Politics & Government
![Lilly Singh - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B09FBXZBZ9.jpg)
Be a Triangle: How I Went from Being Lost to Getting My Life into Shape
From the New York Times bestselling author of How to Be a Bawse comes an "insightful and charmingly funny" (Rupi Kaur) primer on learning to come home to your truest and happiest self.
"I love Lilly's honest and helpful advice about achieving happiness."-Mindy Kaling, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Why Not Me?
"It's time to flip right side up. It's time for this book title to make sense. It's time to be a triangle."
Everyone-even world-famous actress, author, and creator Lilly Singh-knows that sometimes life just sucks. In this book, Singh provides a safe space where readers can learn how to create a sense of peace within themselves. Without sugarcoating what it's like to face adversity-including acknowledging her own intensely personal struggles with identity, success, and self-doubt-Singh teaches readers to "unsubscribe" from cookie-cutter ideals.
With her signature blend of vulnerability, insight, and humor, Singh instructs readers to "be a triangle," creating a solid foundation for your life, one that can be built upon, but never fundamentally changed or destroyed. As she puts it, we must always find a way to come home to ourselves: "we must create a place, a system of beliefs, a simple set of priorities to come back to should life lead us astray, which it definitely will."
Like a wise, empathetic friend who always keeps you honest, Singh pushes you to adjust your mindset and change your internal dialogue. The result is a deeply humane, entertaining, and uplifting guide to befriending yourself and becoming a true "miracle for the world."
"I love Lilly's honest and helpful advice about achieving happiness."-Mindy Kaling, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Why Not Me?
"It's time to flip right side up. It's time for this book title to make sense. It's time to be a triangle."
Everyone-even world-famous actress, author, and creator Lilly Singh-knows that sometimes life just sucks. In this book, Singh provides a safe space where readers can learn how to create a sense of peace within themselves. Without sugarcoating what it's like to face adversity-including acknowledging her own intensely personal struggles with identity, success, and self-doubt-Singh teaches readers to "unsubscribe" from cookie-cutter ideals.
With her signature blend of vulnerability, insight, and humor, Singh instructs readers to "be a triangle," creating a solid foundation for your life, one that can be built upon, but never fundamentally changed or destroyed. As she puts it, we must always find a way to come home to ourselves: "we must create a place, a system of beliefs, a simple set of priorities to come back to should life lead us astray, which it definitely will."
Like a wise, empathetic friend who always keeps you honest, Singh pushes you to adjust your mindset and change your internal dialogue. The result is a deeply humane, entertaining, and uplifting guide to befriending yourself and becoming a true "miracle for the world."
Editorial Reviews
"The pleasure of reading this book is learning that the Lilly you think you know-the joyous, hilarious entertainer-had a sometimes bumpy road getting there. I love her honest and helpful advice about achieving happiness."-Mindy Kaling, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Why Not Me?
"Insightful and charmingly funny . . . I related to so many aspects of this book. It's a lesson in accepting yourself as you are, while believing you have the unlimited potential to become whatever you want to be."-Rupi Kaur, #1 New York Times bestselling author of milk and honey
"In Be a Triangle, Lilly Singh gets vulnerable, revealing the obstacles and insecurities she had to overcome to find happiness and contentment, while also empowering readers to do the same. This book will change your life."-Jay Shetty, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day
"When Pinky Chachi has cornered you at the family party to pressure you into meeting her ‘cousin's friend's daughter's brother's nephew who is very handsome and started medical school two years back and drives a Mercedes, so you should connect with him and figure out what you want to do with your life before it's too late,' Lilly swoops in to save the day. ‘You know what, Pinky Chachi?!,' she says. ‘It's never too late for anything!' Lilly is the wise older sister, and her book is a great guide on how to ignore the Pinky Chachis in our worlds without negativity or anger, and instead focus on building the lives we want and finding the happiness that's possible."-Kal Penn, author of You Can't Be Serious
"Insightful and charmingly funny . . . I related to so many aspects of this book. It's a lesson in accepting yourself as you are, while believing you have the unlimited potential to become whatever you want to be."-Rupi Kaur, #1 New York Times bestselling author of milk and honey
"In Be a Triangle, Lilly Singh gets vulnerable, revealing the obstacles and insecurities she had to overcome to find happiness and contentment, while also empowering readers to do the same. This book will change your life."-Jay Shetty, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day
"When Pinky Chachi has cornered you at the family party to pressure you into meeting her ‘cousin's friend's daughter's brother's nephew who is very handsome and started medical school two years back and drives a Mercedes, so you should connect with him and figure out what you want to do with your life before it's too late,' Lilly swoops in to save the day. ‘You know what, Pinky Chachi?!,' she says. ‘It's never too late for anything!' Lilly is the wise older sister, and her book is a great guide on how to ignore the Pinky Chachis in our worlds without negativity or anger, and instead focus on building the lives we want and finding the happiness that's possible."-Kal Penn, author of You Can't Be Serious
Short Excerpt Teaser
Chapter 1
Let's start with some Real Talk
This book has terrified me. I consider myself a hard worker, someone who puts my head down and focuses on the task in front of me. But while writing this book, I pushed deadlines, ignored calendar invites, and got really creative when it came to procrastinating. I reorganized my entire kitchen. I took out my label maker and labeled a package of Oreos with a label that said . . . "OREOS." You know, to avoid any possible cookie confusion. I convinced myself that that was more productive than writing this book.
Why was this book so hard to write? It's been a challenge because over the past year or two I haven't felt like the successful, happy, energetic Lilly that everyone claims me to be. In 2020, the world quite literally collapsed, my physical and mental health deteriorated, and I have a new friend who just won't leave, named Anxiety Singh.
I wanted to write an inspirational book. After all, I'm all about hustling, and I've already written a successful self-help book called How to Be a Bawse (this will be the only plug for my other book, I promise! . . . you should get it). I wear power suits, baby! I'm a smiley person who always seems highly caffeinated. I knew people were going to expect this book to be a literary energy drink. So, I sat down and tried writing pages filled with what I thought I was supposed to say: mantras, tips, tricks, love yourself, quote, quote, quote, *insert the word "energy" ten times here.* And every time I sat down to write, I got lost. Day after day I would sit at my computer and try to convince myself I had the answers for you and for me, but I simply didn't. I wasn't even the best version of myself and yet I was trying to get into Club Thrive like I belonged there. My life felt uninspiring and mundane.
And then a realization hit me like my mother's slipper. Maybe this low point was actually the perfect place from which to write THIS book. You see, THIS book isn't a book filled with ideas and thoughts I'm hoping will work. THIS book is filled with ideas and thoughts that are tried and tested by me and have worked. The only way to write this book was by going on the journey. And girl, was it quite the journey.
After all, it's pretty whack for me to try to give you ideas about how to get your life into shape when I haven't figured out how to do so myself. That would be a facade of wisdom that I generally like to reserve for Instagram, where it belongs. Catch me on the 'gram doing a staged yoga pose incorrectly any day! Plus, who wants to hear from a person who has it all figured out? Not me. I hate when I'm venting about something and someone replies with "Oh really? I don't have those issues at all." WTF, Raj? I'm not here confessing my negative feelings so that you can tell me you have positive ones all the time. I'd rather spill those feelings to Priya, who is also a hot mess, so we can try to work on ourselves together.
And that's what this book is-a chance to work through negativity together. I'm your Priya.
Wait, no. I'm Lilly. MY NAME IS LILLY. *prints out label* *labels self Lilly Singh*
I'm doing it again . . .
Recently my life has felt kind of sucky. Within these pages, I'm hoping to figure out why. More important, I'm hoping to make a lasting change, for myself and for anyone else who needs it. And so, through meditations, reflections, tough love, sunny moments, deep conversations, and 200% honesty, I have gone on the journey and written this book. Tried and tested. There is nothing in these pages that has not deeply impacted my life for the better.
I sincerely hope it speaks to your soul.
I really need to Be a Triangle
As I sit here and think about how to make life less sucky, I find myself returning to elementary school.
Minus not being able to date a Backstreet Boy, things were simpler then. When I was faced with a problem, a teacher taught me how to solve it. I did homework that further developed my skills. I would be tested on those skills to ensure I thoroughly understood what I had learned. And if I continued to struggle, I would be given extra help. My teachers really wanted me to understand the Pythagorean theorem and damn it, they made it happen. We made it happen. I know triangles better than I know my best friend's phone number (which I don't know at all), and I'm patiently waiting to apply that valuable knowledge in my real life. Any minute now!
Even outside of academics, all my life I've applied my problem-solving skills to whatever task was in front of me. While shooting late-night television, my crew and I faced unexpected problems every single day. An email titled "Guest can no longer make it tonight" would cause multiple depa...
Let's start with some Real Talk
This book has terrified me. I consider myself a hard worker, someone who puts my head down and focuses on the task in front of me. But while writing this book, I pushed deadlines, ignored calendar invites, and got really creative when it came to procrastinating. I reorganized my entire kitchen. I took out my label maker and labeled a package of Oreos with a label that said . . . "OREOS." You know, to avoid any possible cookie confusion. I convinced myself that that was more productive than writing this book.
Why was this book so hard to write? It's been a challenge because over the past year or two I haven't felt like the successful, happy, energetic Lilly that everyone claims me to be. In 2020, the world quite literally collapsed, my physical and mental health deteriorated, and I have a new friend who just won't leave, named Anxiety Singh.
I wanted to write an inspirational book. After all, I'm all about hustling, and I've already written a successful self-help book called How to Be a Bawse (this will be the only plug for my other book, I promise! . . . you should get it). I wear power suits, baby! I'm a smiley person who always seems highly caffeinated. I knew people were going to expect this book to be a literary energy drink. So, I sat down and tried writing pages filled with what I thought I was supposed to say: mantras, tips, tricks, love yourself, quote, quote, quote, *insert the word "energy" ten times here.* And every time I sat down to write, I got lost. Day after day I would sit at my computer and try to convince myself I had the answers for you and for me, but I simply didn't. I wasn't even the best version of myself and yet I was trying to get into Club Thrive like I belonged there. My life felt uninspiring and mundane.
And then a realization hit me like my mother's slipper. Maybe this low point was actually the perfect place from which to write THIS book. You see, THIS book isn't a book filled with ideas and thoughts I'm hoping will work. THIS book is filled with ideas and thoughts that are tried and tested by me and have worked. The only way to write this book was by going on the journey. And girl, was it quite the journey.
After all, it's pretty whack for me to try to give you ideas about how to get your life into shape when I haven't figured out how to do so myself. That would be a facade of wisdom that I generally like to reserve for Instagram, where it belongs. Catch me on the 'gram doing a staged yoga pose incorrectly any day! Plus, who wants to hear from a person who has it all figured out? Not me. I hate when I'm venting about something and someone replies with "Oh really? I don't have those issues at all." WTF, Raj? I'm not here confessing my negative feelings so that you can tell me you have positive ones all the time. I'd rather spill those feelings to Priya, who is also a hot mess, so we can try to work on ourselves together.
And that's what this book is-a chance to work through negativity together. I'm your Priya.
Wait, no. I'm Lilly. MY NAME IS LILLY. *prints out label* *labels self Lilly Singh*
I'm doing it again . . .
Recently my life has felt kind of sucky. Within these pages, I'm hoping to figure out why. More important, I'm hoping to make a lasting change, for myself and for anyone else who needs it. And so, through meditations, reflections, tough love, sunny moments, deep conversations, and 200% honesty, I have gone on the journey and written this book. Tried and tested. There is nothing in these pages that has not deeply impacted my life for the better.
I sincerely hope it speaks to your soul.
I really need to Be a Triangle
As I sit here and think about how to make life less sucky, I find myself returning to elementary school.
Minus not being able to date a Backstreet Boy, things were simpler then. When I was faced with a problem, a teacher taught me how to solve it. I did homework that further developed my skills. I would be tested on those skills to ensure I thoroughly understood what I had learned. And if I continued to struggle, I would be given extra help. My teachers really wanted me to understand the Pythagorean theorem and damn it, they made it happen. We made it happen. I know triangles better than I know my best friend's phone number (which I don't know at all), and I'm patiently waiting to apply that valuable knowledge in my real life. Any minute now!
Even outside of academics, all my life I've applied my problem-solving skills to whatever task was in front of me. While shooting late-night television, my crew and I faced unexpected problems every single day. An email titled "Guest can no longer make it tonight" would cause multiple depa...
