My Top 10 Self-Help Books (Day 6)
It’s 9pm on Thursday night, Day 6 of my 30 Days of Blogging challenge, and I’m already struggling to pull content from the deep recesses of this ole brain of mine. It probably doesn’t help that today was my last day off after an extended holiday weekend. A day in which I once again slept in past my normal wake up call and enjoyed a day of doing whatever I deemed important. Today that involved a whole lot of reading, catching up on YouTube and working on some personal projects. However, the motivation to write was limited.
But, that’s part of the challenge now isn’t it?! 30 days of writing means 30 days of figuring out what exactly to write about. Some days will be easier than others of course. Some days I’m sure will feel darn near impossible. Thankfully I’m not there just yet...
Today I finished book 16 of 2022 and started book 17. I’ll admit reading hasn’t felt like a priority in 2022. As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, the year has been a bit of a whirlwind and I feel like I’m just barely getting my head above water, now, in the seventh month of the year. Hello July, how ya doin?
Nevertheless, as you know, reading has always been one of my greatest loves. I’m making my way through a stack of books I’ve had by my nightstand for a while now and the one I finished today actually inspired Day 6’s blog post. Book 16 of 2022 (that I finished today) was ‘Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time‘ by Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz. It was a phenomenal read - one I’d highly recommend - and really got me thinking about a number of things in my own personal as well as professional life. Namely, it got me thinking about other tremendous ‘self-help’ books that I’ve read which finally brings me to today’s post: My Top 10 Self-Help Books (in no particular order).
If you find yourself in the position of looking for your next great self-help book, the one that really picks you up and gives you that swift kick in the butt that you’re looking for, or perhaps encourages you to think differently about a particular subject, then look no farther than today’s blog post. Again, these are in no particular order. Happy Reading! (Quite literally!!).
The Multi-Hyphen Life by Emma Gannon
Summary: In The Multi-Hyphen Life, award-winning British author-podcaster Emma Gannon explains that it doesn't matter if you're a part-time PA with a blog, or an accountant who runs an online store in the evenings—whatever your ratio, whatever your mixture, we can all channel our own entrepreneurial spirit to live more fulfilled and financially healthy lives.
Technology allows us to work wherever, whenever, and enables us to design our own working lives. Forget the outdated stigma of “jack of all trades, master of none,” because having many strings to your bow is essential to get ahead in the modern working world. We all have the skills necessary to work less and create more, and The Multi-Hyphen Life is the source of inspiration you need to help you navigate your way toward your own definition of success.
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
Summary: After decades of research, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., discovered a simple but groundbreaking idea: the power of mindset. In this brilliant book, she shows how success in school, work, sports, the arts, and almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities. People with a fixed mindset—those who believe that abilities are fixed—are less likely to flourish than those with a growth mindset—those who believe that abilities can be developed. Mindset reveals how great parents, teachers, managers, and athletes can put this idea to use to foster outstanding accomplishment.
In this edition, Dweck offers new insights into her now famous and broadly embraced concept. She introduces a phenomenon she calls false growth mindset and guides people toward adopting a deeper, truer growth mindset. She also expands the mindset concept beyond the individual, applying it to the cultures of groups and organizations. With the right mindset, you can motivate those you lead, teach, and love—to transform their lives and your own.
Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins
Summary: For David Goggins, childhood was a nightmare -- poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse colored his days and haunted his nights. But through self-discipline, mental toughness, and hard work, Goggins transformed himself from a depressed, overweight young man with no future into a U.S. Armed Forces icon and one of the world's top endurance athletes. The only man in history to complete elite training as a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller, he went on to set records in numerous endurance events, inspiring Outside magazine to name him "The Fittest (Real) Man in America."
In Can't Hurt Me, he shares his astonishing life story and reveals that most of us tap into only 40% of our capabilities. Goggins calls this The 40% Rule, and his story illuminates a path that anyone can follow to push past pain, demolish fear, and reach their full potential.
Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything by BJ Fogg
Summary: BJ FOGG is here to change your life—and revolutionize how we think about human behavior. Based on twenty years of research and Fogg’s experience coaching more than 40,000 people, Tiny Habits cracks the code of habit formation. With breakthrough discoveries in every chapter, you’ll learn the simplest proven ways to transform your life. Fogg shows you how to feel good about your successes instead of bad about your failures.
This proven, step-by-step guide will help you design habits and make them stick through positive emotion and celebrating small successes. Whether you want to lose weight, de-stress, sleep better, or be more productive each day, Tiny Habits makes it easy to achieve—by starting small.
Summary: Much of the advice we’ve been told about achievement is logical, earnest…and downright wrong. In Barking Up the Wrong Tree, Eric Barker reveals the extraordinary science behind what actually determines success and most importantly, how anyone can achieve it. You’ll learn:
• Why valedictorians rarely become millionaires, and how your biggest weakness might actually be your greatest strength • Whether nice guys finish last and why the best lessons about cooperation come from gang members, pirates, and serial killers
• Why trying to increase confidence fails and how Buddhist philosophy holds a superior solution • The secret ingredient to “grit” that Navy SEALs and disaster survivors leverage to keep going • How to find work-life balance using the strategy of Genghis Khan, the errors of Albert Einstein, and a little lesson from Spider-Man
By looking at what separates the extremely successful from the rest of us, we learn what we can do to be more like them—and find out in some cases why it’s good that we aren’t. Barking Up the Wrong Tree draws on startling statistics and surprising anecdotes to help you understand what works and what doesn’t so you can stop guessing at success and start living the life you want.
The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying by Nina Riggs
Summary: We are breathless but we love the days. They are promises. They are the only way to walk from one night to the other.
Poet and essayist Nina Riggs was just thirty-seven years old when initially diagnosed with breast cancer—one small spot. Within a year, she received the devastating news that her cancer was terminal.
How does a dying person learn to live each day “unattached to outcome”? How does one approach the moments, big and small, with both love and honesty? How does a young mother and wife prepare her two young children and adored husband for a loss that will shape the rest of their lives? How do we want to be remembered?
Exploring motherhood, marriage, friendship, and memory, Nina asks: What makes a meaningful life when one has limited time? “Profound and poignant” (O, The Oprah Magazine), The Bright Hour is about how to make the most of all the days, even the painful ones. It’s about the way literature, especially Nina’s direct ancestor, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and her other muse, Montaigne, can be a balm and a form of prayer.
Hello, Fears: Crush Your Comfort Zone and Become Who You’re Meant to Be by Michelle Poler
Summary: In this inspiring and motivational new book, founder of the Hello Fears social movement Michelle Poler is challenging you to say hello! to your fears and find meaningful happiness outside the traditional definition of success by living with courage and tapping into your full potential.
With kick-butt attitude and a humorous *wink*, Michelle breaks down each set-back she battled on the road towards joyful purpose. Her stories and practical strategies encourage you to name, accept, and embrace what's holding you back so you can be the heroine in your own life, not the victim.
Hello, Fears is an honest, empowering guide to living alongside what scares you. Our fears reveal what we care about the most, so each and every challenge is an opportunity to grow, hustle, and be your authentic self—unapologetically.
Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live by Martha Beck
Summary: In this book, you'll start by learning how to read the internal compasses already built into your brain and body--and why you may have spent your life ignoring their signals. As you become reacquainted with your own deepest desires, you'll identify and repair any unconscious beliefs or unhealed emotional wounds that may be blocking your progress.
This will change your life, but don't worry--although every life is unique, major transformations have common elements, and Beck provides a map that will guide you through your own life changes. You'll learn how to navigate every stage, from the first flickering appearance of a new dream to the planning and implementation of your own ideal life.
Based on Dr. Beck's work as a Harvard-trained sociologist, research associate at Harvard Business School, instructor at Thunderbird Business School, and especially on her experiences with her clients over the last six years, Finding Your Own North Star offers thoroughly tested case studies, questionnaires, and exercises to help you articulate your core desires and act on them to build a more satisfying life.
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield
Summary: A succinct, engaging, and practical guide for succeeding in any creative sphere, The War of Art is nothing less than Sun-Tzu for the soul.
What keeps so many of us from doing what we long to do?
Why is there a naysayer within? How can we avoid the roadblocks of any creative endeavor—be it starting up a dream business venture, writing a novel, or painting a masterpiece?
Bestselling novelist Steven Pressfield identifies the enemy that every one of us must face, outlines a battle plan to conquer this internal foe, then pinpoints just how to achieve the greatest success.
The War of Art emphasizes the resolve needed to recognize and overcome the obstacles of ambition and then effectively shows how to reach the highest level of creative discipline.
Think of it as tough love . . . for yourself.
Whether an artist, writer or business person, this simple, personal, and no-nonsense book will inspire you to seize the potential of your life.
Anatomy of the Spirit: The Seven Stages of Power and Healing by Caroline Myss
Summary: Anatomy of the Spirit is the boldest presentation of energy medicine to date, written by one of its premier practitioners, internationally acclaimed medical intuitive Caroline Myss, who is amongst the "hottest new voices in the alternative health/spirituality scene" (Publishers Weekly). Based on fifteen years of research into energy medicine, Dr. Myss's work shows how every illness corresponds to a pattern of emotional and psychological stresses, beliefs, and attitudes that have influenced corresponding areas of the human body.
Anatomy of the Spirit also presents Dr. Myss's breakthrough model of the body's seven centers of spiritual and physical power, in which she synthesizes the ancient wisdom of three spiritual traditions-the Hindu chakras, the Christian sacraments, and the Kabbalah's Tree of Life-to demonstrate the seven stages through which everyone must pass in the search for higher consciousness and spiritual maturity. With this model, Dr. Myss shows how you can develop your own latent powers of intuition as you simultaneously cultivate your personal power and spiritual growth.
By teaching you to see your body and spirit in a new way, Anatomy of the Spirit provides you with the tools for spiritual maturity and physical wholeness that will change your life.