Daily Mindfulness: A 31 Day Guide to Mental Clarity 

• Author: Alex Smith-Powell
• Genre: Self-help
• Publication Date: February 27, 2025
• Publisher: Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op for providing access to an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Transform your daily experience with bite-sized, science-backed mindfulness practices designed for real life. This 31-day guide builds your foundation through practical exercises that fit naturally into your day – no meditation cushion required…

Each day brings a concise 2-minute read or listen, grounded in research and focused on understanding your mind’s natural patterns. Learn to navigate stress, improve focus, and build resilience through small, strategic changes that add up to lasting mental clarity.

Perfect for busy professionals, skeptics, and anyone seeking evidence-based methods for a clearer mind, this guide strips away the mysticism and delivers straightforward techniques you can start using immediately. Whether you’re commuting, taking a break, or winding down for sleep, these daily insights help you build a more mindful approach to life, one day at a time.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this one. Self-help usually isn’t a topic I find myself reaching for, but I am always intrigued about learning new techniques to increase my mindfulness, since I am not one of the people who is able to meditate, and I’ve tried so many types of meditation, so I was really hoping for something to help me become more intentional and mindful.

That is basically what I got. Sarah Buck narrates the story, and with her smooth voice with mild British accent, I could listen to her talk all day. If there was a different narrator, I’m not sure I would have really been able to take in as much as I was able to with Buck’s narration. But I think one of my favorite things about this book is that there really isn’t a right or wrong way to apply the principles. Let me explain more.

Mindfulness is explained as having the ability to just be present in the moment and trying to avoid judgment, allowing us to just be. It seems like such a chill and relaxed way to go through life, and the book was only about an hour and a half total, so I figured it might be a good read to check out. I was right.

There is a little introduction, and then the book is broken down into 31 days worth of suggestions to get us going on the path to living an authentic and fulfilling life. Since the chapter for each day is only about two or three minutes long, it makes it really easy to both read it all the way through and to implement one tiny change in thinking or behavior each day. The segments worked really well for me when I listened to them starting my day, because it gave me an idea or emotion or pattern to focus on. 

Over and over, the author reassures us that we don’t have to struggle to make everything right, we can just do a little at a time, and stick with what works for each of us. After introducing a topic to be aware of in ourselves, we are given clear examples of how it plays out in real life, and encouraged to be aware of the topic of thee day, while not needing to do anything about it just yet. After we understand how the thought or behavior or emotion functions for us, that’s when we can start to make tiny changes in our lives. And as you know, those tiny changes add up to big results.

This isn’t an in-depth exploration of mindfulness techniques, but rather a quick, surface-level collection of awareness boosters and tips for introducing mindfulness into our days. If you are already knowledgeable in terms of mindfulness, this probably won’t present any new information. Rather, the appeal of this book lies in the bite-sized chapters that can be read while brushing my teeth or getting dressed, and have something to think about for the rest of the day. Some topics were discussed and the book when it discussed environmental cues to our thoughts and behaviors, and I personally felt called out by the chapter about procrastination. 

Overall, this is a wonderful beginning level read for people who are overworked, overstressed, and especially those of us who struggle with insight into situations, cues, and settings that might increase anxiety or otherwise prevent us from being aware. There aren’t any daily topics that immediately got me stressed out, and nothing about this is a big project. You can read it start to finish and pick out the ideas that you think might work best for you. You can choose to only read one chapter daily and keep your attention focused on what you read. If I had an ebook or print copy of this, it would have been so incredibly marked up with highlighter, so instead I just had to take some notes to remind myself how to get out of my head and live a life filled with intentional decisions and behaviors. 

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