I need to preface this by saying, I AM SUCH A SUCKER FOR PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT. I really, really, really love reading these types of books and always look for ways to better myself. One always needs to look for ways to improve oneself, am I right? I feel like I go in phases. Sometimes I read nothing but deliciously mindless romance novels, sometimes I visit the library and go through all the autobiography’s, and then other times I get on a kick of reading self-help novels. I’ve read a bunch of the latter lately and wanted to share my takeaway from each. I like to read personal development books that work in all aspects of my life, from parenting, to creating the best personal closet you can, to business strategies, so my favorite books encompass those. Let’s go!
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*CK: This book is a no holds barred way of saying, you do YOU and screw everyone else. You have a responsibility to very few people in the world (for me it is mainly my kids and husband), and outside of that I have to really watch what I bring into my world. One thing I’ve found as I’ve entered my mid to late thirties is that my life has boiled down to things that mean something to me. I don’t say yes to many things that I hate, and when I do I regret it. My life now is made up of all the little choices I have made in the past, that has since given me the freedom to make better choices for the futire, does that make sense? You also have to be brave enough to stand up for yourself and say no to the things and people who drag you down. If you don’t mind prolific swearing (I liked it), and need a kick in the a%$, buy this book!
- You are a Badass: Another no apologies book! I LOVED it. It spoke to me so much and I highlighted nearly 90% of it. It is brutally honest, but who doesn’t really need that? I loved everything she had to say, especially the talk about letting go of childhood stuff and just moving on. I will keep this book in my collection forever.
- #AskGaryVee: I have one things to say…if you are building a brand or business in this day and age, no matter what age you are, you need to read this book. I love Gary Vee. He knows his stuff when it comes to social media and the new age of business and advertising. I listen to his podcast every single time I do my steady state cardio at the gym and I always hear something that impacts me and makes me THINK. The world is changing, how we do things in business has changed, and if you want to keep up you need to read this.
- The Curated Closet: I saw this book on a blog I love and immediately ordered it. I even wrote a blog post outlining how I used what I learned while reading this book, I loved it that much. It basically teaches you exactly HOW to find your personal style, and HOW to build your closet around your style, as well as HOW to escape bad purchases and going around and around the trend cycle you see everywhere. I filled pages and pages in a notebook of notes from this book and determined my style is NOTHING of what I thought it was.
- The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: This book is older than the rest on this list, and I resisted buying it for a while. I always have considered myself a neat person, but after reading this I found I was more organized rather than truly neat. I had a lot of stuff I was holding on to for no reason, and I purged probably 50% of my home after reading this. I’ve found that I end up having “things” that I have kept out of habit, or because I felt bad about spending money on and not liking, so I kept. This book is about having things in your home that bring you joy, and ruthlessly editing the rest.
That’s it! I wholly recommend any of all of these! Tell me, have you read any of these books? What did you think?
