When Danielle Brooker emailed me to say she was publishing her own book I was instantly excited about getting my hands on it; since connecting with Danielle on social media and through her podcast in 2020, I have fallen in love with all that she creates, shares and radiates. Her stories and posts always pop up at the right moment and snap me back to a joy mindset. When I read the title and subtitle of said book I was even more excited and grateful for this woman: Freedom from Busy: practical strategies to release your inner control freak and reclaim your joy. 

After 2 years on the pandemic rollercoaster I think many of us have let our inner 'control freaks' take the reins of our lives and because that, steal our sense of joy; we have been waiting for life to return to 'normal' for too long now, trying to micro-manage anything that gives us back a sense of being in control of our own lives and because of that we feel exhausted, frustrated and well, let's be honest - unhappy! 

Freedom from Busy aims to redefine and question what 'busyness' is, and how we often are the creators of the 'busyness' that is causing us stress. While this book does offer practical strategies to help you reconnect with your own sense of joy, it is much more about starting a conversation with yourself on what joy looks like for you. It is playful and explorative and will leave you feeling reconnected to a version of yourself that you might not have been in touch with for a while.

Throughout the book Danielle explores different techniques for reconnecting with joy and leads you through a series of reflections on the source of the 'busyness' in your life. She shares her personal experiences as well as those of her clients, mentors and teachers, on reconnecting to the sense of self through joy and letting that be the compass that helps guide you through difficult moments in life.

This book is a light and easy read, but is packed full of wonderful nuggets of wisdom from cover to cover; it is a paperback mini coaching session from Danielle herself that will be incredibly valuable for many as we learn to navigate life in and moving forward in a period of constant change.

10 lessons on reclaiming your Joy from Freedom from Busy

1. Getting to know yourself on a deeper lever creates clarity when choosing what feels good.
2. Confidence is not a personality type, but a skill that we can all learn and build on.
3. There isn't much that we can control, and that's okay.
4. It's okay to feel your full spectrum of emotions.
5. It's okay to create your own boundaries.
6. How you approached things yesterday, will work differently today because life is ever-changing and that's okay.
7. Not knowing is okay, in fact saying "I don't know" is where growth begins.
8. Only you can define what happiness, joy and success look like for you.
9. We always have choices available to us.
10. We can choose joy today and whenever it feels right for us.

About Danielle

Danielle Brooker is the host of Let it Shine podcast and the founder of The Daisy Patch coaching; she is a life coach, positive thinker, wellness enthusiast and mum. Danielle believes in connecting with the things that brings us joy as a way to manage our stress, anxiety and worry and leads by example having founded her own business by pursuing what brings her joy until it also became her career. Danielle hopes to "redefine stress and busyness" by putting joy at the center of these conversations.

Order Freedom from Busy today. For more from Danielle visit her website and follow her on Instagram.