HEADTRASH: The Leading Killer of Human Potential

by Renie Cavallari

Successful people aren't necessarily smarter, happier, or more competent. They are simply better at dumping their trash!HeadTrash shapes our reality, sucks our energy, and shifts our focus from self-acceptance and inner peace to worry and fear. Change your HeadTrash and you'll change your life.




In HEADTRASH, RCI Institute founder Renie Cavallari teaches you how to stop questioning yourself and dump your HeadTrash for less anxiety, bigger potential, and a better quality of life. Filled with practical strategies and heartwarming true stories, this is your inspirational self-improvement guide to master the little taunting voice in your mind that doubts your goals, shames your leadership, and weakens your personal power.




You'll discover:


Imprints, ego, and lifeline and how they influence your HeadTrash.
Survival tips to quickly pinpoint your emotional state, stay out of the danger zone, and spend more time in the connected side of your emotional brain.
How to identify the BIG LIE and loosen its grip on your emotions, and achieve a clearer mindset during life and professional stress.
Twenty-nine habits for your HeadTrash toolbox to silence the inner voice sabotaging your personal growth.
Personal stories of business leaders' struggle against their HeadTrash to help you embrace your own journey.


You deserve to build a life full of success, happiness, and love-without every challenge weighing you down and wasting your precious time in this world. Dump your trash and empower your potential with HEADTRASH!

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Psychology, Audiobook, Mental Health

344 pages, Paperback

Published February 25, 2021

About the author

Renie Cavallari is the founder, CEO, and Chief Instigator of Aspire, a global transformational training and culture development company that specializes in inspired learning that shifts human behavior and awakens potential. She is also the founder of RCI Institute, an active thinking, executive coaching, and people technology lab. An award-winning international strategist, speaker, and leadership expert with an inimitable grasp of business and its challenges, she has driven measurable results for businesses with her innovative solutions around the world for over 30 years.

Renie is a member of the prestigious National Speakers Association and Entrepreneurs Organization (EO). TrainingIndustry.com has named Renie as one of the Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals. Renie and Aspire won a Stevie Award in the “Most Innovative Company” category for the 14th year in a row, and in 2020 Renie was awarded a prestigious Lifetime Achievement award.

The author of six books, including the Aspire…series, Renie focuses on self-leadership and how to turn on your motivational switch to play “all in.” After decades of research and working hands-on with high-performance organizations to help them unleash the full human potential hidden within their employees, she found a clear correlation between how we think and how happy we are.

A Philadelphia native, Renie now lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her partner, Armond, and daughter, Bella. She is an avid traveler, aspiring jazz flutist, and passionate cook. Learn more at www.myheadtrash.com.

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main focus of the book was centered by her personal experiences. How people affected her and how she understood it playing a role in her outlook about life.
The author talks about, truth vs head trash, positive vs negative. Motivation and focus and also what a person can control. Being aware of patterns or events that bring it on head trash, journaling and more….,
There were lots of helpful questions about what to dump and change. With a site mention for further helpful guides.
She created exercises to put all this down on a journal to help take a deeper look at some solutions for improvement.

*Head trash survival guide*
“Own it, shift it, dump it!”
Part 6 was my favorite with tons of helpful suggestions that I thought were great, doable and encouraging. It was a hopeful and helpful approach to changing how I see and resolve dealing with life in a more positive way.
It did drag a little in the beginning but was worth pushing through to the great parts this book offers. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for some help.
I chose to listen to this book on audio and the narrator was the author and she did a great job. It was 6 hours and 31 minutes of fairly easy listening.
Thanks IBPA via Netgalley.

[Darcie Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I liked the ideas presented in HeadTrash, the book had a lot of advice casually scattered throughout in a non-cohesive way. Certain sections had very specific action steps, while others simply threw a ton of opinions at the reader. Those opinions were mostly regurgitated information from a bunch of different self-help books. I feel like if the author would have focused the book on specific sections of the book, the book would feel more cohesive as a whole. Overall, there is a ton of good advice and I really liked some of the examples provided by the author, particularly in terms of relationships between two people with varied headtrash. I would still recommend this book to those in leadership positions, but with reservations.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an Audio Book and I did enjoy listening to it. Here are some of the ideas that I found particularly helpful.
1) Keep a Journal and write down your thoughts as they come up. Do not worry if these are positive or negative, right or wrong. As times goes by, you will likely see patterns where you self-sabotage yourself, or are overly critical, or did something particularly well.

2) I did laugh at the author describing having moved and having a baby and she needs to be induced early. I went through something similar, and when the doctor was speaking of inducing me 2 weeks early, and I said, ‘No, you can’t we haven’t put up the book shelves yet’. The point was if you step back and more calmly approach the situation, you really can handle it. Getting bogged down in perfectionism and feeling terrible guilt that you forgot one detail or made a mistake is not helpful.

3) Successful People are not Necessarily Smarter or More Talented then you are. They tend to interpret events differently. If they feel they made a positive contribution, they are proud of that and if they make a bad mistake, they use it as a chance to reflect on what went wrong and correct that so next time it will work out better.

4) Your Ego gets in the way. This is just all about you and wanting what you want, and not considering the consequences. Self-Confidence is different. It comes from a place where you know you put the work and effort to be prepared for what you are doing. It does not involve a need to put others down, just it’s ok to stand up for yourself and point out why you can handle a task successfully.

5. I liked that the author has several links to use to look up things she mentions. This is helpful. I was driving my car, and it is hard to keep a list in my head for long. If I can go back later and look suggestions up, that will make it a better experience.

What I Did Not Like
1) This was too anecdotal. It was almost like listening to a memoir. Almost all the stories are from the author’s personal life. Although many were good to hear, I wish there was more research involved beyond just coaching me from her perspective. There was no scientific studies or articles cited to show any of this works for a broad section of people.

2) The book did become repetitive. The Ego vs Self Confidence and Guilt issue was mentioned so many times. The first time was interesting, then it was just overkill. The book did this in other areas as well.

3) The author says how she just can not be around negative people. Understand this, and felt she meant that thought process would not be productive. So, I agree here, but felt she should have examined this in a bit more depth. People suffer from deep depression, anxiety, chronic illness, pain disorders, life-threatening illness and think she may judge them a bit harshly. Yes, you can have an illness and chose to do your best with it; strive to be as positive as possible. Yet, everyday that is a tough task to always be positive.

4) This was one person’s experience. The author discusses how her parents were on Food Stamps when she was a child because there was teacher’s strike. She did not like that feeling and decides she herself will not be in that position. However, that is the problem. Many outside factors and cultural influences have an impact on needing help. You can plan and save and your spouse gets cancer. This bankrupts many people. You could also lose your job and find the field you were in has become antiquated. Teachers where I used to live make 3X the salary as teachers in the state I am currently live in. You are also allowed to take up to 2 years unpaid leave if you have a child. Many teachers do take this option and are guaranteed their job back at the same salary. That is not offered in most States. This has an enormous influence on being able to better plan for the future, save money, invest, and have time with your children. Those are the outside influences I refer to. Here, yes people do go on food stamps if there is a job loss or strike, but where I lived before it is much less likely. That is not about positive thinking or striving, it is about good social policy that makes people able to do the same jobs and stay afloat. You may try your very best not to find yourself in a difficult position, but you can not guarantee that.

Overall, I do like the message that it is important to evaluate the way you think. The events that happen in your life do not only need to be seen one way. There are often better solutions. Dump the bad stuff that is in your head and holding you back. This is all positive and worth hearing.

Thank you NetGalley, Renie Cavallari, and RCI Publishing for a copy of this Audio Book.

[Chrystopher’s Archive]

DNFing…somewhere along the space time continuum. I’m not exactly sure what’s going on, maybe my NetGalley app is glitchy, but not only did the chapters load all out of order (or are possibly labeled incorrectly) the flow of the book is neither better nor worse if I let the app play the chapters in its order or if I skip around to the chronologically labeled tracks. If this is a problem with my app and not the audio file itself, I apologize.

From what I can tell, it seems like the usual self help suspects of positive thinking conquers all and if it doesn’t you’re just not trying hard enough. Maybe I just didn’t get to those sections, but there was a lot less scientific backing than I was hoping for. It all seemed to be short, unconnected hypotheticals and personal anecdotes.

Anyway, if you’re into very business world centric self help, give it a try; maybe you’ll be able to relate to the material better than I could.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Headtrash delivers on its promise to help you address your negative self-talk--those voices in your head that bring you down or those stories that you tell yourself that hinder you from being your best. The author is very generous in offering personal and honest examples of when she has been limited by her own headtrash. She also offers actionable advise on how to recognize your headtrash, how to understand what triggers you, and how to "own it, shift it, and dump it."

As a mother of a teenager and an executive director of a non-profit, I especially appreciated her chapters on how to work with other people who are fighting their own headtrash. She gives a clear model on how two people's dueling internal dialogues might limit communication and cooperation and offers a way to ask good questions that can help you move the relationship in a new direction. She also talks about the "Four Big Lies" and how the Big Lie you tell yourself and that others tell themselves can impact working relationships. I found these chapters very helpful in thinking about times of emotional conflict around tense situations with colleagues and family members. The author offers a lens to look at these moments and find a way forward.

For transparency, I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. That being said, I found this book to be a quick read filled with actionable good advice. I would recommend it to anyone who struggles with negative self-talk or is in work or family relationships with folks who are dealing with their own headtrash (especially including mothers of teenagers).

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s definitely value in this book. I laughed at parts, and I picked up some genuinely useful tips that I can apply in daily life. That said, the overall structure left me frustrated. The chapters felt choppy, and the main ideas were often scattered rather than clearly built out. I found myself rereading sections just to figure out the actual point, which made the flow difficult. While I appreciated the humor and the nuggets of wisdom, I wish the presentation had been more organized and focused.

[Nidhi Srivastava · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know I need to listen to this audiobook until I did!
It reads quite differently from your typical self-help book. It's part memoir, part self-help, part textbook. It grows on you as it goes. If anxiety or self doubt is something you struggle with, add this book to your list of must-reads.

[Samantha Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think we can all work on our self talk, but this book is designed for someone who realllllllly struggled with this. So for me, it is 2 stars just because I got the point quick.

[Chelsea Brennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Headtrash had a lot of great concepts and I thought the stories Renie shared throughout the book really helped to identify how our headtrash can run away from us, and what to do instead.

[Reinhardt Krätzig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many thanks to the author of this book. With a lot of examples, some of them very personal, she gives a comprehensive introduction to the topic. Every reader will probably soon realize that HeadTrash affects them too, and that it happens again and again. It also makes it clear that you cannot escape this if you do not actively intervene against it and actively practice to come back to the bright side of the psyche again and again. A stimulating book that grabs you and makes it clear how far we can remove ourselves from our strength and from the greatness of our being. We should check regularly whether we have just landed on the dark side again. Ms. Cavallari also makes it clear that reading this book cannot help everyone, but that sometimes psychotherapeutic help is also necessary. For me personally, the idea of the BIG LIES was new. I will take up this idea and explore with my patients which BIG LIE is in the foreground in each case. The variety of suggestions is also nice, as to how you can ensure that you get or stay on the bright side of the psyche.

Translated from German with the help of google translate.

Vielen Dank an die Verfasserin dieses Buches. Mit sehr vielen, teilweise auch sehr persönlichen Beispielen, gibt sie eine umfassende Einführung in das Thema. Jedem Leser wird vermutlich bald klar sein, dass Kopfmüll ihn auch betrifft, und dass es immer wieder passiert. Sie macht auch deutlich, dass man diesem nicht entkommt, wenn man nicht aktiv dagegen einschreitet und aktiv übt, auf der hellen Seite der Psyche immer wieder anzukommen. Ein anregendes Buch , das einen ergreift und deutlich macht, wie weit wir uns von unserer Kraft entfernen und von der Großartigkeit unseres Seins entfremden können. Wir sollten regelmäßig checken, ob wir vielleicht gerade wieder auf der dunklen Seite gelandet sind. Frau Cavallari macht auch deutlich, dass die Lektüre dieses Buches nicht jedem helfen kann, sondern manchmal auch psychotherapeutische Hilfe ergänzend notwendig ist. Für mich persönlich war die Idee der großen Lügen neu. Ich werde diese Idee aufgreifen und bei meinen Patienten erforschen, welche große Lüge jeweils im Vordergrund ist. Schön ist auch die Vielfalt der Anregungen, wie man dafür sorgen kann, in die helle Seite der Psyche zu kommen bzw. zu bleiben.

[J Kromrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

HEADTRASH is a self-help book that aims to help readers identify and overcome the negative thoughts and emotions that hold them back from achieving their full potential. The author, Renie Cavallari, is a motivational speaker and business coach who draws from her own experience and research to offer practical and inspiring advice on how to dump the headtrash that plagues our minds.

The book is divided into three parts: The Anatomy of HeadTrash, The Dumping Process, and The Habits of HeadTrash-Free Living. In the first part, Cavallari explains what headtrash is, how it affects our lives, and what are the common sources and types of headtrash. She also introduces the concept of the emotional brain, which is the part of our brain that generates our feelings and reactions, and how it can be influenced by our imprints, ego, and lifeline. In the second part, Cavallari outlines the three steps to dumping our headtrash: awareness, acceptance, and action. She provides tools and techniques to help us recognize our headtrash, accept our emotions, and take positive steps to change our mindset and behavior. In the third part, Cavallari shares 29 habits that can help us maintain a headtrash-free life, such as asking better questions, practicing gratitude, meditating, and seeking feedback.

HEADTRASH is a well-written and engaging book that offers valuable insights and guidance on how to overcome the mental and emotional obstacles that prevent us from living our best lives. Cavallari's style is conversational and humorous, and she uses many examples and stories from her own life and those of her clients to illustrate her points. The book is also full of exercises and questions that encourage the reader to reflect and apply the lessons to their own situation. The book is suitable for anyone who wants to improve their personal or professional performance, happiness, and well-being, and who is willing to take responsibility and action for their own growth and development.

[Jason Frasca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this is a well done read or listen with quite a few pearls sprinkled through to help readers refocus, reframe, and clear negativity bias and mindset. My bottom line take away is the author shares ways to help keep a growth mindset, and avoid and refocusing from a fixed mindset.

There were quite a few awesome lessons and key points shared here. The main strength is ability to connect with readers, well organized, and balanced blend of anecdotes and discussion points. The main weakness I see is the author, while humble in many areas, enjoys discussing herself, her successes, and hard company. My opinion is at times, this seems a bit narcissistic and takes value away from the read. Regardless, I learned a lot, with some key points below:

(Spoiler alert) - key lessons:
-patience can see opportunities in waiting
-the biggest factor in success is mindset
-mindset is your choice!
-situations don't define you - responses to them do
-Thoughts→feelings → focus→clarity→drives actions→results
-"life is what happens while you are making other plans"
-ways to intentionally dump your head trash
-own it, shift it, dump it
-discussion of ego vs. Style confidence
-the four big lies of our head trash: I must be right, I must never lose, I must be loved, I must be comfortable
-indecision is a decision
-what will you laugh about in 5 years?
-write when you need to exhale

After much consideration, I give this 4 stars. Most of the content is 5 star worthy, but with the elements of self-centeredness described above by the author, I have downgraded to 4. I still think it's a strong work and worth reading!

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing. When I was reading the book, at times, I thought, "Duh, I know this." However, she points out how our thoughts, positive or negative, direct our actions.

How do you shake those thoughts like, "I'm not good enough," or "If only I had... etc.?" Those "little gremlins" (as she calls them) live in your brain and feed you untruths. The author gives you the recipe on how to silence them and how to take out the trash. Thereby, you are now in a functional and productive state of mind. And your human potential is not squandered.

She shares 25 ways to get yourself into a more functional mindset. Some ways are writing your thoughts into a journal and exercise.

My favorite part of the book was learning about the 4 big lies. They are our truth and what the "little gremlins" feed off. I was able to recognize my big lie that feeds into my head trash. This stymies my creativity and potential.

Also included are websites that help you find a journal and how to determine your big lie. There is a degree of repetition, but this repetition reiterates the important sections. It provides transitions to what she has discussed and how it relates to the new material.

I enjoyed the book so much I have purchased it for family members and recommended it to friends.

***Although I received an advance review copy for free, I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have just finished this audiobook and I did enjoy it. I think it helped that I am at a point in my life where I have a lot of my own 'head trash', so it was particularly poignant.
With these kind of 'self help' books, it is easy just to listen to them, think it sounds good and then forget about it. With HeadTrash, I liked the numbered tips as I felt that it gave me things that were easy to try and fit into my own life and it showed how to implement them. I also liked that it regularly referred to additional free resources, meaning that you can take the advice and recommendations much further if you wanted to. It was interesting to listen to the author's experiences and it helped me to relate to her as a reader/listener.

I can't say that it especially taught me anything new, but it was useful to have all of that information in one place and it's certainly given me some things to think about and work on.

Overall, I would recommend this book if you feel that it will be useful to you right now. My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in return for an honest review.

[Miss December · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slay those inner negative voices- Renie will help you :)

Tons of helpful advice and it's really easy (and inviting!) to dive into! I read like 9 books at a time, so it took me a while to finish because I kept dividing my time. I honestly read the end half of the book in like three days- I promise you it won't take you nearly as long as it took me to read ;)

I applaud her bravery in sharing many of her personal stories in illustrating her key points. Some reviewers look at her stories used as examples as a negative aspect, but I think she chose to go this way on purpose becuase the stories resonated so deeply within her. I'd like to see her include examples of other people's HeadTrash though, because Renie had an awesome sprinkle of music artists in the beginning who were quoted as also struggling with not being good enough sometimes. I loved it- that section definitely had an impact! Hopefully if there's an updated and expanded version we'll get some more of that. Nothing wrong with her examples at all, it's just she found some really great external ones to share and I would've loved to have seen more along with her own!

[Jaclyn Hoffbuhr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical and inspiring! For the people who want to bring a shift in their lives, a must-read. You can change your life by changing your thoughts. Who knew?! We all have our own HeadTrash that sucks the energy right out of us, so this book will resonate with so many!

The author made me really look at how I see the world and my thoughts about it. I really can change everything. This book shares stories that hit me in the gut, that made me laugh, and got me riled up. The 3-step process in the book helps me to shift my mindset and get back to the happy side of my brain. I now have a toolbox full of things that shake me up and help me become and stay present and connected.

Before I read this book, fear and pride had been haunting me for so many years. Thank you for giving me the clarity to declare…I choose not to be defeated by my negative thoughts. I’m taking my trash out daily!

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of the Audiobook for Headtrash by Renie Cavallari.

Headtrash is a book that confronts the small little voices in our heads that cause disruptions in our daily lives. It looks at the different triggers and outcomes of those voices.

The book is an easy introduction to mental health and how to take back what anxiety and second-guessing ourselves take from our daily performance. The book also gives valuable tips and coping mechanisms to dealing with our daily lives when these events pop up.

I'm looking forward to implementing the tools I learned in this book in my daily life and I hope that this book gets released in South Africa soon. It could help a lot of people!

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audiobook read by the author. This was Renie Cavallari's informed but personal take on how to deal with that voice in your head that stops you from achieving and undermines a sense of inner peace.

I thought it was an interesting listen that included some practical steps to try and identify the causes of those inner gremlins and to find a different approach and mindset. In places, I thought the book was a touch repetitive, but perhaps that was designed to get the message across more. I think many people will find this book helpful. However, as with any book of this type, it will only help to change someone's life if the listener/ reader is willing to put the steps into action.

[Leonardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to thank Book Sirens and the author for providing with access to a review copy of this book.

The book offers a relatively fast and easily understandable view of the negative impact of negative self talk (Headtrash), the negative effect it has in people's lives, and ways to overcome it.

It is written in clear language with many examples that illustrate the ideas presented. It's a short book which can easily be finished in a day or two.

The content offers possible tactics and actions to counteract the impact of Headtrash.

The basic idea is that you are and do what you think, so find ways to change what you think and turn it into a positive viewpoint.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really fun to read, insightful, and empowering. Reading the personal stories the author shared & the examples of HeadTrash made me feel less alone and helped me better understand the power of being intentional with my thoughts. The book also provided a lot of action items and questions for reflection, and I look forward to applying them to my life and getting better at dumping out my HeadTrash!

Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Miranda Vaughters · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and insightful audiobook, the concept of Headtrash really resonated for me.

MV Rating: 6/10
•For anyone that’s balancing all of the stress and emotions that come with the internal and external expectations of life.
•The audiobook is narrated by the author, which I always enjoy.
•Easy, actionable ways to change how you approach the emotional baggage of human interaction
•Reads somewhat memoir-ish/situational to the author, which can be hard to dig through for the nuggets of usable info.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC access!

[Chris Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

This should have been a blog post

Long and not terribly relevant personal stories. Not much actionable advice. I realized that I did not need this particular book: I have already addressed my “head trash” with lots of reading and some years of therapy in the past. It might be more useful to someone that really can’t deal with negative self talk but I would start with readings on stoicism or classics like “mindset.”

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won a copy of this book through Goodreads Giveaways and am voluntarily leaving a review.

This is a pretty standard self-help book, written in an easy to read style but it doesn’t offer a lot that’s new. Outside of calling it “HeadTrash” which is clever and gives you a mental image of literally taking out the trash, it’s pretty standard advice. Still, one could do worse for sure.

[Cheryl Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dumping my head trash daily!

Really love this book because of the intimate stories that made it seem relatable to how my mind can create negative stories that block me from my full potential and happiness. This is an inspiring book to read that gives you actionable steps to have a more uplifted life. Thanks so much, Renie. I love love love your book!!!

[Alexandra Manganiello · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
I heard Renie speak at a conference and she is fantastic! I immediately bought the book she referenced. There are a lot of stand out moments here and it was an enjoyable read because it captures her personality.

I was hoping it would go a little bit deeper and really expand on her presentation. Still a good read!

[Traceys · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I started listening to this book I thought I had pressed play on the wrong book, it sounded more like a novel or memoir!

I stuck with it and found some of the ideas shared in it useful to try to help clear my head of the nagging doubts.

[Michele Rice Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information

I enjoyed the examples of famous people that the author gave. These examples make the points covered more real. I recommend this book to most of the people I know. Everyone could benefit from this information.

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

[Srinivasan Tatachari · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is interesting, about labelling something that all of us experience every minute of our lives - voices in our head. There are a lot of insights given about the origins of these voices and the ways to cope with them. A decent read, though I was expecting a lot more insights.

[Hazel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and what a good author. I knew much having a psychology degree but also learned much. I like
How there is no right or wrong but to stop and think things through. Everyone can learn from this book. It’s also funny at
Times.

[John]

Great I won the giveaway, will start reading soon