spurts broken up by fun things?), re-evaluate goals if it seems like you're not getting anywhere (have you perhaps changed your mind about the original goal?), etc.
The author has a website where the reader can register for lots of free online workbooks and such. Nice...not necessary to do while reading the book, but definitely an added bonus.
January 26, 2015
New year, new resolutions, fresh start. Although I haven't been doing a very good job blogging - exams seem to come much sooner than last year, and I fell sick :/ I spent the weekend drinking cup after cup of warm water to try and reduce a cough.
But you know, the whole fresh start sentiment counts. Which is why Doable seemed like a good book to read. Subtitled: The Girl's Guide to Accomplishing Just About Anything, I was hoping for a dose of inspiration and practical advice. And yes, I was curious about what kind of special methods girls use to do stuff.
For most of the book, nothing should come as a shock, especially if you've read self-help books before or attended goal setting lessons before (I had them many, many times over the course of my school years). The book goes through 8 steps to achieving your goals, starting with goal setting (remember SMART goals and you're fine), and then going into breaking up the goals into manageable sub-goals, making sure you actually start, getting others to support you, and so on and so forth. Every chapter ends with a quick recap.
Everything is really solid, practical advice that applies to both genders. The only "girly" thing about this book is that all the examples are that of successful girls. If you think about it, that's sad - does it imply that most books focus on boys and therefore girls need their own niche of self-help for what is essentially the same things? I don't think I want to continue down this path - this is the way to ranting.
Out of all the chapters, the one that I learnt from the most (and liked the most) was Chapter 6, "Do the Work". The author goes through a variety of ways people do things, from the short spurters, who can only focus for short periods of time, to the easily distracted (me!) and cliff divers and so on. Each section has a description of how said category-person does work, along with hints on how to use that style productively. I thought it was useful, and I don't think I saw this before.
I think that this book would be useful for people who want to start, but don't know how. There's nothing earth-shaking in here, but then again, there aren't really any earth-shaking secrets to getting things done. All you need to do is to take it one step at a time. Like Lao Tzu says, "千里之行，始於足下" (A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step).
Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.
This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
But you know, the whole fresh start sentiment counts. Which is why Doable seemed like a good book to read. Subtitled: The Girl's Guide to Accomplishing Just About Anything, I was hoping for a dose of inspiration and practical advice. And yes, I was curious about what kind of special methods girls use to do stuff.
For most of the book, nothing should come as a shock, especially if you've read self-help books before or attended goal setting lessons before (I had them many, many times over the course of my school years). The book goes through 8 steps to achieving your goals, starting with goal setting (remember SMART goals and you're fine), and then going into breaking up the goals into manageable sub-goals, making sure you actually start, getting others to support you, and so on and so forth. Every chapter ends with a quick recap.
Everything is really solid, practical advice that applies to both genders. The only "girly" thing about this book is that all the examples are that of successful girls. If you think about it, that's sad - does it imply that most books focus on boys and therefore girls need their own niche of self-help for what is essentially the same things? I don't think I want to continue down this path - this is the way to ranting.
Out of all the chapters, the one that I learnt from the most (and liked the most) was Chapter 6, "Do the Work". The author goes through a variety of ways people do things, from the short spurters, who can only focus for short periods of time, to the easily distracted (me!) and cliff divers and so on. Each section has a description of how said category-person does work, along with hints on how to use that style productively. I thought it was useful, and I don't think I saw this before.
I think that this book would be useful for people who want to start, but don't know how. There's nothing earth-shaking in here, but then again, there aren't really any earth-shaking secrets to getting things done. All you need to do is to take it one step at a time. Like Lao Tzu says, "千里之行，始於足下" (A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step).
Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.
This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
January 6, 2015
DOABLE: THE GIRLS’ GUIDE TO ACCOMPLISHING JUST ABOUT ANYTHING by Deborah Reber is a practical, how-to book for teens. Featuring strategies for achieving both small and large dreams, Reber’s advice is “spot-on” for today’s busy teens.
From starting a non-profit animal shelter to passing college entrance exams, the Reber provides step-by-step instructions for accomplishing a wide range of personal goals. The book is organized into eight short chapters each focusing on a step in the process.
Are you a cliff diver, shooting star, or deadline chaser? Motivating questions, meaningful activities, and useful summaries are woven into each chapter to keep readers actively engaged. Rather than providing just one approach, Reber often features multiple ways to solve a problem or address an issue such as the use of both lists and mind maps. Of particular value is the last section of the book dealing with tracking progress, reflecting on accomplishments, and rewarding yourself for hard work.
What makes DOABLE distinct is its inspirational examples and encouraging tone. Young adults will relate to the author’s conversational style and contemporary success stories. Reber knows her audience. References to smartphones, e-readers, and mobile apps connect with today’s high-tech teens. The book is also outstanding from an instructional point of view. Both examples and non-examples are provided of each concept so readers can clearly distinguish clear goals from vague goals and effective from ineffective strategies.
DOABLE is an outstanding example of nonfiction for teens. Although the book is designed for empowering girls, the key elements could easily be extracted for use on a library bulletin board focusing on goal setting for all students. There are many books available for teens on planning, but this is the best I’ve seen.
Published by Simon Pulse/Beyond Words. Available January 20, 2015.
From starting a non-profit animal shelter to passing college entrance exams, the Reber provides step-by-step instructions for accomplishing a wide range of personal goals. The book is organized into eight short chapters each focusing on a step in the process.
Are you a cliff diver, shooting star, or deadline chaser? Motivating questions, meaningful activities, and useful summaries are woven into each chapter to keep readers actively engaged. Rather than providing just one approach, Reber often features multiple ways to solve a problem or address an issue such as the use of both lists and mind maps. Of particular value is the last section of the book dealing with tracking progress, reflecting on accomplishments, and rewarding yourself for hard work.
What makes DOABLE distinct is its inspirational examples and encouraging tone. Young adults will relate to the author’s conversational style and contemporary success stories. Reber knows her audience. References to smartphones, e-readers, and mobile apps connect with today’s high-tech teens. The book is also outstanding from an instructional point of view. Both examples and non-examples are provided of each concept so readers can clearly distinguish clear goals from vague goals and effective from ineffective strategies.
DOABLE is an outstanding example of nonfiction for teens. Although the book is designed for empowering girls, the key elements could easily be extracted for use on a library bulletin board focusing on goal setting for all students. There are many books available for teens on planning, but this is the best I’ve seen.
Published by Simon Pulse/Beyond Words. Available January 20, 2015.
December 17, 2014
This is one of the very best books any parent could give their teens. This is the blueprint for success. It is about goal setting, and following each step. I wish that I had this book as a teen. I did not learn these lessons until I was in college. This book will allow any teen the tools needed to achieve anything that they set their minds to. I am so glad to be able to give this to my daughter. She will be able to know her obstacles, find a support system, how to deal with setbacks, and so much more. This would be a great book to recommend for classes to read, as well. This is the best investment anyone could provide for a teen in their life. *NetGalley provided me with a copy of this book to read and give an honest review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 1, 2015
I love that this book is aimed at empowering girls to accomplish their goals! With great advice and examples of girls and women in the real world who have made their dreams a reality, this book should be required reading for teen girls.
May 27, 2015
A cute book that gives good advice to help girls achieve their dreams. It helped me realize I can only work in short spurts at a time and that's not a bad thing, as long as you harness that energy correctly.
January 22, 2015
Very comprehensive and informative guide. Perfect for teenage girls with big goals or small To Dos. Also perfect for anyone trying to outline their goal list and make it work.
February 16, 2015
Smart, witty, practical...DOABLE advice for girls and anyone who want motivation and a plan to get things done!
May 28, 2020
Originally my mom bought me this book, she said I should read it since its "The Girls Guide to Accomplishing Just About Anything" but honestly that wasn't the case. At the beginning of the book, I was confused the formating was weird and it didn't seem like a book at all. I was a bit lost reading this book, the details were more like an instructional packet than a small guide. The words didn't seem to grab my attention enough and I seemed to force myself to read the book.
The book itself was a run of the mill advice book, to say the least. The words didn't seem encouraging enough since everyone says these things and this book is almost like a place holder for all the same advice. Now I'm not saying this book is bad not in any way at all, I'm just trying to point out to an older audience it isn't very appealing. I am in high school at the moment so I think that young girls in middle school will appreciate this book more than I did.
The book itself was a run of the mill advice book, to say the least. The words didn't seem encouraging enough since everyone says these things and this book is almost like a place holder for all the same advice. Now I'm not saying this book is bad not in any way at all, I'm just trying to point out to an older audience it isn't very appealing. I am in high school at the moment so I think that young girls in middle school will appreciate this book more than I did.
October 10, 2017
The 8 Steps to "Doable," is practical goal setting advice on steroids. Simply writing down my goals has never really worked for me. In the past, I sometimes would struggle with getting things done, and now I know why that was the case. Oftentimes, it was because I hadn't broke those big goals down in to small enough action steps that would result in accomplishing my goal. Not only that, I've never really "known" my "Doable Style," and was not working in a style that supported my strengths.
Even though this book is geared towards teenagers, I found it extremely helpful; especially in that it helped me to learn more about myself and my work patterns/habits. Anyone, regardless of their age can benefit from reading this book. It really helps make that impossible list to accomplish into bite size chucks that actually make anything, well, "doable."
Even though this book is geared towards teenagers, I found it extremely helpful; especially in that it helped me to learn more about myself and my work patterns/habits. Anyone, regardless of their age can benefit from reading this book. It really helps make that impossible list to accomplish into bite size chucks that actually make anything, well, "doable."
February 27, 2019
I can read 200 pages in a day so I really got this book read fast. I was feeling stuck in things I have been working on, really have more projects, but I know I have time to do it. Pick this book up for your teen girls, it is empowering and has lessons they need to know NOW instead of bungling along till they get into their 30's or 40's. I am in my forties and have to re evaluate my life, this book was for teen girls but it helped clarify my problems and I'm going back into my planning and doing. I like to thank the author of this book, it was just what I need right now.
March 8, 2020
Didn't realize this book was written for teenage girls when I picked it off the library shelf. Glad I grabbed it though.
I wish I would've had it in my life 20 years ago to reap the benefits of its knowledge. Unfortunately it didn't exist then. I plan to share it with a few young ladies in my life now though.
Her 8 steps to attain goals are clearly written and carry inspiration. Even as an adult I found some great nuggets inside. It actually came to my existence at a good time to reconnect with goal setting for myself. Thanks Deborah!
I wish I would've had it in my life 20 years ago to reap the benefits of its knowledge. Unfortunately it didn't exist then. I plan to share it with a few young ladies in my life now though.
Her 8 steps to attain goals are clearly written and carry inspiration. Even as an adult I found some great nuggets inside. It actually came to my existence at a good time to reconnect with goal setting for myself. Thanks Deborah!
November 22, 2018
A very helpful and useful book. It is well written for teens (not too difficult and not too patronising). I think this book will help me a lot in the future.
March 16, 2017
it really helped me start my goal of trying to publish a book of my own.
February 28, 2017
This book is really good if you have trouble sticking with your goals. I recommend it to anyone.
October 26, 2016
It's really good once you realize how to use the book. It tells you how you can do things step by step. It gives you examples and tells you how teens got things done. It reminds you that you can only accomplish things in your control. You have to pick steps you have control over. But after that it gets boring. No need to finish. You can just read sections of it important to you.
November 19, 2015
some of the tips seemed kinda helpful, but they were also mostly common sense or stuff I've heard before, also the book its self seemed a little more child-ish than for my liking.
January 27, 2017
Read before I gave it to my stepdaughters. Not bad.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews