As I mentioned last week, Christmas and New Year is just around the corner.
This time of year often lends itself to a little anxiety (or a lot) and it’s so important to focus on feeling inspired rather than overwhelmed.
During this time I love to keep my spirits high by reading inspiring and thought provoking books.
I read A LOT and earlier in the year I shared my Top 10 Life Changing books here.
BUT I wanted to shake things up and do something different…so I’ve asked five of my favourite Beautiful You Life Coaches, Colleagues and dear friends to share with you their most inspiring reads.
Feel free to dig into these books now so you can end your year on a high or add them to your Christmas wish list so you can soak up the high-vibes over the Christmas break!
Make sure you read to the bottom of this post as this week I start my ‘Starting With Santa’ Christmas Giveaways!
You are in for a real treat!
Enjoy!
Kate is a self-love and spirituality coach and a beautiful soul to boot! Her new online home is coming very soon (it’s going to be spectacular!). But in the mean time you should definitely check this chick out (and sign up for her new eBook ‘Rise and Shine’ which will be launched oh-so soon!).
Money-block maven. This would’ve been a fitting nickname for me, prior to Money and Mindfulness. In this book, Lisa beautifully fuses intentional living, purpose and money, in the most perfectly aligned way, and shows us that if you want to live your life in flow, you need to get your money stuff sorted.
Like a refreshing breeze in the midst of a financial heatwave, Lisa walks us through her personal experiences with money, kindly sharing the difficult lessons she’s learnt along the way, with so much insightful knowledge you’ll want your post-its at the ready!
Money + Mindfulness is practical, insightful and easy to read, and is filled with Lisa’s token vibe of inspirational quotes and dreamy photos. A must read for anyone wanting to get their money mindset sorted once and for all.
Light is the New Black gives spirituality, and living your truth a whole new bubble of clarity. Rebecca explores lessons, stories and opportunities to shine light into the darkness in this beautiful book.
While reading Light is the New black, I had countless moments where I felt my deepest feelings were being articulated in a way they hadn’t been before.
I believe it’s Rebecca’s mix of pure honesty and internal truth that allows you to connect deeper to yourself, and her at the same time.
This book opened me up, in the most beautiful way, and I’m constantly referring back to it both for myself, and for my clients.
Reading Light is the New Black, is a precious gift for your soul.
Katherine is a life coach for introverts who is on a mission to empower extraordinary women to step into their quiet power and find their own way to shine in life. If this resonates with you I suggest you connect with Katherine online and join her free (and super supportive) League of Extraordinary Introverts group as well as her recently released eBook “SHHHH..An introvert’s guide to creating an exceptionally beautiful life.” It’s on my must-read list!
After seeing Susan Cain’s Ted talk online, I knew that her book was going to be exceptional. And it is. Chock full of stories, case studies, research and examples of introverts getting by in an extraverted world.
The depth of Quiet is classically aligned with introversion and so clearly written by an introverted person, so it’s not a surprise that the amount of information is rich with information. But to finish the book with such a thorough understanding of how introverts and, I guess, how I work was beyond my expectations.
You might think that so much ‘research’ would result in a long and arduous read, but Cain has a beautiful way with words and shares her own stories, as well as those of others from all walks of life – from college students to psychologists, and everything in between. If you’re an introvert, Quiet is a must-read.
And if you’re an extravert with introverted loved ones, this book will open your eyes up and completely transform your understanding and relationship with your quiet counterpart. Introverts have a quiet power and a deeply intuitive nature, and Quiet gives us ‘innies’ permission to fully accept and embrace that.
Three pages in to Big Magic I picked up my phone and messaged about five people to tell them they had to get this book. I already knew it would be good from listening to the Big Magic podcast and an interview between Gilbert and Marie Forleo in the lead up to its release, but the book itself was beyond my expectations. If you are a creative person, this book will change your life. If you don’t think you are a creative person, this book will change your life.
Gilbert’s matter-of-fact philosophies about creativity, inspiration, fear, and the deeply romanticised ‘muse’ are refreshing, to say the least. And the core messages centre around doing the work, taking fear on the ride with you, never burdening your creativity with your ego crap, and always moving forward without expectations around the outcome will open your eyes up to a completely new approach to…everything.
Big Magic was a game changer for me and I don’t think I’ll ever look at writing, creating, or inspiration the same again. I truly believe that every human adult should read this book and reconnect with the creative spirit we had as children and so often lose along the way.
Naomi is a Life + Wellness Coach with a background in psychology, counseling and health. She is passionate about helping people discover and use their uniqueness in order to be of service to themselves, their loved ones, and the world. I suggest you check out Naomi’s amazing ‘Freebies’ library containing a heap of great resources to help you create an extraordinary life….so very helpful! This super talented lady is also in the process of birthing her very own book….I cannot wait to dive in once it’s done!
Tara Moss is an author, journalist, TV presenter, and human rights activist. Her tenth book The Fictional Woman directly challenges – through evidence, social analysis, and Moss’ personal experience – the many fictions around women and the impact these fictions have on our lives. Some of these include, but are not limited to, what it means to be a ‘feminist’, the ‘dumb model’, the ‘real woman’, the ‘ideal body’, the ‘victim’ or the ‘survivor’ of violence, the role of ‘the mother’, and perceptions around beauty.
In my opinion, this book is a must read for women and men who want to raise their consciousness on the equality issues faced by historic and modern day women (and by consequent, men). It sure lit a spark in the activist and humanitarian part of my heart.
In this current world, we are often juggling so many balls, always busy and struggling to find time for self care. In this book, Cheryl Richardson will tell you how to introduce Extreme Self Care into your life, one month at a time. It is the perfect balance of theory (e.g., why self care is important, how taking care of yourself will impact on others, etc) with practice (e.g., practical strategies and action steps for how you can find time for self care).
So if you are someone who is wanting to boost your self care, this book will guide you through the barriers and obstacles (in your environment and self) that might get in the way, and help you establish a practice of Extreme Self Care.
Jarka Kunova is a Chief Progress Maker – someone passionate about the beauty of progress and change. A Transformational Life Coach and Desire Map Licensee with a never-ending zest for travel and writing. If you want to deepen your understanding and practice around mindfulness take a peek at her new (free) eBook ‘Limitless!’ It’s so god damn beautiful!
As the title suggests, this book explains the power of living in the now and appreciating every moment for what is. If you ever struggled understanding your mindset, limiting beliefs and the role ego plays in your life, you are in for a treat.
I came across Tolle’s teachings when I embarked on learning about mindfulness. The author keeps reminding us that all we have is the present moment and living in the past or future is simply a waste of one’s time and energy. He provides good examples of resistance and actual struggles that can easily instil limiting beliefs in one’s psyche.
Through some practical tools he assists with the reframing of the thought and changing of a habit.
My main take away from the book was around the influence of the ‘pain body’ which is the memory of trauma in our bodies that can easily determine our destiny if we let it.
This book also helped me pay more attention to the present moment and live more mindfully every day. I have been able to observe my thoughts and understand them better, which assisted with my meditation practice.
If you like setting goals for yourself, you will love this book. The approach Danielle advocates is how you want to feel in every area of your life rather than a list ticking style of goal setting. There are some practical examples between the two approaches so you can clearly see the difference.
The second part of the book is actually the Desire Map workbook. It has a number of sections where you explore your so-called ‘core desired feelings’. I would highly recommend going through the workbook even if it takes you a few days or even weeks.
When I embarked on this exercise I found it really difficult because feeling based goal setting wasn’t something I’ve done before. The examples in the book however support you with this workflow.
This book really changed my life and as a result of that I became a Desire Map licensee. My core desired feelings are: connection, authentic, flow, divine feminine and abundant.
As a Soulful Life Coach and Conscious Leader, Amy brings passion-fuelled women together to dive into their hearts desires and design the life they love. If you need a daily dose of inspiration I encourage you to check this lady out, especially on her social media platforms. Amy has a talent for giving me a boost EVERY TIME I read one of her posts and she always puts a smile on my face!
Are you at a crossroads in your life with a recurring health issue or pattern that seems to keep showing up? Maybe you’ve started to question whether there is a deeper meaning or message to it or you are at the point where you will try anything…
Mine was a combination of both of those things and this book came at a time in my life when I really needed to heal physically, mentally and spiritually.
Louise Hay shares her belief, knowledge and experience of how our dis-eases and pain are a message of something deeper (often something we have not dealt with, a past hurt or a lesson we have missed or ignored) and in fact is something that we can heal ourselves. It is absolutely fascinating and left me with some serious aha moments. Even if you can’t wrap your head around it just yet, it is definitely worth the read and opportunity to gain a new perspective on life and your health.
This one was a real game-changer for me. That little bit of tough love given to you in the nicest way possible, allowing you to own your ‘stuff’ and empowering you to move through it.
Terry Hawkins has created two characters – Flipman and Pitman. Pitman is that soul-sucking, misery guts who wants to stay buried down in the pit of despair, holding onto our story and playing the victim (we all have one) and Flipman is our very own superhero who is brave, powerful, and will flip any situation into a positive one (yes we all have one of these too).
It’s through this we are able to see that we absolutely have a choice in every situation and if your life isn’t looking or feeling how you want it to then you need to say goodbye to Pitman and call on Flipman. I highly recommend this book if you are ready to make a change today.
I’m really excited about my ‘Starting With Santa’ Gift Giveaway as I can’t wait to gift 2 books to 2 special ‘Starting With A’ readers!
This giveaway is only open to my ‘Great Mail’ subscribers. So if you’re not on my email list just enter your details in the ‘Love This Post’ box below this blog post.
All you have to do to enter the giveaway is join my mailing list and share in the comments below which one of the 10 inspiring books you most want to read and why. Simple!
Entries close Tuesday 1st December, 2015 and WINNERS will be contacted by email and shared on social media.
This is an international promotion as I will be giving away 2 Amazon ‘Kindle’ books. If you don’t have a Kindle, don’t worry! All you need is the Kindle Reader App….it’s very straightforward and I can help you out if you have questions!
I hope you loved reading the ladies reviews and I look forward to seeing which book you’re keen to read in the comments below!
Love,
