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Failosophy for Teens

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A game-changing guide to being happier, healthier and succeeding better, from Sunday Times bestselling author Elizabeth Day!
A HANDBOOK FOR WHEN THINGS GO WRONG

Pretty much all of us would like to feel happier, less anxious, more successful and at ease with ourselves. Right?

The key may surprise you: FAILURE!

Failosophy For Teens is an inspiring and empowering guide to those moments when life doesn’t go to plan. Using personal experience and stories shared by guests on her award-winning podcast, How to Fail, Elizabeth’s book is full of creative and inspiring advice on how to:

- talk openly about failure
- turn failure into success
- build resilience for when life sends you curveballs
- reframe negative thoughts about yourself

. . . and much more!

Failing better is the key to learning, growing and ultimately loving yourself as the truly AWESOME human being you are. Failosophy For Teens will challenge your self-perception and change your life!

‘An indispensable guide for teenagers everywhere’ Matthew Syed, author of You Are Awesome

Perfect for fans of Marcus Rashford’s You Are a Champion and Bryony Gordon’s You Got This.

Failosophy (adult edition) is a Sunday Times bestseller and has reached over 150,000 readers.

PRAISE FOR FAILOSOPHY (adult edition)

‘A beautiful timely and humane book. If there's one philosophy the world needs more of right now, it's Failosophy’ Alain de Botton

‘A pragmatic and pocket-sized guide to failure – how to cope with it and what to learn from it … a must read’ Glamour

‘The timing of this guide couldn’t be better . . . Day’s advice is both practical and reassuring.’ Evening Standard

'Witty and likeable . . . thoughtful and probing' Guardian

144 pages, Paperback

Published January 5, 2023

2 people are currently reading
97 people want to read

About the author

Elizabeth Day

22 books1,852 followers
Elizabeth Day is an English journalist, broadcaster and novelist. She was a feature writer for The Observer from 2007 to 2016 and has written four novels.

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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
Profile Image for Rosie Amber.
Author 1 book83 followers
January 19, 2023
Failosophy is a book written for teens on the subject of failure. It provides a seven step coping method which is interlaced with tips and true stories from a selection of celebrities.


Author Elizabeth Day has written this book in conjunction with her podcasts and live shows. It is an interesting subject, particularly with so much peer and social media pressure that focuses on success. Everyone fails at something and this book looks at ways to see adverse outcomes as life-lessons, and it also offers advice on how to cope with lack of success in many spheres of life.


The teen years can be tough, so this book may be very useful, especially to someone who feels isolated and alone due to their perception of their own failures.
Profile Image for Bee.
95 reviews1 follower
January 26, 2023
Failosophy for Teens is not just a book for teenagers. It's for everyone. At the grand old age of 40-something, I can tell you that I have learnt quite a bit in a just under two hours. Listening to this as an audiobook was almost therapeutic.

Give yourself permission to realise that life is a journey not a destination and it has many lumps and bumps along the way. You're not meant to get it right, that's part of the fun.

Would highly and happily recommend this book (a great read for 1st year uni students on practising good self care)
Profile Image for Ophelia.
518 reviews15 followers
January 5, 2023
Full of excellent advice for teens. This is possibly one of the best books on teenage mental health that I have come across. I recommend it wholeheartedly and if you are not a teenager then I still recommend it as this is a wonderful nugget of a book.
Profile Image for Iris.
39 reviews
June 21, 2024
Luchtig boekje met leuke illustraties en quotes. Het is duidelijk voor een jongere doelgroep geschreven (13-18 jaar). Het meeste wist ik al, maar het is een goede reminder.
Profile Image for Dan Allbery.
455 reviews3 followers
July 22, 2023
...In choosing to learn from failure, we also redefine our expectations of success.

As a middle school teacher at an international school, my students struggle with the concept of failure. It is not in their vocabulary nor do many of them see failure as a possibility for themselves. When they receive a mark that is "less than" in their opinion, some spiral. This is such a needed topic to address with this generation. Hence, why I grabbed this book.

However...

Despite this being a fast read, I finished the book with very few takeaways. "Failure is not bad." Check. I'm just unsure how much readers will glean from this text. The information was vague or even tangential at times. With that being said, I will definitely add it to my classroom library to see if any takers gravitate to this topic, but I'm not sure if I will book talk this title. Recommended for GR 7 and up.
Profile Image for karla_bookishlife.
1,101 reviews38 followers
February 9, 2023
What a superb read to support teen mental health. When life throws a curveball and things go inevitably wrong, failure results. What if we reframe this experience and make it positive? This "failure" then becomes the catalyst to success. Elizabeth Day is the force behind the successful podcast and book Failosophy. Now, she is bringing this inspiration to teens, empowering them to leave anxiety behind, build resilience, and be happier. This was a superb listen, with so many useful tips and pieces of advice. Each nugget of information backed by theorists or famous experiences. Every teen should check this out. Useful for adults, too. Loved the audiobook. It is one I will return to. Will also be checking out the podcast, and a well annotated and highlighted hard copy now graces my shelves. #failosophyforteens #Elizabethday #netgalley #audiobook #teenmentalhealth #selfhelp #buildingresilience #positivethinking #reframethoughts
Profile Image for Els.
1,410 reviews111 followers
April 24, 2024
Falen doen we allemaal. Door: Elizabeth Day.

Durf te falen staat al lang op mijn Te Lezen Lijst maar ik faalde (pun intended) in het boek vinden in de bibliotheek :) Ik luisterde wél al een paar afleveringen van Days How to Fail podcast én las een aantal van haar romans. Ik ben een fan.

Gelukkig is er nu Falen doen we allemaal; de versie voor tieners van het wereldberoemde boek Durf te falen. Ik heb het net uit en voel me dus eindelijk heel geslaagd in mijn DTF-uitdaging ;)

In deze praktische gids leert Elizabeth Day je hoe je op een positieve manier kan omgaan met falen want ja: dat doen we allemaal. En dat is niet erg. Er niets van leren; dat is pas erg.

Day plukt niet enkel voorbeelden uit haar eigen leven maar ze haalt ook voorbeelden aan van gasten uit haar podcast; wat dit boek nog meer authenticiteit geeft. Je hoeft geen tiener (meer) te zijn om veel van haar te leren. En dat in amper 139 pagina’s: geslaagd!
Profile Image for Lynsey Dixon.
15 reviews1 follower
October 9, 2023
Maybe it’s my fault? I should have read an exert before buying? The style is a bit too dumbed down for my liking and repetitive. It really isn’t aimed at teenagers. More life lessons for those a little bit longer in the tooth and who’ve experienced a bit of life; not setting out on that journey and able to relate at this tender age.

I wanted to see how I could help support my 13 year old with resilience and being less critical/demanding of herself. This book isn’t the one for that, sadly.
Profile Image for Angela.
436 reviews2 followers
March 11, 2023
A quick read, and a good reminder how to approach failure.
Profile Image for Roderick Vonhogen.
488 reviews70 followers
November 9, 2024
An excellent guide about dealing with failure and with the fear to fail. Not just for teens, though I wish I would have read this in my teenage years.
12 reviews
January 24, 2025
Ik vond het persoonlijk een heel aangenaam boek om te lezen en draag deze tips zeker mee. Fijn dat er ook veel voorbeelden zijn van sprekers
153 reviews
January 24, 2024
“Failure happens to us all."

To be honest, I am not sure why I even read this book.

In this "handbook", Day includes many quotes and stories from various guests from her podcasts and interviews. She has done the research to write this book firsthand in her life career. This is intended as a self-help book to help struggling teens realise that failure in a time of change is not life or death and that "failing" in school is not a be all/end all. As a teen, I found this to be cringeworthy and hard to read because I don't believe in self-help books as I think people should find the solution within themselves and that there is not a one size fits all solution. Perhaps this was a good book but it wasn't my thing.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews

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