“Start Off with What If” by Doug Fleener is a thoughtful, practical little book. I like how each week’s journaling prompt gives you a spark to reflect, reset, and focus on what could go right. It’s simple, positive, and surprisingly grounding — a nice boost when you need gentle direction. Great! 👍

A terrific approach to making lasting change in life. I love self-help books that give practical tips you can use right away. Recommended!

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I found “Start With What If” to be a really helpful and practical read.

I’m very familiar with the concept of wondering “what if…?!” from a negative point of view as I’ve got severe anxiety so I enjoyed this being reframed into a more positive and therapeutic action for many scenarios we’ll likely face in our lives and how we can approach them for a better outcome. I appreciated the prompts & tips provided as well as the guidance and it made me reflect a lot.

I also felt too that I would likely benefit from the physical copy when it’s released, as reading the Kindle version meant I couldn’t highlight pages and make notes.

Recommend!

I am actually mind blown and taken away by how simple yet so effective this one simple rule is. I am not going to give away the rule however I will say that;

A lot of research has gone into this work and a lot of hours has been spent on it as this is honestly masterpiece written by Doug Fleener.

The way we ask questions will change the way you approach life and situations in a very different way and this will also help grow your mindset . The idea of one new thought every week baffles me how it actually works and makes sense.

There’s science behind this as well so I will highly recommend you all to read this. I finished this in a few hours that’s how addictive it is.

This leadership guide is one that I will have to revisit in a slow and focussed way. I read through pretty quickly the first time to make sure it was something I wanted to invest my time on/in. I liked what I read and think it will help me support my leadership journey in a phased and advancing way, helping to understand what curious questions to ask and why.

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC.

This book presents a great and inspiring approach to life. I will definitely incorporate aspects into my teaching!

Pause. Question. Go.

What should be simple steps to help change or create a habit.

I love the concept of this book. I love the "What If This Week...."!
I received this book from NetGalley and Five Leaf Clover Publishing, LLC in exchange for my honest review, which I am very grateful for!

The downside to receiving this as an ARC is I want to put these weekly questions into play! So I will be going back and looking at the prompts each week, working on myself!

The inflection chapters are powerful. Very hard realities with life. Blackouts. Addiction. Quitting school/work. Not everything is going to go perfect! Small steps can be big changes!

I think this is a great journal prompt, self-help, reflection book! A full year of prompts to keep you working on yourself!

I will admit that I did not go through this book in its entirety. It's built as a 52-week guide, so it felt weird to try and read that in a short amount of time. Plus, I knew I didn't need to read the whole book. From the 25% I finished, I could tell how useful this book will be to myself and to our patrons. This is the type of book where the advice can feel obvious but until you read it and try it, it wasn't obvious. There is something for everyone to take away from this book. Plus, it's not a one and done book. You could revisit it every year and the 'What If?" propositions would be different as you've changed over time. This is one that I will be adding to my personal library.

Start With What If is an easy but powerful read that I ended up finishing in one sitting, simply to see what questions would spark something new for me. I love the core concept of reframing “what if” questions, especially the shift from imagining what could go wrong to asking what could go right. That reframing genuinely stopped me in my tracks and opened up a more generous, curious way of thinking about change and possibility.

What lingered with me most is how often I thought about the book after I finished it. Over the next few days, I found myself wondering about applying some of the “what ifs” to my own life, both personally and professionally, which is a strong signal that the material is doing its job. This is an excellent read for the start of a new year, though it’s just as useful anytime you’re ready to shift your mindset, set goals, or reset how you approach challenges at home or at work.

I’d especially recommend it to anyone focused on professional growth or looking for practical, low-friction ways to change how they think and plan. I received an advance reader copy.

I really liked how applicable this book is to real life. It's simple and straightforward and helps set you up for success.

Ho dato 5 stelle a questo libro. Parla di come sia possibile “cambiare” la propria vita applicando la regola del “What if”, e lo fa in modo molto pratico: offre esempi concreti ed elenchi chiari (che io adoro!) su come mettere davvero in pratica questo metodo. Credo che non potessi iniziare meglio il 2026: è un libro che aiuta a lavorare su noi stessi in modo reale e tangibile, andando oltre le semplici parole.

Start With What If is a solid book to kick off the new year, especially if you are craving growth but feel allergic to being told exactly what to do. Instead of offering rigid instructions, Doug Fleener invites readers to shift how they think about challenging situations. The premise is simple but powerful. Change your mindset, and real change starts to follow.

The book is structured around 52 weekly prompts, each designed to help you reframe your thinking and view situations from a new perspective. One that really hit home for me was Week Five. What if this week, you gave yourself credit for what you’re doing well? Oof. That one landed.
Like many of us, I tend to focus on what is not going right instead of what is. Fleener explains this as negativity bias and how easily it can take over our thoughts if we let it. What I appreciated most was that he does not just point out the problem. He offers practical guidance while still encouraging self-compassion and grace.

He introduces what he calls The Fast Path From Wins to Wisdom, which includes four simple steps:
1. Choose one moment each day when you did something well
2. Ask yourself a few self-coaching questions
3. Capture the moment in a sentence or two
4. Use that insight going forward

It is approachable, doable, and feels supportive rather than overwhelming. I genuinely enjoyed this book and plan to use it alongside my other journaling and reflection books throughout 2026.

Thank you to NetGalley and Five Leaf Clover Publishing | Start With What If Press for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

There are many possibilities for this book, not just use as a personal journal. I could see these questions being used in different conversation contexts as well as journaling groups. The book has 53 reflection questions, so enough for a full year if you focus on one question a week. Each question starts with a brief anecdote and explanation - enough to prompt the reader, but not so much to make it feel like a burden. The chapters end with a reflection as well. While I haven't had the time to really sit and reflect on these prompts yet, I can certainly see how they will be valuable and I look forward to sitting with them and learning more. Thank you for the eARC.

I really love this book. I'm going to recommend it to a lot of people who I know could use a "What if" to help them move further along in their growth journey. This is an excellent book for people who on a personal growth journey.

Doug Fleener's START WITH WHAT IF was everything I'd hoped for: guide and goad, gentle nudge in the right direction to actually start doing rather than making lists and pondering. I found this very readable and enjoyable even as I was challenged to think deeply and live. A genuine contribution to coaching yourself and getting to know yourself a lot better. The format and the sequence work well for me. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts

It's difficult to write a review on a book that will take you over a year or more to get through.
This is the sort of book you will go back to again and again, if you are vaguely unsatisfied with your life, but not sure why or what to do about it.
Asking a series of "What If?" questions, the author suggests you take one question, mull it over for a week, work with it, and journal about it if journalling is your thing (it's not necessary).
The questions are there to give you a nudge. The author does not have a recommended way of working through the book - you may want to work through, question by question, or you may find you skip over questions that are not relevant to you, or you dip in and out and work with a question that resonates with you that week, rather than in order. I like this flexibility, but I have started with the first question:

1. What if, this week, you did one thing that you have been putting off?

After each question is an explanation for the question - the author provides the reason why he has included the question, and ideas for the sort of thing you may be avoiding (his example was doing the laundry!) the psychological reasons why; and how to address the issue. He encourages you to think about how you feel when you actually engage with the question, and take action.

I enjoy books like this: that make you face up to where and what is going wrong, or if not wrong, just not right; and encourages you to make small changes.
I've given it 4 stars because it's difficult to rate it properly at the start - I will try to remember to update it later in the year!

It's been a long time since I have committed to regular journaling but reading Start With What If by Doug Fleener has reignited my interest. I enjoyed reading about the author's background and the experiences that led them to take a different approach to life. I have already set up a journal and have written in the prompts, aiming to select one that feels most helpful every Sunday for some 'me time'. Some of the prompts don't apply to me at this point in my life, but I will tweak them so that they work for me.

I'm looking forward to continuing to engage with this book as the next 52 (or so) weeks go by.

A huge thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an eARC.

I am recommending this book to everyone! I'm hoping to get friends or my husband to go through the book with me. Given the current state of the world, each chapter provides encouragement and a small, doable challenge so that we recognize that we still have agency to affect things.

I love the structure of the book. After a basic explanation of the "What If" rule and how to use the book, you'll find 53 short chapters divided into groups of four, with a "Change & Growth Inflection chapter that can act as a summary of thoughts. This matches one What If question per week (with a bonus week) and a summary at the end of the month.

Then, in each of the chapters, which can be read in under 10 minutes, you're presented with a scenario, often enhanced with a story to further clarify the point and opportunity, along with a gentle nudge to do something. There's a bit of psychology mixed in, too. Then at the end of the chapter, the tiny challenge is broken into 4 steps that follow the What If rule - pause, think/question What If, take action, and reflect. Lastly, there's a short paragraph that wraps up the chapter neatly.

To give an example of the first chapter, "What if this week, you did one thing that you've been putting off?" Fleener gives an example of how he'd avoid doing his expense reports until they were such a monumental task that he would continue to procrastinate doing them. He explains how procrastination is really avoidance, and it helps to identify what you're telling yourself that is so scary that you want to avoid it. Is it unclear what you're supposed to do? Do you believe it will be unpleasant? Then he talks about how to fix your avoidance challenge by shrinking the task. The 4 steps are to identify one thing you've been putting off, understand why, schedule a time to attack at least a part of it, and then notice how you feel once it is done.

Besides the structure, I like that the effort required is small and spread over a week. Even reading the chapter doesn't take long. It all seems very doable, regardless of what else is already on my plate and challenging me. Over time, I believe all these small steps will show great results. It would be a book that could be done annually until such a time that you're implementing the "What If" rule automatically.

I read through the whole book so I could write this review. I have ordered a physical copy for myself and am looking forward to implementing these challenges one week at a time.

I was granted early access to it via Netgalley and Five Leaf Clover Publishing in exchange for this honest review.

This self-help book centers on one simple yet thought-provoking question: “What if…?” What if you could stop something today that might influence your tomorrow? What if you could start small and make a change for a day, a week, or even longer?

The author writes like a gentle coach guiding the reader through moments of reflection, encouraging thoughtful questioning and offering fresh perspectives. Rather than pushing drastic change, the book provides subtle nudges toward intentional, manageable shifts in daily habits.

Thank you to NetGalley and Five Leaf Clover Publishing, LLC, for the eARC.

I really enjoyed this non fiction book. The steps are doable and don’t overwhelm you in any way. If you are on a personal growth journey start with this book (pun intended). You won’t be disappointed.