Earlier this year I wrote a post on How I Use Self Improvement Books to Motivate Me. I just read 3 more. They all were note worthy and I wanted to remember a lot of the information I was consuming! So I decided I would write another post of self improvement book takeaways.
In my first post I wrote, “One of the biggest complaints against self-improvement books is that the reader lives vicariously through the stories of the successful people in the book, giving them hope and good feelings, but rarely illicit any real change. We read and read and get excited and motivated, but then a few days pass and we forgot what we just read. As we were reading, we could relate to so many things that we could change, but then we get distracted. Then the next book comes out and we start all over again. That is why I need to take notes and write down highlights of what I read.“
Self improvement and personal development are words that can be interchanged. Reading books in this genre can be a source of endless self education. There are so many views and strategies from different authors and our job is to find out what works best for us. If there is any area of your life you want to develop or improve, there is a book written on it. And now, you can just use the internet to find them all!
According to Oxbridge Academy, there are 4 reasons why personal development should be a priority.
- It forces you out of your comfort zone
- Develops your strengths
- Boosts your confidence
- It improves your self awareness
These 3 books, Present Over Perfect, The Morning Miracle and Owning Our Everyday did that for me. Here are my takeaways!
Present Over Perfect, Shauna Niequist
I got this book from a subscription box. The cover read, “Leaving behind frantic for a simpler, more soulful way of living.” I thought to myself that I don’t live a frantic lifestyle, so I set it aside. But then every once in a while the title would pop up in a must read article, so finally I decided to grab it off the shelf. I’m glad I did, because I found so many inspiring quotes and passages.
Here’s a few…
- You don’t have to damage your body and your soul and the people you love most, in order to get done what you think you have to get done.
- Find a group that instead of competing for who’s busier or who’s more tired and who’s keeping more balls in the air, you are constantly looking for ways to help each other. Help each other’s lives get lighter, easier to carry, closer to the heart of what you love, less clogged with expectations and unnecessary tasks.
- Finding your purpose can take a long time to figure out. Along the way it is tempting to opt instead for the immediate gratification, the immediate fix of someone’s approval. But the sweet rush of approval, the pat on the head can often derail us from real love and real purpose.
- The world will tell you how to live, if you let it. Don’t let it take up your space. Raise your voice. Sing your song. This is your chance to make or remake a life that thrills you.
- I’m learning to silence the noise, around me and within me, and let myself be seen and loved. Not for what I produce, but for the fact that I have been created by the hands of a holy God, like every other thing on this earth, equally loved, equally seen.
- After a lifetime of believing that the voices that mattered were Out There, approving or disapproving of me, I’m learning to trust the voice within. The voice of God’s Spirit, the whisper of my own soul.
- If you’re tired, you’re tired, no matter what. If the life you’ve crafted for yourself is too heavy it’s too heavy, no matter if the people on either side of you are carrying more or less. You don’t have to have a public life or a particularly busy life in order to be terribly, dangerously depleted. Burnout is not reserved for the rich or the famous or the profoundly successful.
The Miracle Morning, Hal Elrod
The Miracle Morning was written by Hal Elrod in 2012. In 1999 Hal literally died when he was hit head-on by a drunk driver at the age of 20. Not only did he survive, but after he was told he would never walk again, he eventually ran a 52-mile ultra marathon. On a mission to improve his life and himself, he created the Miracle Morning and started sharing it with his friends and clients. He discovered that it was helping a lot of people transform their life. The Miracle Morning process can help you improve any areas of your life that you are looking to improve.
The tagline of the book is, “The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed To Transform Your Life Before 8 am”. I have started applying the principles, but haven’t been consistent. I will start again soon and hope to see the benefits the book promises!
A few takeaways…
- You are just as worthy, deserving and capable of creating and sustaining extraordinary health, wealth, happiness, love, and success in your life as any other person on earth.
- In order for you to stop settling for less than you deserve – in any area of your life – you must first dedicate time each day to become the person you need to be.
- How you wake up each day and your morning routine (or lack thereof) dramatically affects your levels of success in every single area of your life.
- If you want your life to be different, you have to be willing to do something different first!
- Every day you and I wake up, we face the same universal challenge: to overcome mediocrity and live to our full potential. It’s the greatest challenge in human history – to rise above our excuses, do what’s right, give our best and create the Level 10 life we truly want. The one with no limits, the one so few people ever get to live.
- Keep in mind that you can change your life purpose at any time. You’re not supposed to figure it out. Make it up, create it, decide what you want it to be.
- Your entire life changes the day that you decide you will no longer accept mediocrity for yourself. When you realize that today is the most important day of your life. When you decide that now matters more than any other time. It is who you are becoming each day based on the decisions that you are making and the actions that you are taking that is determining who you are going to be for the rest of your life.
So much goodness in this book! If you want to know more about what the Miracle Morning consists of and the Life S.A.V.E.R.S. acronym, go to halelrod.com and sign up for the Crash Course that includes two chapters, an audio and a video.
Own Your Everyday, Jordan Lee Dooley
I forgot that I had this book, so when I stumbled upon it on my Nook, I thought I would give it a try. It is a quick read loaded with motivation. It kind of reminds me of Rachel Hollis but with a younger, college aged perspective. I still found the writing relevant, some universal truths for us at any age!
A few takeaways…
- Don’t be ashamed of who you are – never hide your dreams and passions because of your fear of someone else’s opinion.
- Engage all five senses when trying to be present.
- Doing anything worthwhile with our lives requires us to go through the process.
- Stop hiding – let your guard down and yield yourself to the Universe. Stop trying to do life on your own! You are not a one woman show.
- Don’t chase! Focus on what you are currently standing on top of, trust God’s plan.
- If our problems aren’t named, they are easier to deny.
- No need for jealousy, her success is not your failure.
- How can you find success everyday? What are you doing to bring heaven to earth today?
Do you have any self-improvement books you recommend? What takeaways have you found?
Personal development is a major time-saver. The better you become, the less time it takes you to achieve your goals. Brian Tracy