Matthew S. Boone - Stop Avoiding Stuff 25 Microskills to Face Your Fears and Do It Anyway

By breaking down effective strategies into simple-to-digest, bite-size pieces, this is a book that will really help you take small steps toward a life that matters to you. The authors bring a wonderful combination of authenticity and expertise. It is clear they wouldnt ask you to do anything that they themselves are not willing to do, and its great to know these ideas have a good scientific foundation behind them too.

Ben Sedley, PhD , clinical psychologist, and author of Stuff That Sucks

If youre like me and your attention span is shrinking, this is the perfect book for you. Teeny Tiny Practices? Microskills? Yes, please! Using helpful examples and relatable personal experiences, the authors provide the scaffolding to understand the why behind each bite-size acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) practice. Stop Avoiding Stuff is easy to digest, practical, and really fun to read. If you want to live a mightier life, I highly recommend this book!

Jill A. Stoddard, PhD , author of Be Mighty

Stop Avoiding Stuff is the perfect balance of skills, wisdom, authenticity, and humor. I fell in love with this book. I saw myselfall too wellin Jen, Lisa, and Matts personal examples. As I read this book, I saw subtle ways and areas where I avoid stuff, and found compassionate microskills to help move me closer toward a life guided by values rather than dictated by old fears.

Aisling Leonard-Curtin, CPsychol, PsSI , chartered psychologist with The Psychological Society of Ireland; peer-reviewed ACT trainer; and coauthor of the #1 best seller, The Power of Small

Boone, Gregg, and Coyne have pulled off a marvelous featthey have distilled down many of the core principles of ACT into a format that is fun to read! The book strikes just the right toneyou feel like youre learning and even being challenged, without being lectured to or judged. I love the opportunities for teeny tiny practicejust the right size to make realistic change!

Sonja V. Batten, PhD , psychologist, executive coach, past president and fellow of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), author of Essentials of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy , and coauthor of Committed Action in Practice

Stop Avoiding Stuff offers concrete, practical, doable microskills that will help you get out of the avoidance trap. Grounded in scientific research, this approachable yet thorough book breaks down the tools needed for sustained behavior change into manageable steps. Id recommend this to anyone who is ready to take action in their life, and is looking for the tools to help them move toward what really matters to them.

Jenna LeJeune, PhD , licensed psychologist; president of Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, and Training Center; and coauthor of Values in Therapy

This delightful little book is chock-full of kitchen-table wisdom, presented in a simple, humble, genuine, and accessible way. It both humanizes our natural tendency to avoid stuff we dont like, while giving us a variety of healthy ways to turn back toward the stuff we are running from. This book is perfect for the time-challenged reader who might be willing to spend ten minutes each day building a conscious, intentional way of living. Beware though, this book can easily become a real page-turner, as you get more and more intrigued about the impact of little behaviors on your ongoing sense of personal vitality and life meaning.

Kirk Strosahl, PhD , cofounder of ACT, and coauthor of The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Depression

Everything in my life that works better now than it did before is a result of me stopping avoiding stuff. As this delightful book makes perfectly clear, stuff is not just activities that we avoid, but thoughts, feelings, and experiences in the body. Stop Avoiding Stuff does an impressive job highlighting all the ways we can learn to be more flexible, and how we can use that flexibility to suffer less and lean into more of what life has to offer. It was easy not to avoid writing this endorsement.

Jon Hershfield, MFT , director of The OCD and Anxiety Center at Sheppard Pratt, author of When a Family Member Has OCD and Overcoming Harm OCD , and coauthor of The Mindfulness Workbook for OCD and Everyday Mindfulness for OCD

Life doesnt come with a rule book, but if it did, this would be a pretty cool one. Its bite-size, fun to read, and covers the most important things. Once you are oriented, you can bounce around and acquire the skills that most interest you or that you really need right now. You could even put it in the bathroom and read it there. Not every book that can change your life needs to be a tome. Instead, stop avoiding stuffone tiny bit at a time.

Steven C. Hayes, PhD , Nevada Foundation Professor in the department of psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno; and originator and codeveloper of ACT

Is fear holding you back in life at times? Then this book is for you. Its packed with practical and manageable suggestions on how to thrive and step out of stuff that sucks, and into stuff that matters. It takes you through an easy-to-read, at times personal, down-to-earth, humorous, and loving journey too. Read this book. Your life is waiting for you to join it.

Rikke Kjelgaard, MSc , author; licensed psychologist; chief rock and roller and expert in ACT; and creator of Fierce, Fabulous, and Female

In a world of unknowns, there are plenty of reasons to bury our heads in the sand. What if, by doing teeny tiny exercises, we faced our stuff, talked about our stuff, and, in the process of making our stuff feel better, we improved everyone elses stuff as well. Now, that would be some great stuff, and you can learn how to get started on all that stuff right here in this book.

Patrick B. McGrath, PhD , licensed clinical psychologist, head of clinical services at NOCD, and president of Anxiety Centers of Illinois

We all come by our avoidance naturally. But when it stops us from handling our daily tasks or moving toward our lifes goals, its time to be courageous. The good news is that facing life boldly isnt a personality trait; its a set of skills, and Stop Avoiding Stuff delivers them in easily digestible bites. Fully engaging in our lives will always require moments of effort. Thats exactly what youll get in this go-to guide: small actions you can take, moment by moment, that add up to the big results you want.

Reid Wilson, PhD , author of Stopping the Noise in Your Head

Publishers Note

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books

Copyright 2020 by Matthew S. Boone, Jennifer Gregg, and Lisa Coyne

New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

5674 Shattuck Avenue

Oakland, CA 94609

www.newharbinger.com

Cover design by Sara Christian; Acquired by Elizabeth Hollis Hansen; Edited by Jennifer Eastman

All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Boone, Matthew S., author. | Gregg, Jennifer, author. | Coyne, Lisa W, author.

Title: Stop avoiding stuff : 25 microskills to face your fears and do it anyway / Matthew S. Boone, Jennifer Gregg, and Lisa Coyne.

Description: Oakland, CA : New Harbinger Publications, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references.