For longer than I can remember, people have been asking me for my list of favourite books. Why? Because I’ve been totally open and honest since I began my business about the role books played in my healing journey from 10-years of child abuse.
I can honestly say that I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it were not for some very specific and influential books.
Now, I want to start this post being very transparent. The books I talk about below is not an exhaustive list. I’m bound to have forgotten about some life-altering books. More than that, because I am such an avid reader, I will also be updating this blog post a few times a year. As well, the books I am writing about here are not books about overcoming child abuse. Rather, they are books that I feel helped me find myself, change my perspective on life itself, and alter the way I experience my past experiences.
Lastly, the links below are affiliate links. Purchasing any of the books using my links will not cost you any more money. Now, I’d be sharing these books with you even if I didn’t have affiliate links for them, and in fact I have been doing just that in emails, social media posts and DM’s for years.
But since one of the ways I help you to empower yourself to overcome obstacles and limitations, is to teach you your value, including how to make money from the work you do. Affiliate links are such a simple way to do that for so many of us, so why wouldn’t I follow my own advice? It would be silly not to!
I’m sharing these books because they honestly and truly changed my life. Well, let’s face it, I changed my life, but the inspiration, motivation, support and suggestions on how, came from these books.
I believe in them so greatly that even when I book a new client for my 3-month Survivor to Warrior coaching program, the first thing I send them with their welcome message, is a recommended reading list, including every one of these books. And I’ve been doing that since long before I had affiliate links to them.
So, without further ado, let’s get started!
The Four Agreements
This was one of the very first books I picked up, randomly, after spotting it at a bookstore because I liked its cover. Literally, that was why I purchased this book. I had no idea how powerful an influence this would have over my life.
The agreements that the author outlines are actually simple, and once read and adopted into life, are really sensible. Each of the agreements are literally words to live by and implementing them had a profound impact on how I was choosing to live my life.
This book was my first step at looking at the power I have over my life, and how change can be adopted through quite simple solutions, but with consistency and effort. A couple decades after first reading this book, I read it again for a free online Book Club I run. I simply couldn’t believe how much of it is still relevant, not to mention how much I actually implement his suggestions into my life now, without any effort.
If you are struggling with being stuck in a rut, repeating patterns that you’d rather not, and aren’t sure what to do to change things, then this is the book for you!
The Seat of the Soul
Another of my first book encounters to change my life, this book changed my life in such a profound way. It single-handedly changed the way I see the world and facilitated the first glimpse I had into beginning to understand my actions and behaviour.
The latest edition even includes web links to a new study guide to help you implement the strategies suggested, as well as allow you to find even deeper meaning.
Fast forward a couple decades, after becoming an NLP Practitioner (Neuro Linguistic Programming), and re-reading this gem, I was shocked at how much similarity there is to the self-reflection and deep work this book inspired me to do on myself in my twenties, and the techniques I use in NLP to help others do the same.
If you’re looking for a guide to finding authentic power and a deeper understanding of our spiritual evolution, you’ve found the right book. And with prefaces by Oprah Winfrey and Maya Angelou, you just know you can’t go wrong with this one!
Going Within: A Guide for Inner Transformation
This book was given to me from my Mother when I was in my late teens and reading it was an incredible eye-opening experience.
To say this book guides you towards finding inner peace and awareness is a vast understatement. It is actually a book about a profound spiritual awakening and includes powerful strategies to master.
Reading this book as a teenager gave me a serious ah-ha moment. This marks the very first time I began to explore the notion of spirituality and the role of spirit in our lives. This allowed me to start understanding my existence at a deeper level.
Again, this is a mind-blowing exploration of our spirituality. If you are looking to explore the spiritual realm and find substantially different ways to look at things, then this is your book.
The Secret
Seeing as we’ve started down the spiritual path, we might as well continue! The Secret is probably one of the best-known spiritual books of our time. It was so popular it was first released and continues to intrigue the best minds.
The transformation I experienced when reading this book was like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. It’s like my eyes were opened, never again able to be closed (in a very good way, of course!).
Not only do you learn the ‘secret’, you also learn how to use it in your everyday life, in all areas of your life. You will learn of many people, their stories, and how they implemented the ‘secret’ to overcome a variety of issues such as illness, poverty, and many more types of obstacles.
If you’re looking for help untapping your inner power, then this is the book for you!
The Celestine Prophecy
Again, in the common theme of spiritual awakenings, we have The Celestine Prophecy. What I love about this book is that James Redfield, the author, chose not to write this as a self-help style guide, but as a story.
The lead character travels, not only physically around the world, but spiritually. His journey begins when he learns of a manuscript. As he tracks down all the nine teachings, or insights, of the manuscript, he learns deep spiritual lessons that transform his life and understanding of the world.
If you’re looking for transformation while reading a gripping story filled with adventure, then this is the book for you.
The Tenth Insight
Following up from the first book, The Celestine Prophecy, the author continues his amazing journey, this time tracking down the tenth insight, or teaching, from the ancient manuscript. This time, the journey takes the lead character, and us, into other dimensions and to the moment before our conception and beyond.
Again, what drew me into this book was the storytelling abilities of the author. I love self-help books and books that outline another way of seeing and interpreting things, but nothing beats learning via a good story. Getting attached to the character and visualising yourself in his shoes helped me to relate when I was reading words I didn’t yet relate to.
If you loved The Celestine Prophecy, The Tenth Insight is the next logical step!
In the Meantime: Finding Yourself and the Love you Want
When I read this book for the first time, in my twenties, I was in a cycle of desperately searching for love in all the wrong places. I thought that I needed to find someone to love me in order to feel loved. But because I didn’t love myself, or believe I deserved to be loved, I kept repeating this pattern of choosing the wrong men to attempt to partner with.
I would choose men who weren’t available emotionally, truly believing that if I could get this person to love me, I’d be worth loving. I was falling in love with who I wanted them to be and putting all the pressure for feeling loved onto them.
This book helped me to break this cycle, accept the people in my life for who they are, not who I wanted them to be, and start exploring learning and growing from my mistakes.
If you’re caught up in a relationship mistake cycle and want to figure out how to change this, then this is the book for you.
Self Matters: Creating your Life from the Inside Out
I know Dr. Phil isn’t for everyone, but I love his work! He’s a tell it like it is, hard hitting psychologist who transfers that skill to his books. Now I’ve read a few of his books and enjoyed each of them. While I got so much from each publication, I’d like to focus on this book – a book about self-esteem.
In this book, Dr. Phil tells it like it is on all things self-esteem. He calls us out on using it as a crutch and challenges us to creating a better plan.
Like all the others in this blog, this was (and still is) a life changing book for me. It opened my eyes to my inner dialogue, and most importantly, my excuses.
If you’re looking for someone to get in your face and not let you listen to yourself, or your excuses, anymore, then this book is as good as a therapy session with him – or being up on the stage with him on his Dr. Phil TV Show.
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
Dr. Deepak Chopra really nailed it with this one. Again, I read this book at just the right time in my life, and it had a tremendous effect on my belief in my abilities, opening me to welcoming success.
Seven laws may seem like it could be overwhelming, but they are not. They are simple and make sense, even to the notice spiritualist. Better yet, they act as a much needed guide, so you’re not left on your own to figure out how to implement them.
This is book is next on my list to read again. I’m a big fan of expanding my knowledge and understanding through reading, however I also believe it is important to return to the philosophies that had a life-altering impact on your life. Every time I take the time to do this, I surprise myself with how much I am still implementing into my daily life. Over the years it’s become so engrained in me that it has just become natural. It’s embedded itself into my personality! This book is no different.
If you’re struggling with a lack of success in area of your life and are ready to make some serious changes, then this book is for you.
The Universe Has Your Back: How to Feel Safe and Trust your Life No Matter What
All the books so far have been oldies but goodies – books I read more than two decades ago. Not this one. I read this book by Gabby Bernstein just this year (in 2019), and I loved it.
While there wasn’t anything new in this book for me, it still packed a great punch. Had I read it in my twenties, it would have changed my life. Today, in my forties, it was a great read the reinforced all my beliefs and reminded me to stay true to myself while continuing to build my business.
Gabby focuses on shifting from living in fear versus living with love, and the effect of each on our lives. It’s an amazing exploration into releasing the blocks that plague most of us, affecting our happiness, sense of security, and the direction our lives are taking.
If you’re looking to find your true power, using tools and strategies to guide you, then this is the perfect book for you.
And there you have it, the top 10 books that changed my life!
Of course, I can’t forget to mention my own book, Survivor to Warrior: You can change your life. That would be silly!
Now, let me be perfectly clear – books are a tool, YOU must use the tool to build… in this case, your dream life.
That means you have to work. It’s not enough to read the books, or even highlight the passages. Believe me, I know. That’s exactly what I did for the first few years of my healing journey, back in my twenties. I was convinced that spending the money on the books, the time to read them, and the effort to highlight the things that intrigued me was the work.
It wasn’t. Not even close.
That’s why this title is “The Top Ten Books that can Change your Life”. They can only change your life if you let them. Read them and implement their words. It will be the best thing you’ve ever done.
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