ACE Your Life: Unleash Your Best Self and Live the Life You Want

by Michelle P. Maidenberg

It’s common for anyone to feel trapped or stuck by their inner commentator, habitual patterns of behavior, and the lessons they’ve learned throughout their lives. Everyone has regrets, with many trying to preserve strained relationships and other difficult parts of their lives. When faced with these hardships, it’s easy for self-worth and confidence to take a nosedive, causing many to wonder where they went wrong and to wish for a “do-over.”  ACE Your Unleash Your Best Self and the Life You Want to Be Living offers another way. Michelle P. Maidenberg, Ph.D., MPH, LCSW-R, explains how to create a life and legacy of love (both of self and others) and fulfillment. Predicated on acceptance, compassion, and empowerment skills, Maidenberg’s approach has transformative range, working for those who feel slightly “stuck” and are seeking personal growth and enhancement as well as those with more complex “stuckness” caused by trauma, cumulative stress, or other significant challenges.  Each section of Ace Your Life walks the reader through definitions, benefits, barriers and includes curiosity-based mindfulness questions and exercises to promote growth, healing, and a path toward personal fulfillment. Individuals who want to enhance their life in a significant way and become their best self through the work and wisdom of personal growth will benefit from this encouraging, inspirational, and easily actionable guide. 

Genres: Self Help

285 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 20, 2022

About the author

Michelle P. Maidenberg, Ph.D., MPH, LCSW-R, CGP, has over 30 years of clinical experience and maintains a private practice in Harrison, NY. She is also the Co-Founder and Clinical Director of “Thru My Eyes”, a nonprofit 501c3 organization that offers free clinically-guided videotaping to chronically medically ill individuals who want to leave video legacies for their children and loved ones.

Michelle is adjunct faculty at New York University (NYU) teaching a graduate course in Mindfulness Practice. She is a Board of Directors member at The Boys & Girls in Mount Vernon and is a member of the American Red Cross Crisis Team. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Westchester Trauma Network (WTN) in Westchester NY.

She is a Certified Group Therapist through the American Group Psychotherapy Association and a Diplomate and certified member of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. Michelle has advanced training in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Structural Family Therapy, Polyvagal Theory/Therapy, Mindfulness, and is a Level II trained Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) therapist.

Michelle is the author of the book “Free Your Child From Overeating" 53 Mind-Body Strategies For Lifelong Health” and upcoming book on 9/20/22 “Ace Your Life: Unleash Your Best Self and Live the Life You Want” is available to preorder. She is a blogger for Psychology Today (over 800k reads) and recently did a TED Talk on “Circumventing Emotional Avoidance.” She has been featured in more than 150 national and international media including The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Fitness, Ladies Home Journal, Men’s Health, and Forbes.

Michelle is a contributing editor of GROUP, the journal of the Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society. She is a consultant and trainer on a variety of mental health and health related topics and has four children and three dogs. She is dedicated and invested in health and mental health advocacy.

Reviews

[Minaa B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book as guide to owning your life and living as your best self. It's thoughtful and filled with practical skills to use everyday. Highly recommend!

[Jen (Sad Books Say So Much) · Rating 5 out of 5]

An article based on this book appeared in the October 12, 2021 edition of Pschology Today. In “Beware of Your Self-Fulfilling Prophecy”, Abigail Fagan describes the key takeaways of the book as follows:

1. A self-fulfilling prophecy is a set of beliefs and expectations that can negatively or positively influence our actions;

2. Research on self-fulfilling prophecies such as the Pygmalion and placebo effects finds that beliefs and expectations can be influential;

3. To avoid being negatively influenced by our beliefs and expectations, we need to react and act from a conscious state of mind.

These insights were essential to my understanding of my history, my behaviour and my mental health journey. They dovetail nicely with the work I have been putting in with trusted advisors to learn better coping mechanisms. Thank you, Dr. Maidenberg and Ms. Fagan, for your help!

[Elina Vaysbeyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

ACE Your Life is a grounded, compassionate, and highly practical guide for anyone who feels stuck in old patterns, self criticism, or emotional roadblocks. Michelle P. Maidenberg blends clinical expertise with warmth and accessibility, making complex emotional processes feel understandable and achievable.

What stands out is the ACE framework’s balance of acceptance, compassion, and empowerment. Rather than offering surface level motivation, the book walks readers through meaningful reflection, mindfulness based curiosity, and exercises that promote lasting personal growth. This is a book that meets readers where they are whether they’re facing everyday stagnation or deeper challenges rooted in trauma and cumulative stress and gives them tools that actually work.

[Readers.wave - Karunesh Potdar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clear path to stop holding yourself back and start moving forward. 💯

ACE Your Life is a practical and empowering guide for anyone who feels stuck in self-doubt or fear.

Instead of offering quick fixes, it breaks change into three simple but powerful steps: Acceptance, Compassion, and Empowerment.

The writing is clear, the exercises are easy to follow, and the lessons actually apply to real life.

What stands out most is how grounded it feels, it doesn’t promise overnight success, but it shows how small, steady changes can lead to lasting growth.

A thoughtful read for anyone ready to create meaningful change from within.

[Steven Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Handbook for your New Normal!

This is not just a book to read once and put it aside. It is book to read over and over again, use the exercises, and the multitude of questions provided to challenge your old self. It is a book that if you commit yourself, you can reshape your old caterpillar body into a beautiful butterfly!

I most appreciated the zen approach which is something I had found so useful in my past, and continues to be my own guide.

[Linda Amos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book which needs reading twice before starting to learn the skills taught. I say this as you Really Need to Understand The Process first, what it entails and that it is going to take the rest of your life to perfect. It will take you deep in order to change your thinking and take your life to another level. If you are expecting a book aimed at you personally you will be disappointed as the skills are taught in a general way so you can tailor them to your specific needs. There is no judgement or criticism, just sensitive and gentle direction for the reader to accept where they are now as the start point of the journey before understanding how they got there. In pictures and charts, the author clearly demonstrates how to make small changes that, if practiced, will make changes to your thoughts, behaviours and habits. A busy mum may find it challenging to meditate and do a workout before the school run, but it will show what is possible. This is not a quick fix / take this pill type of book. It’s the type of book that will change your life but it's up to the reader to do the work and gain the rewards.
Thank you to LoveReading for a free copy in exchange for a review.