“I wish people would love themselves more” (Exclusive)

According to the book’s description, It Begins With You teaches nine fundamental truths about love and self-acceptance to help readers improve their relationship with themselves. The author, whose work draws on psychology, meditation, and somatic practices, uses her decades of experience with clients to figure out how to build rewarding relationships.

“I believe that having a life goal that contributes to other people’s lives gives meaning to life, even when it’s really hard,” Turecki tells PEOPLE. “I understand grief more than I care to admit, I’ve sat through hours of fruitless couples therapy that never got to the heart of the matter, I’ve had an incredible mother who didn’t see her worth, and parents who didn’t love each other.”

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“I went through hell and put all that pain into my 20-year study of human relationships, starting with our most important one – the relationship with oneself,” she continues. “What I was born with as a result was It starts with you.”

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The truths addressed in the book cover a number of areas, including self-love, self-esteem and independence, as well as making peace with one’s family. Turecki notes that It starts with you arose from the desire to explore the complexity of love itself.

“I think one of the most misunderstood words in the English language is the word ‘love,'” she says. “Most people don’t understand what it means to truly love someone and what it means to truly be loved. That’s why so many of us struggle in relationships.”

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For Turecki, who also publishes the newsletter “Love Weekly,” the book also contains an important message of her own.

“I wish people would love themselves more,” she adds. “It all starts here. It starts with us. It starts with how we feel about ourselves.”