Self!sh | adj. |
Taking time for oneself every day.
Some might call that selfish. We say own it.

This is your personal playbook for your mindset. Your tool kit to cope and grow. It’s unique to you. It gets you back to the best of You. Yes, it’s a good thing to take care of yourself. You’ll bring more of what you cherish and value to the world and those around you. That’s self!sh.

Chances are, if you’ve picked up this workbook, you are looking for a mind shift. You want more out of life. You are self-motivated to “do the work” to heal, grow, and thrive. Take a journey inward with humility and compassion. Forget the roles you play, the job title or the status symbol. Surrender. Make space for all of you, the bold and the vulnerable. This isn’t about proving anything to yourself or anyone else. There is no audience here. Quiet down your inner critic. Follow your heart. Surprise yourself!

Built around eight self-reflection exercises, this workbook will guide you every step of the way through prompts, questions and examples that will culminate in you creating your personal Playbook. You will be empowered to cultivate a sense of worth tied to your intrinsic value, your character, and your principles. You will gain clarity on what is truly important to you, what motivates you, and what gets you emotionally charged to live the life you want.

Create your inspirational playbook for life.

PUBLISHER AND ACCOLADES

Post Hill Press, October 2023 (Pre-Empt)

• Us Weekly Us Musts
• Good Morning America Feature
• Dr. Tasha Eurich’s Book of the Month
• SirusXM Canada Now Feature
• NY Live with Sara Gore Feature
• Aspire Magazine “Top 10 Inspirational Books”
• French Morning Feature
• Inside Mental Health Feature

• Scripps Thursday Throwback Feature

“The selfhelp section just got a makeover and it’s courtesy of Stephanie Szostak!  This is an interactive guide of evolution, mental health and wellness and self-exploration (though I am sure it could also be impactful if used as a couple!).  We need this now more than ever- a book that is part diary, part story, part experiment in self.  Selfish is just what the doctor ordered! I started it excited to answer the questions, and ended it thinking in a different way.  This book will help people, I am certain of that!”
—Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent and co-host of GMA3

“How fortunate for us all that Stephanie Szostak has written Selfish. I was totally engaged by this thoughtful and creative workbook and will incorporate it into my work with clients. It is filled with invaluable information that invites us to actively reflect, explore, and examine patterns, habits, and thoughts that can encourage or inhibit our growth. Drawing on research and practices from positive psychology, neuroscience, neurobiology, spirituality, storytelling, the arts, real life motivational stories, well-being practices, and inspirational quotations, Stephanie Szostak encourages us to become the people we are meant to be. We gain valuable personal insights from the carefully crafted exercises. Self!ish is a non-threatening, carefully crafted workbook with meaningful exercises to guide us as we each weave our unique life tapestry.”
—Dale V. Atkins, Ph.D., Psychologist, Author, Media Commentator

“The most incredibly self-less thing you can do is to immediately purchase this workbook, as it will prove a profound gift to yourself and those you care about most! Selfish offers a blueprint for crafting the foundation of the life you want to live.  By crafting your Selfish Playbook, you will soon cultivate empowering strategies to infuse your life with forward momentum, grow confidence, shift focus to what truly matters, and harness the power of intention and attention.  Selfish is the catalyst to making an about-face and reorienting yourself toward an inward journey designed to positively impact your life.”
—Melissa Bernstein, Co-Founder, Melissa & Doug toys, Co-Founder, Lifelines

“Selfish is a wonderful tool for these times of overstimulation and information deluge. Through stories, science and a series of prompts, it proposes a fun, organized and accessible way for us to cultivate a deeper daily connection to ourselves, our desires and what we value—a practice that, in a sense, fosters our mental hygiene, and rids us of excess and toxic fodder. A great way to love on yourself so that you can let your love shine out into the world.”
–Miles Borrero, author of Beautiful Monster and yoga teacher

“As a retired Olympic athlete and someone who now works in the field of mental performance, I love the idea of a playbook that keeps our guiding principles top of mind. In many ways the playbook acts as a compass for daily living. I had the chance to coach Stephanie as one of our participants in the Finding Your Best course and the question at the end of the high performance mindset training was naturally, “what’s next?”  Often when we’re doing this work, pushing to our edges and scratching for growth, it begs the question, “okay how do I keep this going?” The playbook (and app) make this digestible and tangible to continue building skills that support mental and emotional well-being. It really is the process of developing resilience. As a self-proclaimed nerd, as well, it’s important to have content grounded in good science, which has also been captured by the exercises and content in the book.”
— Nicole Davis, Psy.D., 2x Olympic Medalist, TEDx Speaker and Mindset Coach at Finding Mastery

“I used many of these same techniques during my years of competition and I believe that along with all of the physical work, many of the tools and strategies taught in this wonderful book ultimately helped me to win Olympic Gold! Self!ish is a terrific, easy to follow ”Playbook” and will help you define who you want to be and give you the tools to make that happen!”
—Dan Jansen, 1994 Olympic Gold Medalist, Speed Skating

Stephanie Szostak is on a mission to improve well-being using science-inspired tools. In this delightful playbook you’ll find exercise to discover your strengths, boost your resilience, and improve your mood—it’s a welcome tool to promote thriving.
—Ethan Kross, International Bestselling Author of Chatter

“In today’s increasingly chaotic, busy, noisy world full of distractions and competing priorities, I found, Selfish a refreshing re-centering of my mindset. Working in recovery, I know how important daily reminders can be in one’s journey to healing and sobriety. The Selfish Playbook provides a personal tool to re-calibrate what is important and encourages mental fitness which is often overlooked in today’s fast-paced world. Mental well-being or fitness is just as important as physical well-being. Those muscles need to be equally exercised and nourished. Taking the time to breathe, show compassion towards oneself, practice gratitude, and other daily practices, make for a more productive, centered, authentic individual. This workbook gives practical lessons for enriching one’s life and finding one’s genuine self. Your true self—not the person you think you should be, but the person you were intended to be. I found it refreshing and something that many of us living in this post-pandemic world could gain value from.”
—Gary Mendell, founder & CEO, Shatterproof

“Self confidence has always been a tricky thing for me. For years it was reliant on others’ thoughts, opinions, and praise. In my business, those with low self esteem are eaten alive. I’m a professional actress. Working on A Million Little Things, I met Stephanie Szostak who introduced me to her playbook concept and it blew my mind. Not only because it’s unique, creative and oh so simple to make for yourself. But because IT WORKS. Taking concrete examples from my life that I can do and have done difficult things, pulling from what truly inspires me, digging deep into what I know to be true about my abilities, my lived experiences, and recounting all I have learned from my teachers, mentors, coaches and books and putting it all in one convenient place helped me to integrate it all in a way I hadn’t before. My Playbook is a daily reminder of all I know to be true about myself, my life and who I am committed to being. It’s helped dramatically shift my mindset, grow my self-confidence, trickling down and around to every area of my life. The most selfless act we can do is to learn to love and accept ourselves so fiercely we are free to be present to others and all that life presents. The Selfish workbook IS the tool for such an endeavor.”
—Christina Moses, actress, writer, director

“We are living in the midst of a mental health crisis. Post-pandemic life has turned out to be much more difficult than we could have imagined and all of us have suffered in ways that we are now just realizing. Selfish is a practical, easy accessible, step-by-step workbook that addresses where we are, where we want to be, and how to get there. Enjoy the experience of learning more about yourself and becoming the person that you deserve to be.”
—Antonio E. Puente, PhD 125th President, American Psychological Association and Board of Directors, Give an Hour

“Being in corporate health and wellbeing for more than 30 years, I have seen a lot of approaches to behavior change and lifestyle improvement, but what they have always lacked is how to make the change from a mindset perspective. They tell you what to change and give you some tips, but Self!ish provides a straightforward, accessible way to get started and stay on track. The approach is about gaining clarity on what you care about in life and cultivating a mindset that helps you fulfill your individual purpose.  What I really appreciated about the exercises involved in creating my personal playbook, was it made me feel good to reflect on what I had accomplished in my life, how I did it, why it worked for me, who inspired me. Self!ish is a very different approach to self-care, mindfulness, and wellbeing.  It’s an intentional way for people to take greater control of their daily experience of life. I can’t wait to share this with my family and friends.”
—Seth Serxner PhD, MPH, Strategic Advisor

“In a world inundated with self-help books promising personal transformation, Stephanie Szostak’s “Selfish” stands out as a refreshing and life-altering read. From the first page, I was captivated by Szostak’s eloquent writing style and her ability to connect deeply with readers, sharing profound insights into the journey of self-discovery. I wholehearted recommend this read to anyone yearning for personal growth, fulfillment, and a deeper understanding of oneself. Selfish is an invaluable guide on the journey to self-discovery and a testament to the transformative power that lies within each of us. Prepare to be enlightened, inspired, and forever changed.”
—AJ Vaden, CEO and Co-Founder Brand Builders Group

“We’re facing a growing mental health crisis – with too few mental health professionals available to meet the need. Fortunately, there is SO much we can do for ourselves and those we love – but we need tools and resources to help us do the work to be well! Selfish is an excellent contribution to the field of wellness – designed with thoughtfulness, compassion and love! Thank you Stephanie Szostak – for sharing your journey and strategies. Paying attention to our mental health is good for us – actively working on our well being every day… even better!”
—Barbara Van Dahlen, Ph.D., Founder & Former CEO, Give an Hour; Co-Founder & CEO, WeBe Life Inc.

“Selfish is a playbook that allows us to take a journey of self-reflection to create self-care practices to improve our mental wellbeing. When we’re stressed out or feel as though there are too many things to do in our lives, many of us stop paying attention to the things that might make us feel and function better. This playbook provides the tools to form daily habits that help us thrive even during times of stress, allowing us to better connect with ourselves and others in our life.”
—Kimberly Williams, President & CEO at Vibrant Emotional Health