Your New Playlist

**Jon Acuff**

*Estimated Reading Time: 75 to 90 minutes*

Your mind is playing a soundtrack right now. It might be telling you that you are not good enough, that everyone else has it figured out, or that one failure defines your entire future. This book teaches you how to notice that soundtrack, question whether it is telling the truth, and replace the broken parts with something that actually helps you move forward.

You will learn a simple three-question test for any thought that drags you down. You will discover why trying to silence negative thoughts completely never works, and what to do instead. You will find practical tools for managing stress, building confidence through evidence, and using everyday objects as reminders of who you want to become.

This book was written for teenagers, but its ideas work for anyone who has ever felt stuck inside their own head. If you have ever talked yourself out of trying something new, assumed the worst about what others think of you, or felt like everyone else got a manual for life that you missed, this book is for you. Parents will also find value here, especially in the final chapter about understanding each other.

Something is playing in your head right now. It has been playing for years, and most of the time you do not even notice it. It might be a voice that sounds like your own. It might sound like a teacher, a parent, or a kid from middle school whose name you barely remember. It tells you things throughout the day. Sometimes those things are helpful. Often they are not. You failed a test, and the voice says you are stupid. You walked into a party and the voice says no one wants you here. You thought about trying out for a team and the voice says you will embarrass yourself. You made a mistake and the voice says this proves what you always suspected about yourself. That voice is not you. It is a soundtrack. And like any soundtrack, it can be changed. Jon Acuff and his daughter McRae wrote this book because they noticed something important. Most advice about confidence and positive thinking is aimed at adults who have already spent decades building habits of self-criticism. By then, the patterns are deeply set. But teenagers are still forming their inner voices. They are still deciding what kind of soundtrack will play in the background of their lives. If they can learn to recognize and adjust those soundtracks now, they can carry better tools into adulthood. The problem is that no one teaches this skill. We teach students how to solve equations and write essays. We do not…