There are few books that you can really say have changed your life. Most books are wonderful to read, but for some reason or another, don’t get implemented. Just like most things in life, I believe a book crosses your path when you most need, or are most receptive to, its lessons.
I’ve read a lot of different genres lately and the books below are my favorites across many different categories. Self-help, nutrition and finance have been my most-read over the last few years. Becoming informed is a priority of mine. I may not always know what is going on in the news at all times, but I like to know what and why I am doing certain things in my life— I like to live intentionally and consciously, and books help me do that.
Reading (or listening) is an easy way to introduce new ideas or ways of thinking into your life. Along with that comes unlimited insight and often valuable lessons from just picking up a paperback.
Life-Changing Foods
by Anthony William
My favorite nutrition-related book. I find this book very intuitive and incorporate the lessons taught in this book, and his others, in my daily life. It teaches about the health benefits (physical, emotional and spiritual) of fruits, veggies, herbs and more — the main principle being ‘food as medicine’. It really got me thinking about eating for my health and adding in all of the good stuff, rather than focusing on elimination within my diet. This book opened my eyes to the abundance of fruits and veggies this world has to offer. Of course, theres tons of other beneficial information stored in these pages, but I still refer to this book frequently as a type of manual/food bible.
Ask and It Is Given
By Esther and Jerry Hicks
I heard about this book on the Rich Roll Podcast in an episode with Mike Posner. I immediately knew I needed to read this book.
This book has probably had one of the most profound effects on my life. It really changed my perspective on reality and how much my thinking, my words and my actions dictated what showed up in my life. Like most people, I am guilty of focusing on “lack”, or things that I don’t have. But because of that, according to the Law of Attraction, I am going to continue to “not have them”. This book teaches you how to change the way you view the world and how to harness all that you desire. Admittedly, this is a book I know I should be re-listening to on repeat.
I also highly recommend their book, Money and The Law of Attraction.
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
By Marie Kondo
I feel like this is a super cliche book to add to the list, but it really did have a huge impact on my life. It was around the time the Minimalism documentary came out and this book came out that I started experimenting with decluttering. I was a low-key hoarder at this point. I have since devoured many books on simplicity and minimalism. I think the take-home message of the minimalism movement, for me anyways, is that ‘simple’ helps to slow down my already racing mind. It also has really allowed me to appreciate all that I have. Decluttering and simplifying has went hand-in-hand with improving my finances because less stuff equals less money, and it has allowed me to instead focus on quality purchases and supporting brands who value sustainability, which is parallel to my beliefs.
Marie Kondo paved the way for me to get started with decluttering— the how-to’s and where to start. This book especially helped me get rid of the things I was holding onto due to guilt, an emotion I didn’t want attached to any of the items I chose to keep in my home. Her Netflix series is also incredible and I would highly recommend watching it.
The Miracle Morning
By Hal Elrod
I’ve been wanting to establish a morning routine for quite some time now. There are always those benchmark goals, like meditating, working out consistently, journaling, reading, etc. that have been on my to-do list for far too long. I will admit they are not all a part of my life consistently right now, but I have made progress largely due to this book.
I write this at a time I am not super proud of my morning routine, because if I’m being honest, sleep has taken priority lately. But, there was a point where I was meditating, journaling and reading consistently— with a wakeup time of 4am. I have since been able to incorporate reading and writing consistently into my routine, regardless of time. What I love so much about this book though is that it focuses on implementing parts of your routine centered around self-care and self-improvement. The reason he suggests implementing routines and habits like exercise, not hitting snooze, meditation, etc. in the morning is because they all assist us in growth in some manner, and usually, by the time the day passes us, we have no more energy or drive to complete them. By getting them done first thing in the morning, we will always be prioritizing our growth.
Whole
By T.Colin Campbell
Whole is a book that can change your views about nutrition, the health care system and our historic beliefs. If you are at all confused about the current state of affairs with healthcare and wonder why or how we got to this place, read this book. It focuses largely on the science — how studies are designed, why there is confusion among our population, supplementation, and industry profit, to name a few. If you want the facts, this book is for you.
The Total Money Makeover
By Dave Ramsey
This book changed our entire financial situation. No joke that it altered our life trajectory. Dave Ramsey teaches you the basics of money, which I wish were a part of high school or college curriculum… because money is kind of important to learn about.
This book focuses primarily on getting out of debt — the how’s and why’s. It also touches upon investments, but I used this book mostly as a resource for paying off debt. While Andy and I were ‘debt snowballing’, as it is termed, we also listened to his podcast pretty heavily for motivation and inspiration. Loans and debt can be daunting, but this book was the first spark of possibility for me. I couldn’t be more grateful to have come across this book at the time I did. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to improve their financial situation, for good. No quick fixes, just hard work that literally pays off.
Big Magic
By Elizabeth Gilbert
I’ve been struggling with ‘creativity’ and ‘inspiration’ lately and this book hit upon all of the subjects I needed. We all live in a world with constant consumption. We also live in a results-driven society with an emphasis on comparison. Elizabeth Gilbert preaches creating just to create, because we need it. The freedom that comes with just getting lost in whatever we’re doing. Things don’t need to be perfect, they don’t even need to be good, but we need to create. I loved this book and it felt liberating to know that we really don’t need to focus so heavily on results all of the time and can remember that creating is just as much about us as it is about sharing the results with the world.
A Return To Love
By Marianne Williamson
I don’t consider myself to be a very religious person— spiritual yes, religious, no. I believe that there are powers much greater than ourselves but to the extend of who that is and the purpose of it all, well I think we all are allowed to question and challenge those thoughts to our own extent.
A Return To Love focuses on just that, love. Fear is something I think I could say the majority of us, as humans, struggle with. For me, fear has held me back in countless situations and I can usually see it reoccurring in many current or future situations if I am not careful. But love feels good and this book is all about infusing love into our lives in order to live a truly happy and peaceful life.
Some other goodies
+ Atomic Habits
+ Skinny Bitch (this book is the reason I pretty easily broke my cheese addiction and never wanted meat again in my life)
+ Rushing Woman’s Syndrome
+ Playing with Fire
+ Choose FI
+ How Not to Die
+ Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life
+ Woman Code
+ Taking Charge of Your Fertility
+ The Alchemist
+ You Are The One
+ The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
TIP: Get a library card!
This will save you so much money, especially if you cruise through books. Typically, I will rent every book I am going to read and if I really love the book, then I purchase it. I rarely purchase books nowadays and love using the library as a resource. Occasionally, the library won’t have the book I want to read, so I will purchase it.
The library has become a crazy valuable resource for me. I rent all types of books, even cookbooks. I have a card at my local library, which allows me to rent anything local and to also utilize the online resources like Hoopla, where I can rent e-books and audiobooks. I also have an electronic card for the Boston Public Library, which usually has a larger selection to pick from.