If In Doubt, Wash Your Hair: A Manual for Life

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Even though she covers mental health, daily routine and lifestyle, love and friendship, society, work and pretty much everything else in between - I personally enjoyed the parenting section and parts of the book perhaps the most. It's probably due to the fact that I really want to have kids someday. And also that I constantly worry how I don't mess up at parenting because I not only realise how important a role of a parent is + how the kind of relationship you build with them growing up is going to determine the kind of relationship they have with you when you are old.

I think the most for me being kind it’s so obvious and so innate it’s always hard to kind of imagine that it’s not the norm for some people. To me kindness is about respect. It’s woven into any successful story, be it you know, managing relationships, managing a family or managing a team or an entire workplace. Without kindness you don’t breed respect and loyalty in a company and it will affect the outcome of a happy family. And so if you’re not kind to people they won’t be kind to you. It’s a mirror. To me it is so utterly obvious and part of the basic system of manners. It’s the only way I could behave. 7. HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOURReally enjoyed this brilliant, inspiring and empowering book!! Anya Hindmarch is a world famous businesswoman, entrepreneur, CEO, and a mother to five children (3 of whom are her step children who she's looked after since they were small). In the early 2000s, she created an it bag that everyone had to have, known as the "I'm Not a Plastic Bag" bag. I remember even my mum had one! Ties between India and Canada have been strained after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made allegations of Indian involvement in the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil earlier this year. Nijjar was shot dead outside Gurdwara in Canada's Surrey on June 18. It felt like her book was written for me, she covers all topics from running a business to having a family, and how she balances it all (with help!). I love how open and honest she is about her experiences and Mum guilt (I’m sure all Mums have this at some point, I know I have). She shares her journey in life an in business, and you really feel like you get to know her and what drives her. The book is brimming with her tips and ideas on how to be a working mother/parent, how to run an organisation, how to be more organised and tidy, how to look after your kids (and ideas on how to get other people involved), how to be a step-parent, how to be a partner, how to find a mentor, how to care for ageing parents, and how to be yourself authentically (and trust yourself), and how to let go of the idea of perfection.

Having a sense of humour brings people together and makes work more engaging. And I think self deprecation is very important. It creates a platform that means shyer people don’t feel afraid to share an idea with other people. That’s pretty good. Self-deprecation and humour make people feel comfortable and more open to share what they want to share. It can be a real leveller and defuse stressful situations in an instant. 8. LIFE AS A FAST-FLOWING RIVERDon't stres about the nitty-gritty details/documentation. Entrepreneurs are more doers than reading through tons of small print (hat's what you hire lawyers etc for). But, having hit fifty, I suddenly felt that I had a lot to say. Not because I have always got it right, but mostly, actually, because I haven’t. And now I realise that that is OK too.

Comforting, practical and beautifully personal. This book feels like your best friend telling you it’s all going to be ok’ Fearne Cotton

About the contributors

Anya reflects on her ambitions for her children and concludes: "If you just love your children to bits and make them feel incredible and confident then that's the greatest gift you can give them" Such a powerful statement as we often feel we need to provide criticism to help progress, but forget each of us have our own inner critic that's doing a great job at that already. What we need is love and encouragement. Also Sister Angela "If you accept that you will never be fully satisfied, then you will e very happy indeed"

David Allen's motto that your brain is for 'having ideas, not holding them.' If you can do a 'mind-sweep' and get everything you need to remember out of your brain and onto a list, you can relax in the knowledge that it is all captured and won't be forgotten." Russell Foster, Professor of Circadian Neuroscience at Oxford University said that "when people are very sleep-deprived they can only lay down negative memories in their long-term memory." Fear is the other side of excitement, Hindmarch writes in the book, as she explains how she overcame her fear of public speaking. It involved neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). “Confidence is a muscle you can flex… if I can do one good one talk, I can draw on that. So that muscle of working on it and incrementally improving on it is important.” She also recalls precious advice received in school from Sr Angela. “On my first day at Catholic school, she gathered us in the chapel and said: ‘If you don’t expect to be fully satisfied you will have a very happy life indeed.’ We have to have realistic expectations.” Anya Hindmarch is a mother of five, stepmother, entrepreneur and globally renowned businesswoman. In If In Doubt, Wash Your Hair, she shares what she has learned during her busy and eclectic life, what she still worries about, and what advice she has received along the way.

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I am a business founder & know how hard it can be to balance work, family & personal life. She shares honest insights which aren't sugar coated, yet her calm resolve, kindness, patience & determination shine through to make you understand a bit of how she manages it all, and it leaves one thinking, with the right sort of attitude & organisation skills, that we can do the same.