Radiant Achievement blends uplifting, at-times mystical self-help bromides (“Our inner voice connects us with our soul, and its messages guide us to live our purpose”) with clear, actionable steps for finding success, happiness, confidence, and more in life. Drawing on her own story of personal transformation, Howard encourages women to develop the “powers” that they already possess, like Inner Listening, Self Reflection, and the “full-body yes” of commitment, with a rousing emphasis on centering one’s own dreams rather than those of others—and doing so even when it’s uncomfortable. Howard urges readers to break from comfort zones, to embody their own self-worth, and perhaps most crucially escape old mindsets and patterns to achieve new things.
While terms like “soul” can be vague and some of the advice is familiar, Howard offers clear-eyed, pragmatic advice throughout for syncing up one’s values and drives with achievable ambition. Howard writes with nurturing warmth but also many focused exercises and a sure sense of the potent takeaway, that seed of truth that can perhaps, with care, grow into change. Readers looking for a brisk, heartening introduction to self-transformation will find much here that inspires.
Takeaway: Welcoming guide for igniting the self-transformational radiance of women.
Comparable Titles: Jamie Kern Lima’s Worthy, Brianna Wiest’s The Mountain Is You.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-