Best Self-Development Books of the Year.

My top 5 books of the year for self-development.

In my previous book review blog, I mentioned how much of a book worm I am, and this is most definitely still the case now. This year I’ve just finished book number 100 and still have 4 books on the go which I hope to finish before 2019 ends. I do read a mixture of genres; fiction of all kinds, non-fiction, books specifically related to my business and self- development books as well. I find myself talking about books a lot to my clients, especially recommendations for self-development books. This is why this blog is focussing on my favourite five I’ve read this year and providing reasons why I enjoyed reading them so much. 

Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo

You can do whatever you set your mind to if you just roll up your sleeves, get in there, and do it. Everything is figureoutable.”

This is the best book I’ve read this year. It came at exactly the right time and whilst there’s nothing new about what Marie talks about, it is a perfect accumulation of lots of information, tips and techniques in order for you to achieve your goals. I love how straight forward it is to read and also the stories Marie shares will give you hope about what you can achieve in the future. Our potential is literally limitless, we just need to set goals, a plan and to shift our mindset to one of belief that we can achieve what we want to achieve.

“Yet there can be no significant change in the world unless we first have the courage to change ourselves. In order to change ourselves, we must first believe we can.”

There is a lot of content relating to the importance of mindset and the importance of having belief that you can achieve your goals. It also discusses your own personal belief systems and how they can be holding you back and Marie provides tips on changing these to enable you to be more successful and productive. There are also chapters on goal setting, being clear about what it is you want, overcoming fear and also stepping outside of your comfort zone, as well as overcoming obstacles, dealing with negativity and the importance of monitoring progress and evaluating what you have done. 

The thing I loved about this book is it’s good not only for business owners, but good for all aspects of your life. Basically, the moral of the story is to keep saying the phrase “Everything is figureoutable’ every time you are unsure about something or have an issue. Keep saying the mantra until you believe that yes, everything is figureoutable and you find a solution to your problem!

Super Attractor by Gabrielle Bernstein

I love Gabrielle Bernstein and her work. I’ve read all of her books so it came as no surprise that I loved this book and I even bought the accompanying oracle deck to go with the book as it resonated with me on so many levels. The oracle deck is gorgeous by the way, well worth the investment 🙂

In a way, this book is quite similar to Marie’s book, but this definitely has a more spiritual element to it and is more focussed around the law of attraction and identifying ways of increasing your vibe so that you can attract the positive into your life. 

Gabby shares a lot of stories about her own spiritual journey and she is extremely honest throughout about her past life covering so many topics and shared how she became a ‘super attractor’ and ended up manifesting the life she wanted.

There is a lot of content about affirmations and mantras, with focus on positive thinking and shifting your mindset. Using positive words rather than negative ones. There are lots of methods you can apply to manifest abundance in your life and these are straightforward and not wishy washy and can applied to your day to day lives. In the end, most of it comes back to choosing love and joy over negativity. 

Gabby does discuss calling upon angels in this book and there is some advice about working with angels for protection, guidance and manifestation. She also provides advice about how to become more spiritually aligned. This may be a little too woo woo for some, but I loved it 🙂

For me the best part of this book was the reiterating the use of affirmations and the law of attraction content. In order to be a super attractor, you need to believe, you need to be positive and you need to distance yourself from anything that will lower your vibe. Keep shining and doing your thing and you will achieve great things!

A Super Attractor card.

The Stress Solution by Dr Chatterjee

Hands up who loved the five pillar plan? I don’t think I’ve ever come across a man who speaks so much sense as Dr Chatterjee. My Facebook followers will know that I love Dr Chatterjee’s podcast ‘Feel better, live more’, and I listen to it every week. As a reflexologist, I see so many clients who suffer from stress and in a lot of cases, the stress gets so bad, it makes people physically ill. I’ve been there, so I know first-hand the impact chronic stress has on the body and how, if untreated, it can manifest itself into illness.

The Stress solution is a truly fantastic book and I believe that everyone should read it, whether they are stressed or not. Dr Chatterjee talks about what stress is and how it can impact the body adversely. This needs to be more widely understood, if only we were able to manage our stress levels, a lot of illness could be avoided!

Most of the book is ideas and tips on ways you can manage your stress, how you can switch your mindset (using affirmations and practicing gratitude), the importance of food and exercise when it comes to reducing stress and the importance of rest and sleep. 

Dr Chatterjee introduces the L.I.V.E framework (Love, intention, vision, engagement) and gives tips on how you can incorporate these factors into your lives with the view to helping you to manage your stress levels. 

Reflexology and massage also get a mention, quite rightly so, anyone who has had either will know how relaxing they are – therefore potentially helping manage people’s stress levels! 

This book is a revelation and full of useful information, tips and easy to read information about managing stress. In today’s fast paced world, there are so many things we can take from this book to help to improve the quality of our lives and to hopefully feel less stressed in the process.

Fantastic book!

Just Eat It by Laura Thomas PHD

This is a really refreshing read, in a world which is dominated with diet culture, which for many can be toxic. I loathe diet culture with a passion and find it so boring when people bleat on about diets constantly, when there are far more interesting things to talk about in the world. Basically, we are made to believe that being thin is the only acceptable option and that being anything other than a size 10 or under is wrong. This book is basically a big up yours to the diet industry and in it, Laura provides strong evidence why diets don’t work and how punishing our bodies is not only physically destructive in the long term, but also how it is bad for out mental health, especially as diets fail for 95% of people. 

Laura talks a lot about self-compassion and self-acceptance and how body neutrality is something we should be aiming to achieve. Laura talks about intuitive eating and gives lots of hints and tips throughout about how you can have a better relationship with food and tools you can put into place to help you along the way. 

I 100% recommend this book, I swear throughout it you’ll be agreeing with so much of what is written it really is a revelation and hopefully it will help you to understand and accept that being thin isn’t the be all and end all of all of our existences. 

Your Dream Life Starts Here by Kristina Karlsson

I read this in January and it was the perfect book to set me up for a productive and successful 2019. Kristina owns the stationary company Kikki K. (my absolutely favourites, oh my word I love their stuff!) Kristina also presents a podcast which I also recommend if you are interested in business, goal setting or self-development – she really is a full of inspiration.

This book is so much more than goal setting, you will need to read it and do the exercises as well in order for it to be fully effective. The first step is to identify what your dreams actually are. 

“Dreaming is the first step to creating and living your dream life.”

Kristina explains the importance of dreaming big and to write down all of your dreams, short term and long term and also dreams which seems unobtainable, still write them down! Kristina then talks about prioritising your dreams and focussing on three important ones to you. Kristina will then help you to discover what your passions are and to identify your values as well.

There are chapters on taking action, sharing your dreams with others, being curious and finding out about other people’s dreams are and reviewing your progress. Kristina also has some really fascinating stories to tell, which are beautifully captured in this book, there is lots of inspiration to ponder over! 

This book is easy to read, contains simple steps and exercises which are relevant and effective, which is why I recommend it to anyone who is looking to improve their life. Definitely do the exercises though, as this is the key to get optimum benefit from this book. 

So many index notes here!

Conclusion

As you can see, this year I’ve moved a little away from the more ‘woo woo’ or what others may call more spiritual books and this wasn’t intentional, it’s just that this year I’ve been focussing more on growing my business as well as personal self -development rather than spiritual development, which was my main focus for last year. Who knows what my focus will be for next year, but one thing is for certain, I will not stop reading and learning.

What books do you enjoy reading? Do you find self- development books useful or one big cliché?