Making It Without Losing It: How to Stay Motivated in a World Where We Are Never Done

USA Today Bestseller

What if success didn’t have to come at the cost of your peace of mind?

In Making It Without Losing It, bestselling author of Chasing the Bright Side and founder of Mic Drop Workshop and Headbands of Hope, Jess Ekstrom delivers a refreshingly honest guide for ambitious humans who want to chase their goals without setting their inner peace on fire. Through unfiltered storytelling, practical tools, and a few “yep, been there” moments, Jess helps readers rediscover what it actually feels like to enjoy their work, stay motivated without the meltdown, and build a life that feels as good as it looks on LinkedIn.

With her signature humor and hard-won wisdom, Jess unpacks how our hustle-harder culture convinces us to delay joy until we've “made it” and why that’s a scam. Instead, she flips the script with two big truths: success happens in the now, and motivation doesn’t come from another to-do list―it comes from within.

A self-proclaimed “walking experiment in balancing ambition and anxiety,” Jess introduces eleven mindset-shifting pillars to help you rewire your brain, quiet the chaos, and reconnect with purpose without having to move to the woods or delete all your apps.

You'll learn how to define your own “success fingerprint,” dodge burnout disguised as productivity, and embrace an “Arrived Mindset”―the radical idea that you’re already enough, right now, no spreadsheet required. This powerful shift in mindset will unlock creativity, courage, and a deeper kind of success.

Smart, funny, and with grounded strategies you can implement right now, Making It Without Losing It is a must-read for anyone who's done trading their peace for performance. If you're craving a version of success that includes joy, you’ve come to the right place.

Jess Ekstrom is a serial social entrepreneur and bestselling author of Chasing the Bright Side and Create Your Bright Ideas. She’s been featured in major media outlets such as the Today Show, TIME, Good Morning America, The View, Vanity Fair, People Magazine, and Forbes.

After starting and exiting her first social empire, Headbands of Hope, Jess realized that her success wasn’t about how far she could reach―but how far she can help other women reach. Today, her company Mic Drop Workshop helps women become public speakers and thought leaders. She, her husband, and her kids reside in Raleigh, NC.