In Conclusion, Don't Worry About It

by Lauren Graham

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Advice for graduates and reflections on staying true to yourself from the beloved Gilmore Girls actress and New York Times bestselling author of the memoir Talking as Fast as I Can and the novel Someday, Someday, Maybe.  “If you’re kicking yourself for not having accomplished all you should have by now, don’t worry about it. Even without any ‘big’ accomplishments yet to your name, you are enough.”   In this expansion of the 2017 commencement speech she gave at her hometown Langley High, Lauren Graham, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood, reflects on growing up, pursuing your dreams, and living in the here and now. “Whatever path you choose, whatever career you decide to go after, the important thing is that you keep finding joy in what you’re doing, especially when the joy isn’t finding you.” In her hilarious, relatable voice, Graham reminds us to be curious and compassionate, no matter where life takes us or what we’ve yet to achieve. Grounded and inspiring—and illustrated throughout with drawings by Graham herself—here is a comforting road map to a happy life.   “I’ve had ups and downs. I’ve had successes and senior slumps. I’ve been the girl who has the lead, and the one who wished she had the bigger part. The truth? They don’t feel that different from each other.”

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Self Help, Memoir, Essays, Humor, Adult

52 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 3, 2018

About the author

Lauren Graham is an American actress, producer and author. She is best known for her roles on the critically acclaimed television series Gilmore Girls and Parenthood. She has performed on Broadway and appeared in such films as Bad Santa, Evan Almighty, Birds of America, and Because I Said So.

She holds a BA in English from Barnard College and an MFA in acting from Southern Methodist University. She lives in New York and Los Angeles.

There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Ryan Buckby · Rating 4 out of 5]

First read: June 17th 2018
Re-read: April 27th 2020

If you’re kicking yourself for not having accomplished all you should have by now, don’t worry about it. Even without any ‘big’ accomplishments yet to your name, you are enough.


I have said this in the past and will now say it in this review i love Lauren Graham as someone who watched Gilmore girls growing up and also starting parenthood recently, i don't thinks it's possible for me to love everything she comes out with because its just good.


This is a short book about the commencement speech Lauren made at her old high school back in 2017 and in it she talks about life and what happens after graduation. I can relate to this so much because when you graduate from high school your in that immediate stage of trying to decide wether or not you want to continue your study and go to university or start working and yes its very stressful time in your life.


I do agree we don't have everything figured out at the age of 17 and no one as a clue what they think there going to be in the future and its the period in a persons life where there figuring stuff out and seeing who they want to become. I myself have been like this for the past couple of years and i graduated high school six years ago and it is hard because society wants you to figure out what your doing straight away even when you don't know what you want.


The message that i think i will take away from this is that it doesn't matter what you choose to do after high school and if you want to go to university then go and if you want to work and figure out things thats fine because a lot of people don't figure things out to later on and Lauren made me feel like things will work out and things will figure themselves out when there ready.


This speech is something i needed to hear and i think i will come back to it when i feel like i need it and i'm glad i have it when i do.

[Cyndi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very sweet inspirational work Lauren Graham wrote and delivered at her old high school.
Its really good and has some wonderful advice.

[Karina Webster · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Lauren Graham, just thought i’d preface with that. I enjoyed this and it has inspired me a little, but I think it perhaps focussed too much on acting rather than being whatever you want to be. I’d have liked to have her insights on battling the lows to get to the highs etc...

[Brooke — brooklynnnnereads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Lauren Graham. I love her acting, I love her personality, I love her writing, I love her fiction, and I love her nonfiction. I loved this speech.

But.....unless you are getting this as a gift, I can not reasonably recommend anyone to go out and buy this. Ask for it as a gift, read it from the library, or wait until it's discounted. $30 for a book that is less than a hundred pages just does not seem worth it to me.

With that disclaimer aside though, I really did like the content of this speech. It's inspirational, it's motivational, and it's relatable. The writing is unique to Lauren Graham's personality and does include her humour that she is so known for.

This book has such a positive message in the sense that it encourages everybody to live their best life now---in the present. Yes, work for those dreams. But also, do not solely worry about that future and embrace the present.

I wish that this book was longer and that this speech was just a part of it. However, I will happily sit here and wish for more from Lauren Graham in the future.

[Marnie (Enchanted Bibliophile) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Truth is, achieving success doesn’t' automatically bring you confidence



Last night I lay awake worrying about things I had absolutely no control over. Wanting to distract myself I decided to find a short book and fall into its pages.

In Conclusion, Don't Worry About It was short and sweet and exactly what I needed to hear. After finish the book I turned the light out and went straight to sleep. No worries after all.
Thanks Graham for giving me a good night’s rest.

[Kelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

I grabbed this “book” (at the library, thank God!!) thinking it might make a good graduation gift, but I think I’ll stick with my standard Buddhist Boot Camp. This is really an article with a few doodles thrown in packaged as a book. I read it in ten minutes and I was trying hard to love it.

I really love Lauren Graham. I’m a Gilmore Girls superfan (NOT the reboot!) and I loved Parenthood. I want her to be my best friend, but I can’t in good faith recommend this article masquerading as a book. I’m sure it was a positive experience for the students at graduation. I’d have left it at that.
2.5 stars

[Julie Ehlers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I mean, it's a tiny book with wide margins and large type. You shouldn't pay for it unless you're giving it as a gift to a new graduate (make sure you enclose a check too!). This is based on a commencement speech originally given at Lauren's former high school, so it's not as sophisticated as a speech that might be given at a college graduation, as in similar books by the likes of George Saunders and David Foster Wallace. But it has Lauren's breezy, likable tone, and it's full of sentiments we can all stand to be reminded of occasionally. Again, don't pay for In Conclusion, Don't Worry About It unless you're a Lauren Graham superfan, but if you can get it from the library and keep your expectations in check, it's worth reading.

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Might give this to my niece when she graduates.

[Brandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew it was a short read but I didn’t realize it was under 50 pages. I genuinely liked everything about it and I’m always fascinated by Lauren Graham & her life. I rated it a 3 because it was a little more superficial/didn’t have as much substance as I anticipated. I thought there would be a tad more “advice.” I tend to be a sucker for inspiring books so I usually feel more after reading these types of books. But I did enjoy everything about it! I think part of it is my fault for going in thinking it was something that it was not.

[Laurence R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just love Lauren Graham! I wish this book were longer though, because the audiobook was incredibly short.

[ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s the way time moves differently when you’re caught up in the simple joy of being yourself. It’s what can happen when you make the decision to let go of criticism and worry and fear.
And that’s where The Best really lives.

This had good intentions, but it just felt a little bit repetitive, and I feel like, since I was reading this, the words didn't have as much impact. Hearing someone tell you, "Don't worry so much. You have so much ahead of you." is so much better than reading those words, because your brain discards them so easily. I wish I had heard this in an audiobook, because the words just fell kind of flat in book form. As in, they're just like helpful tips you scroll past on a positivity tumblr or something. It just could've been so much better so easily (I didn't even exhale loudly at the jokes, which we all know is the bare minimum to a book that is supposed to be somewhat funny.) In one word, this book is: forgettable.

Let joy be the thing that drives you, and I bet you’ll get there faster. Give yourself permission to make mistakes. Those mistakes are as valuable as the triumphs. If you free yourself from having to be “right,” you’ll open so many doors.

[bella°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰, 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶? 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵? 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘦, 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬, 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵: 𝘧𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳."

hearing miss lauren graham herself tell me this? awsome.

[yvette ★ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was amazing, especially when you feel like what you're doing in life isnt enough

[Caitlin (CMAReads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute, short book reminding those in a place of change to not worry about what’s to come.

[Kate Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was just what I needed after my crazy day! I love when books match up perfectly with life.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have no fear of perfection, you'll never reach it. - Salvador Dali

Oh damn.... this woman just made me cry!!!

"You are enough, just as you are."

I loooove Lauren Graham and have all intensions to listen/ read her autobiography, but I decided to start with this audiobook because it was just 30 minutes long and I had heard that it was great. Well, clearly it was. Her voice just brings me comfort and her sense of humor is just perfect. She makes me feel like I am talking to an old friend or my mother. It just feels so right.

"In conclusion, don't worry about it. You already have the most and you're already one of the best."

[Jess | thegreeneyedreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. This is a slightly extended version of a graduation speech #LaurenGraham gave to her alma mater. I enjoyed her thoughts on success and happiness. I’ve read her other books and this one didn’t disappoint. The only reason it didn’t get 5/5 is because it didn’t feel long enough. I wish she would have made this book into a memoir, using her speech as a theme. Nevertheless, I liked this book in spite of its brevity. #jpbookreview

#bookreview #litsy #litsypost #getlitsy #gilmoregirls #inconclusiondontworryaboutit

[Amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Lauren Graham and this advice spoke to me cause I'm feeling about like I'm just waiting to succeed, instead of looking for happiness and wholeness in the little things. I just wish it had been longer!

[Hirangi ྀི · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The important thing is that you keep finding joy in what you’re doing, especially when the joy isn’t finding you.” As someone who finished five and half years of med school living with imposter syndrome every single day, this touched me deeply. This is the reassurance 17 yo me always needed but never got.

[Megan BG · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. I can see how it would be a good graduation speech.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, inspiring, and down-to-earth, this book lifted me up at a time when I needed it. It’s so easy to judge ourselves—our achievements, even our worth as human beings—according to some vague idea of what we think we ought to be. As though we haven’t done as much as we should, or done things as well as we should. But maybe that’s missing the point. Maybe we’re all exactly where we need to be. As Graham writes, “Love yourself, and what you’re doing, even if you’re not yet at the place you hope to land. Let joy be the thing that drives you.” And then she adds, “[Y]ou are enough, just as you are. In conclusion, don’t worry about it.” Beautiful!

[Sonya · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love Lorelai Gilmore. And I loved reading Graham's Talking As Fast As I Can last year. But this barely-blogpost / chapter just doesn't cut it for me. The advice boils down to "don't worry about it, things will work out fine. Be grateful for what you have and dance like nobody's watching." It's facile and reductive. Even, or *particularly* for a high school commencement address. Can you imagine, for example, reading this as a graduate of Stoneman Douglas High? The world just isn't this cute and easy and lipglossy, and frankly I'm goddamn irritated the more I think about it. In conclusion, do better, Lauren Graham.

[kaylee · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The lows don’t last any longer than the highs do. Like clouds on an overcast day, sometimes we have to face the fact that what happens to us in life isn’t controllable, and if we wait a while, don’t take it personally, and decide to enjoy ourselves anyway, the sky will eventually clear up.” This made me feel so good and truly was such a good and refreshing read. So many things worth highlighting.

Excerpt From
In Conclusion, Don't Worry About It
Lauren Graham

[Hope Anderson (HopelessBookAddict) · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG why do all her books make me cry! She said all the things I needed to hear right now! Thanks Lauren!

[Carrie Templeton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, sweet, and a great reminder to get out of your own head so you can get shit done.

[Jessica C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t realize that this was just a 50 page book, i thought it was longer, so that was disappointing.

BUT, I do think it was well written & Lauren Graham is my favorite person in the world so I enjoyed hearing her read this.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short, feel-good manual on how not to worry and enjoy life more. It seems to be aimed at teens. I enjoyed Graham's sharing of personal experiences very much. A quick, fun read that left me feeling pretty positive.

[MJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

♡♡I absolutely enjoy reading her books even the ones as short as this one. It is very inspiring and wonderful. ♡♡

[fer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bonitinho e inspirador

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book: 3.5/5
Audiobook: 5/5