Jinger Duggar Vuolo Wanted to 'Share from My Own Heart' as She Candidly Details Struggles with People Pleasing in New Book (Exclusive)
The former reality star's new book, 'People Pleaser: Breaking Free from the Burden of Imaginary Expectations', comes out on Jan. 14
Jinger Duggar Vuolo's latest book is unlike anything she's written in the past.
In People Pleaser: Breaking Free from the Burden of Imaginary Expectations (out Jan. 14 from Thomas Nelson) the former Counting On star candidly details her struggles with people pleasing, stemming from a belief she wasn't enough that started in childhood. "I was more of the child who just wanted to get along with everyone," she tells PEOPLE exclusively.
"Even in the family, I would not try to ruffle anyone's feathers. I just wanted to keep everybody happy with me all the time," Jinger, now 31, continues. "I think in my teenage years it started to be more prevalent because at that point, you're starting to process a lot more."
It only worsened with the teachings of Bill Gothard, her minister at her former controversial ultra-conservative church, the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP).
"There was so much that was drilled into you through what he said about trying to please your husband and if you don't, he's going to leave you," she recalls. "It was all so focused on, 'Do this, do this, do this,' otherwise, you're not going to be enough for him."
Jinger credits her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, with whom she shares daughters Felicity, 6, and Evangeline, 3, and is currently expecting a third child, for helping to dismantle her long-held feeling of unworthiness. "He really challenged me just to be myself. That gave me so much freedom to be able to open up and be vulnerable," she says.
For more from Jinger Duggar Vuolo, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.
As she details her journey to overcoming being a people pleaser in her latest book, Jinger has learned the importance of speaking her mind along the way — no matter what anyone has to say about it.
"On social media, there will be people who say stuff to any of us. They'll say things that are unkind, they'll have their own ideas of why I might do something," she explains.
"But I wanted to be able to share from my own heart, my personal experiences of how motherhood has gone, how postpartum has been for me, and just break it down and say, 'Okay, we don't all have these perfectly curated lives,'" she continues, "'and I think that everybody needs to see that and understand we don't need to keep up this facade of who we want people to think we are, but we need to be genuine and real.'"
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
People Pleaser: Breaking Free from the Burden of Imaginary Expectations comes out on Jan. 14 and is available now for preorder, wherever books are sold.
Read the original article on People