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Scott

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Scott is Currently Reading

Scott is currently reading

The Let Them Theory

by Mel Robbins

bookshelves: currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in January 2026

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Scott said: " I don’t normally read a lot of what I would call self-help books. To be honest, I am so old school that I am still hanging on to the lessons I learned from Stephen Coveys’ “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. Yea, that makes me sound old and I get I don’t normally read a lot of what I would call self-help books. To be honest, I am so old school that I am still hanging on to the lessons I learned from Stephen Coveys’ “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. Yea, that makes me sound old and I get it. I probably am.

When someone recommended Mel Robbins “The Let Them Theory” to me, I listened and then quickly moved on to other books on my fiction reading list. Then it was recommended again. And again. At that point I took a closer look and thought I would check it out at the library to see if it was worthy of buying.

Then something interesting happened that made all of the difference. Late last year I started a subscription with Audible just to listen to the “Dungeon Crawler Carl” books by the amazing voice wizard Jeff Hays. During the Christmas season, Audible put “The Let Them Theory” on sale and I made an impulse purchase, primarily because Robbins was reading it herself.

Wow! That was my first impression as I listened to Robbins passionately introduce her theory, share personal stories that bring it to life, and the research that supports it. I must say that listening to her present the information was so well delivered, that I must say listening to it elevated and added an additional depth than just reading the book. Needless to say, I also bought the book so that I could mark it up like a college student and use it as a reference tool to apply the valuable lessons it contains.

As for my actual review, let me be honest right up front. Yes, I am drinking the water on this one. To be completely honest, I have not been this excited about applying these lessons since studying Covery’s habits those many years ago. This is really good stuff and Robbins knows what she’s talking about, and the research shows it.

There are so many things that I loved about listening to this book, but I will just touch upon a few that made a deep impression on me.

First, let me start with the title and how this book is promoted, which is rather deceptive, but in a good way. It pushed the thought “Let Them” which sounds like letting others around you get away with being selfish or immature, but that’s just the first part of the theory. The second, and even more important part is the “Let Me” mindset that helps you focus on the things that you can control and stop wasting energy on the rest. I know this sounds like a late night Anthony Robbins informercial, but what makes these changes possible is that they are focused on practical actions and behaviors that can create valuable impacts in your life. You have to do the work, and it’s not easy, but the payoff will be worth it.

Second, there is broad application for this approach and Robbins covers a lot of territory, including dealing with stress, dealing with difficult people (friends and family), work relationships, helping others who are struggling, and personal relationships, just to name a few. For me, the information and personal stories regarding improving relationships at work and with family were absolutely invaluable and worth the price of admission alone. Even more so, the chapters on improving my relationship with myself were even more important. Trust me, there’s areas of focus for everyone to learn and improve on.

Okay, I feel like I’ve done enough preaching about how much I appreciated this book and will soon be checking out the Mel Robbins podcast. And I know this is repeating myself, but I highly recommend listening to the Audible book if you can, because it adds an additional level of learning to your experience.

May you enjoy it as much as I did and will again! ...more "

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(90%)
— Jan 17, 2026 04:35PM

Jan 19, 2026 05:59PM · see review

Scott is currently reading

Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive, #3)

by Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads Author)

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— Aug 03, 2026 07:27AM

Jul 12, 2026 05:52PM

Scott’s Quotes

“A person less fortunate than yourself deserves the best you can give. Because of duty, and honor, and service. You understand those words? You should do your job right, and you should do it well, simply because you can, without looking for notice or reward.”
― Lee Child, Nothing to Lose

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“The act of choosing a value for yourself requires rejecting alternative values. If I choose to make my marriage the most important part of my life, that means I’m (probably) choosing not to make cocaine-fueled hooker orgies an important part of my life. If I’m choosing to judge myself based on my ability to have open and accepting friendships, that means I’m rejecting trashing my friends behind their backs. These are all healthy decisions, yet they require rejection at every turn. The point is this: we all must give a fuck about something, in order to value something. And to value something, we must reject what is not that something. To value X, we must reject non-X. That”
― Mark Manson, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

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“Hope for the best, plan for the worst.”
― Lee Child

tags: reacher

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