The GoodMan Life - It Starts with YOU!
Harvey Taylor's The GoodMan Life: It Starts with YOU is both a deeply personal memoir and a practical self-improvement guide. At its heart, it's a call to reclaim ownership over one's physical, mental, and emotional well-being-without falling for quick fixes or extreme programs.
The book opens with a raw, vulnerable account of Taylor's own brush with suicide-a moment that serves as a stark reminder that the turning point toward a better life often begins at rock bottom. From there, he takes the reader through the principles that have shaped his transformation, blending scientific insight, holistic practices, and personal anecdotes.
Taylor structures his message into eleven chapters, each exploring a pillar of The GoodMan Life: reducing chronic inflammation, understanding the hidden toll of medications, practising self- and outward gratitude, using auto-suggestion to rewire the subconscious, appreciating the healing properties of water, optimising gut-brain health, reconnecting with nature, harnessing vibration and energy, and cultivating breathwork, meditation, and mindfulness. He wraps it all together with a step-by-step plan that is refreshingly realistic-rooted in small, consistent actions rather than overnight reinventions.
What makes this book compelling is its tone. Taylor writes with the conviction of someone who has lived every lesson he teaches. He's not a distant guru dictating an impossible regimen; he's a man who has stumbled, suffered, learned, and is now passing the torch. His advice is accessible-drink water with intention, keep a gratitude journal, walk barefoot on the grass-but never simplistic. He links each practice to the science behind it, whether it's gut microbiome research, the psychology of gratitude, or the neurochemical effects of meditation.
There's also a strong undercurrent of empowerment here. Taylor repeatedly reminds readers that "it starts with you" isn't a slogan-it's the unavoidable truth. The mirror, he says, holds both the problem and the solution. This makes the book part pep talk, part blueprint.
If there's a minor drawback, it's that readers already steeped in holistic wellness might find some concepts familiar. However, Taylor's framing-anchoring them in his own near-death experience and recovery-gives them a renewed sense of urgency and relatability.
Verdict: The GoodMan Life is an uplifting, practical, and deeply human guide to living with intention. It's ideal for anyone feeling stuck, burned out, or ready to shift from survival mode into genuine vitality. It won't do the work for you-but, as Taylor makes clear, nothing truly worthwhile ever will.
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