Beyond the Surface

A Gold Medalist’s Guide to Finding and Loving Yourself

By: Jessica Long

Narrated by: Hannah Long

Inspirational speaker and Paralympic champion Jessica Long shares her story—and powerful principles to help you find your own path to unconditional self-acceptance.

Jessica Long is one of the most compelling figures of our time. From having her lower legs amputated as a toddler, she has gone on to become one of history’s most decorated athletes. Yet her true successes—and struggles—are not about winning medals or setting world records. “Our worth cannot be placed in external things—our looks, job, or approval of others,” she says. “No achievement will make us feel worthy unless we can love ourselves without judgment.”

With Beyond the Surface, Jessica offers an intimate exploration of the hard-won lessons she learned on her extraordinary journey. She opens up about the toughest challenges she faced—not just the trauma of multiple surgeries and prosthetics, but the anger, resentment, and insecurity of trying to find her place and identity in a world that viewed her as less than whole.

In each chapter, she reveals the resources and support that allowed her to overcome hardship—and translates them into practices to help you create a bedrock of self-acceptance that you can rely on even in the most difficult times.

Part 1 invites you to look within—to examine your beliefs about yourself, how they came to be, and how you can move from self-criticism and unworthiness to the freedom and possibility of unconditional self-love. Part 2 urges you to look outward—to challenge the cultural narrative and systemic forces that stand in the way of a more inclusive and equitable society.

“In sharing my story,” says Jessica, “including the ugly and uncomfortable parts, I hope to inspire you to love yourself just as you are. It is our differences that make us so incredibly beautiful and human and strong.”

Beyond the Surface is a guide to fathoming the depths of your life experience—to both that which makes you utterly amazing and unique, and the essential dignity and value we all possess.

Such a inspiration

What a great book enjoyed listening to it one of the amputee Olympian’s I admire

Beautifully Written

This was a great read! It was real, sometimes raw, yet still uplifting. The 3, 2, 1 method sounds perfect for incorporating in anyone’s daily routine. Thank you for sharing your story.

A decent read, but...

Having grown up a swimmer, I still enjoy watching the sport. I've been a fan of Jessica Long's over several Paralympics. There are many parts of her life which I find very relatable. I enjoyed the parts of this book that are memoir. I also found some of her experiences-turned-tips insightful and meaningful. That said, I am always a bit concerned about people overstepping their expertise. Jessica long is incredibly well educated; however, none of her degrees are in psychology or related field. So while her perspective is interesting, I'm not sure what would qualify her to advise people to implement her exercises and strategies. I think this plays on the public's tendencies to listen to and emulate famous people rather than experts in their respective fields. While how this is presented in this particular book is benign and potentially helpful, I think the precedent is not a good one. All the self help "tools" also become monotonous and would have, in my opinion, been better left to an accompanying workbook, which I would have bypassed. Overall, a decent read.