Thankfully the attitude to ‘self help’ books has changed dramatically in the last 5 – 10yrs and the now often make the best sellers list and are considered mainstream…. No longer hidden at the back of the book shop under the “I hope i don’t see anyone I know’ banner.
I’ve loved reading for as long as I can remember, so it was no surprise that the start of my personal development journey began with a couple of key books. The first one that totally changed my life and I have to admit it challenged me with the title was ‘The Dark Side of the Light Chasers’ by Debbie Ford.
It delves into the shadow effect and taught me to accept all parts of my being and to realise that when you try to push something down and not embrace it it will come out in another way and most likely negatively. We are taught from a really young age not to be selfish, bossy, opinionated etc, this means we end up trying to hide parts of our character.
The whole idea around the shadow is that is as important as the light as you can’t have one without the other. The book also taught me that bossiness (possibly one of my shadow traits) when it comes out at a level 10 is no positive however managed at a 4 or 5 it can be a helpful trait in getting people organsied.
The next book I turned to was “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway” by Susan Jeffers, this one was great at getting me to start reframing fear and I still use the phrase now. It was the first book I had read that really focused on the fact that we are in total control of how we react to situations and we can choose what that reaction is.
In recent years the author that has taught me the most is Brene Brown, I came across her audiobook the Power of Vulnerability and the messages in it just really spoke to me. I’ve been an avid fan of all of her books since listening to that first one and I simply can’t recommend them enough. The messages around vulnerability and shame are so power and can be literally life changing.
Books are one of my most favourite things, there is so much wonderful knowledge and wisdom we can learn from just picking one up and to me it is a fantastic way to widen one’s horizons and grow knowledge. It’s also an incredible form of self love, reading, as it not only takes you out of your own head for a wee while but it demands total focus, and anything that allows you to not focus on the rest of the world for even just a short while is a good thing to me:)