Along the way, you’ll be challenged, shocked, and surprised—and your perceptions about inner and outer beauty may very well implode right in front of your freshly exfoliated face. You’ll learn why shampoo may not be all that necessary, why and how the perfect smile can be measured down to the millimeter, how a secret to effective foreplay centers around your ten toes, why female orgasms are crucial to the continuation of the species, how tennis balls can mend an aching back, why a simple change in language fosters or stops addictions, and why our definition of spirituality is like nothing you’ve ever heard before. We’ll cover lots of topics in these three parts of beauty—including all the health implications and easy-to-follow solutions that can help you get the most out of life. (In our humble opinions, it doesn’t get more beautiful than that.)
As you dive into this book, you’ll come across essential information about the seemingly inconsequential things in life (hello, pores!), and you’ll come across mind-blowing inspiration about the absolutely consequential things in life (how to find true meaning and purpose). While we’ll hit you with the nuts and bolts of outer beauty, we also hope to inspire you to make changes about how you feel on the inside. Throughout, we’ll try to challenge your assumptions about what true beauty is.
Along the way, you’ll surely look in the mirror—both literally and metaphorically. You’ll get new perspectives on body shapes, on fingernails, on tongues, on depression, on knee pain, on energy levels, on sexuality, on prayer, on so many things in your life that you can strengthen to live healthier and happier. It may be hard to imagine that hangnails and deities belong in the same book. But as we hope you come to appreciate, beauty isn’t about the parts. It’s about how those parts work together to form the whole. The whole YOU.
YOUR YOU-Q
Measure Your Inner and Outer Beauty
In this book, we’re going to give you lots of advice about things you can do to look, feel, and be more beautiful. Some of them you should absolutely do, because they contribute to your overall health. Others? They may not be so clear-cut, because, unlike flip-flops and baby cribs, they’re not a one-size-fits-all proposition. What works for you may be absolutely wrong for someone else.
To that end, we’ve developed the ultimate YOU-Q Test—a quick exercise that will help you identify the things that can help you become happier and more satisfied with yourself. And your life. The key to all of it: finding what we call authentic beauty. True beauty comes when you engage with your fellow man in a healthy fashion. That’s real authenticity and what will make you happier.
Authentic beauty comes from closing the gap between the Current YOU and the Potential YOU.
Current YOU (who you are right now): This includes your physical appearance (bunions and all) and all of the characteristics and quirks that make you, you.
Potential YOU (the person you would like to be, remembering that that may not be the perfect person): Current YOU with some adjustments—perhaps a bit thinner, a little more empathetic, a better cello player, maybe even a redhead.
When the gap between Current YOU and Potential YOU is wider than a 12-lane interstate, you’re going to feel less beautiful, less satisfied, and less confident. Close the gap, and bingo, you’re hitting the bull’s-eye on the target of authentic beauty.
No IQ test or SAT or insect-looking inkblot can help you identify the size of your gap. This YOU-Q Test will. The YOU-Q tests the nature and size of your gaps in four major areas—and gives you plenty of issues to ponder. But don’t think of this as a final exam. Think of it as more of a practice test that you can retake and retake and retake until you come as close to perfection as possible.
As you read the book, your test results will help you understand where to focus your attention in order to bring Current YOU and Potential YOU into better alignment to find true happiness. To help you along the way, you’re going to record your scores on the YOU-Q report sheet at the end of the chapter. OK, sharpen your No. 2 pencils and let’s begin.
Note: All the questions in this test are based on validated studies, i.e., real docs spent years proving that these are the appropriate questions to ask to get accurate answers to help you understand yourself. We even enlisted the help of world expert psychologist Dr. Art Markman from the University of Texas to ensure accuracy.
Part I: Looking Beautiful
Think about the appearance you present to the outside world—your face and body. Using the figure below, answer these two questions (be honest, bucko, nobody’s looking but you):
1 Circle the image that most closely corresponds to the body type you have right now.
2 Circle the image that represents what you think would be the ideal body type for you. This body type should be the one that you want, not the one that you think others might want for you.
For this part of scoring your test, look at the difference between your responses to questions 1 and 2. Just count how many bodies are between the ones you picked; don’t worry about the direction.
If the difference between your answers is:
6 or 7 bodies: We have some work to do. So put 0 in the Body Score box in Introduction.
5 bodies: Give yourself 3 body score points in the box at the end of this section.
4 bodies: Give yourself 6 body score points in the box at the end of this section.
3 bodies: Give yourself 9 body score points in the Body Score box below.
2 bodies: Give yourself 12 body score points in the Body Score box below.
1 body: Give yourself 15 body score points in the Body Score box below.
0 body: Give yourself 18 body score points in the Body Score box below.
Picked the same body for both: Congratulations! Give yourself 21 body score points in the Body Score box.
Answer these four questions about your face and skin:
Your raw score can range from a low of 4 to a high of 49.
Your Looking Beautiful Raw Score
The scales in this section reveal about how happy you are with your overall appearance, focusing on your face and body. Find the range for your score on the Looking Beautiful test analysis below. After you read what scores in that range mean, write down the number of YOU-Q points you get for this score in the YOU-Q worksheet at the end of the section.
If Your Raw Score Is
4–18
There’s a lot about your appearance that bothers you. You probably feel bad whenever you look in the mirror. It will take a lot of work to change your appearance, but there are many things you can do to improve your body, face, hair, and skin.
19–30
You don’t feel like putting a paper bag over your head, but you also aren’t thrilled with the way you look. It may be that you want to change