I noticed — many years ago — that when I read and learn a lot, I feel empowered, alive and vibrant. And I like to feel empowered, alive and vibrant. Which is also why I love to read and learn.
And most of the resources that I’ve come to love and cherish have been passed on to me from friends, colleagues and loved ones. We can all share knowledge freely, instead of hoarding it.
This is how we make life-changing introductions of all sorts for each other, instead of letting each of us “connect the dots” on our own.
Behold my list of 8 ridiculously awesome + useful books + resources you will love. Please, enjoy them as much as I have.
Blue Truth. A Spiritual Guide to Life & Death and Love & Sex.
I discovered this book in one of those serendipitous moments: I had just had an extremely intense couple of months with my business, and things were starting to beautifully unwind. Except that I wasn’t. I was still coiled up tight in response to making bigger strides and leaps and decisions than I have been used to.
And the one morning I walked over to the bookshelf and suddenly this dark blue book just shone out at me. I had never seen it in my bookcase investigation before, but there it was, calling me. And as I started to read page after page, I could feel my body relax. Uncoil. Breathe. And remember. It was exactly what I needed.
Blue Truth is a beautifully written sample of how to feel our way through life, without letting the rigours of our analytical mind taking over control. David Deida teaches how to expand and open, as opposed to contract and close, especially during challenging times, in order to experience our lives from a space of love, relaxation and almost from a higher realm or perspective. This read is perfect for those of us who are sensitive, easily stressed out, and ready to unfurl our hearts and spirits. All it takes is a little bit of practice and understanding how. Get it from Amazon.
Louise Hay Affirmation Apps.
On Facebook, I asked you what you wanted to know more about and you replied “Any particular sites/books you use for meditations or affirmations.”
These days I tend to come up with and create my own affirmations that I use to transform my thinking, when it out of alignment with where I want to go, or the kind of person I want to be. But it took practice to get to this point. About 5 years ago, I was going through a really challenging time in my life. I was in a relationship that made me feel stuck, joyless and unenthusiastic, the work I was doing wasn’t totally lighting me up, and I had a tonne of fears holding me back.
I’ve always been a fan of Louise Hay, especially her book You Can Heal Your Life, so when I discovered that she had some affirmation apps, I bought them and would listen to them non-stop. Every morning and evening I would do the meditation. And during the day I listened to the affirmations, even at work. Sometimes I played the subliminal meditations, so all my co-workers would be infected by the positive thoughts too. They helped me believe in myself, and find the inner strength to turn my situation around. I still listen to them every now and then when I feel like it. These are ones I use personally:
101 Power Thoughts Audio App
Morning and Evening Meditations Audio App
Feeling Fine Affirmations Audio App
Women’s Bodies Women’s Wisdom
If you’re a lady, and you have body, then this book is for you. It is so incredibly important that we learn to care and nurture our bodies, and its unfortunate but true, that our medical and health system just doesn’t cut it. So we have to educate ourselves on what is best for us. And then do that.
I bought this book on Kindle years ago, but only recently picked it back up, to look something up about women’s reproductive organs. It’s so refreshing to hear a Doctor speak about how all of our physical pains are reflections of the emotions that we carry within us, and that, often in order to cure and heal, we have to not only remove the physical symptoms but also the emotional conditions and beliefs connected to the particular issue. Dr Christiane Northrup touches on how every different part of a woman is connected to a specific part of her emotions and behaviours, giving us clues and tools in healing ourselves and having healthy, whole and fulfilling lives, always and forever. Get it from Amazon.
Self-Made Man
I am fascinated by men, and how wildly different they can be, from us women-folk. While we do have many similarities, I’ve come to the conclusion that we are very different creatures, and a bit of a mystery that I find entertaining to learn more about. So when I heard about a woman, and reporter, who completely disguised herself as a man, and lived like man for a whole year, through several male-dominant scenarios and environments, I was hooked.
Norah Vincent takes us through her journey as a woman, pretending to be a man, for an entire year, and reveals the hidden secrets of gentlemen-only bowling clubs; strip-clubs; dating; a high-level testosterone-fuelled sales job; and finally a monastery. She gives us an intriguing insight into the world, minds and emotions of men, which left me feeling more compassionate than ever for our sweet men-folk. They don’t have it easy, and I love them a little bit more, for, on the most part, trying so hard to get it right.
It also leaves me with feeling that the society we live in currently, as best as we are doing, still isn’t particularly supportive, of any of us. We have created such strange, twisted, unhealthy expectations and beliefs about each other, no wonder things have been so imbalanced. This read is quite captivating on so many different levels! Get it from Amazon.
#Girlboss
If you need a swift kick in your pants to finally go out and start doing things with your life, this book will do it for you. Sophia Amoruso is an eBay seller who went from totally broke to CEO in eight years. That eBay seller is Nasty Gal.
“The world loves to tell you how difficult things are, and the world’s not exaggerating. But difficult doesn’t mean impossible, and out of the bajillions of things in this universe that you can’t control, what you can control is how hard you try, and if or when to pack it in.”
Though she has a bit of a masculine, American approach to her life and business (she’s a tough lady!) her words are super inspiring and have the intended effect: getting you all bridled up and excited about taking risks, flying by the seed of your pants and just doing it, whatever it may be, without too much attachment for the outcome. Get it from Amazon.
The Big Leap
Each one of us carries ingrained, unconscious ideas of just how happy and successful we can be.
Celebrated psychologist and author Gay Hendricks coined the term “Upper Limits’ to describe how we limit our ability to reach our full potential in all areas of life. He explains that by learning to identify and transcend these self-imposed “Upper Limits,” we can expand our potential for happiness and abundance in extraordinary ways.
The understanding is that, when we reach our Upper Limit of how much positive feeling we can handle, we self-sabotage by creating a series of unpleasant thoughts and experiences to deflate ourselves. The thoughts and experiences that we subconsciously manufacture in response to hitting our Upper Limits in happiness and success, guarantee to return us to a state that we are more familiar with: not feeling so good.
In The Big Leap, we learn how to recognise and overcome those Upper Limits, so we can continue to expand, grow and enjoy more and more success, abundance and love. This book has been a game-changer for me. Get it from Amazon.
Overcoming Underearning
I recommend this book to most of my clients with money issues. And if we are honest, all of us have some kind of money beliefs that are holding us in situations that we don’t want to be in. In this day and age, debt is rife, and even people who earn above-average wages are often broke, with no savings to their name.
I passionately believe that it is imperative that women learn to feel deserving of, earn, keep and invest large sums of money. The reason is that women tend to make good decisions; nurturing, kind, community-minded decisions, that support everyone. And if we want the world to change, then we have to change. And starts by empowering ourselves to such a degree, that we can make a positive impact.
And money is one incredibly powerful way to do so.
But if we can’t even begin to own our worth and value, how can we make the money to have a positive impact in our own lives and the lives of all those around us? Read this book if you’re ready to overcome underrating. Get it from Amazon.
Turning Pro
Short, sweet, fast-to-read, and an incredible jolt of inspiration to step up your game and show up as a pro, in everything you do. Years ago I would have despised the concept of ‘turning pro’ because I thought that’s just something that wanky business-people spoke of. But in reality, it’s about mindfulness, presence and truly giving your unique gift to the world.
Even when it feels really, really hard. Because that’s where your live’s work comes from. And where everything starts to feel meaningful. Get it from Amazon.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks