Let’s face it:
Motivation, productivity, mindfulness, well-being… These life categories are under the media spotlight right now, and hundreds – if not thousands – bloggers hold it their duty to write articles on these topics.
The same goes for books.
Be honest:
How many non-fiction books on motivation do you find when searching Google for anything inspiring and worth reading? All they promise to change your life, and you think, “Maybe this one is THE life-changing book I need for happiness and success?”
It’s okay. You are in search of goals and strategies that would help you succeed. You feel insecure and afraid of leaving your comfort zone, so you are looking for a magic kick in the butt that would inspire and encourage you.
But didn’t you notice the problem with those books?
Most of them do nothing but plagiarize and rewrite ideas from each other: a just-do-it mantra screams between all lines there.
So why not choose several motivational books that (really!) make sense, read them, and follow the advice of their authors rather than spend time and energy on hammering at dozens of same-looking publications?
Here go seven motivational books that won’t make you millionaires once you’ve finished them but help to find answers to perennial issues such as:
- “Can I do that?”
- “Isn’t it too late for me to start?”
- “What I want from life in fact?”
Best 8 Motivational Books For Women in 2018
The interesting detail: all authors are women.
1) Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
The quote you’ll like:
“What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”
Sheryl Sandberg is one of the most popular personas in the US business world. She worked at Google, Starbucks, and Walt Disney; and now holds the position of COO at Facebook. In her book, she reveals and discusses the false rules forced to women working at big enterprises: be well-liked, don’t say what you think, hide your emotions and ambitions, etc.
Instead, Sheryl looks at what ladies can do to change the situation and teaches them to make small changes that have a positive effect on life and career: how to work in a team, how to criticize and accept criticism, how to take a stand, and other useful skills to master for well-being.
Find the book here.
2) Good Girls Go to Heaven, Bad Girls Go Everywhere by Ute Ehrhardt
The quote you’ll like:
“One who does not expect anything from himself becomes dependent on others.”
Girls are taught to be decent from early childhood: they need to be tender, caring, obedient, kind, and neat. The result is, they give up own wills for somebody’s account in order not to seem selfish.
Ute Ehrhardt, psychologist and business coach from Germany, takes real-life evidence and explains the consequences of such behavior. Sacrificing their needs, women start thinking it’s okay to obey, play minor roles, and regard it as happiness and success. But there’s another way, too.
Find the book here.
3) The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter by Mag Jay
The quote you’ll like:
“It’s the people we hardly know, and not our closest friends, who will improve our lives most dramatically.”
Some consider the period between 20 and 30 a life draft. It seems that so much time is still ahead, and there’s no need to worry about what to do with it: after all, you’ll have a chance to fix failures and mistakes later.
Meg Jay, psychologist and assistant clinical professor at the University of Virginia, disagrees. She insists that your 20s are the most significant decade for self-development and defining life goals: everything you do and, what is even more important, don’t do between your 20 and 30 determines your success because 80% of fundamental events happen at this time. With scientific evidence and real-life stories, Meg explains how to avoid the most common mistakes during your defining decade.
Find the book here.
4) Rushing Woman’s Syndrome by Libby Weaver
The quote you’ll like:
“If you do or say something, it is the other person’s choice entirely whether they feel disappointment or any other emotion.”
Feel tired and unable to start a day without coffee? Don’t feel hungry at afternoon but ready to eat an elephant at night? Can’t relax without alcohol? Overwhelmed, stressed, or even depressed? It seems you need this book of Dr. Libby Weaver, who is a nutritional biochemist from Australia. Combining two decades of personal experience with thirteen years of clinical experience, she describes how constant rush influences our nerves, digestion, endocrine system, and emotions.
The author shares practical advice on how to manage your stress, change lifestyle, balance work and life, and what doctors to visit when finding worrying signs of rushing syndrome in yourself.
Find the book here.
5) On Becoming Fearless by Arianna Huffington
The quote you’ll like:
“We master our fears by embracing them, not by subduing them.”
“Am I attractive?” “Do I dare to do this?” “What do people think of me? Do they like me?” Who of girls didn’t experience such fears? When business writer Arianna Huffington had started observing them in her teenaged daughters, she began to examine how those fears affected our lives.
She took several personal stories, as well as her friends’ and colleagues’, to point out courage and strength we all have to overcome fears. The book teaches to find and use inner resources for our benefit and, first of all, to live in harmony with our inner self.
Find the book here.
6) It’s Only Too Late If You Don’t Start Now by Barbara Sher
The quote you’ll like:
“When you play it too safe, you’re taking the biggest risk of your life. Time is the only wealth we’re given.”
The majority of motivational books are for young people in search of life goals and career hacks. But we may hear the call for changes in any age, don’t you agree?
“Your life doesn’t end after youth,” says Barbara Sher, a bestselling author of books on self-growth. Having passed through a mid-life crisis, she writes about facts, real-life examples, practical exercises, and motivational techniques that will help to manage it and make your life the one you’ll never regret.
Find the book here.
7) Meet Your Happy Chemicals by Loretta Breuning
The quote you’ll like:
“You can increase your pleasure if you’re willing to do things that don’t feel good at first.”
Do you know that over 300 million people suffer from depression today? And it’s not because of our high-technological civilization: early Greeks described this health problem as melancholy many years ago. To struggle it, we need to understand how a human brain works and how to stimulate its happy chemicals for better mood and life.
Dopamine, endorphin, oxytocin, and serotonin are those magic bros helping us avoid gray thoughts. Professor at the University of California, Loretta Breuning explains how to develop good habits allowing us to turn on aforementioned chemicals. Also, she shares techniques to start doing today for better results tomorrow.
Find the book here.
It’s Your Turn Now
Seven best motivational books for women and by women are here to inspire you. Chances are, you’ve read some of them already; but even so, this points your pure taste of choosing interesting non-fiction that truly helps and makes sense.
Keep on it! Reading makes us better, and sometimes one quote from a book is able to change your life drastically.
The post 7 Motivational Books For Women [And by Women] That (Really!) Make Sense appeared first on Calling Dreams.