Getting into the habit of reading self help books didn’t happen over night. I bought about five before I properly committed to actually reading them and trying to put some of the advise into practise. My mental health and general wellbeing is something I have to really think about and make a conscious effort to support, and I’ve found the pockets of knowledge and advise self help books offer to be quite a big part of it. With that in mind I thought it was about time I dedicated a blog post to some of my current favourites and make a note of some other self help books on my reading list.
Before I get into the self help books I wanted to quickly mention Sapiens, cos Yuval Noah Harari is an actual genius! It’s definitely a hefty old read but for me it kind of ties into the self help category. I studied Psychology at uni so I was already familiar with the links between evolution and the human mind, but it’s definitely a good insight into why we are the way we are today. It’s made me think a lot about stress, and why really it’s inevitable in the world we currently live in, but also how important it is to reduce it. I found it be so insightful and it’s the one book I recommend to everyone if they’re not sure what to read next but want something super interesting to get stuck into.
Moving onto the books that really fall into the self help category. The first I want to mention is a good entry level read, Believe in Yourself by Jasmine Kirkbride, this is a really handy book filled with tips and inspiring quotes. I find myself looking at this just before bed, or when I know I’m not feeling great but don’t have the motivation to delve into something that’s going to feel like too much at the time. It was reading this that really helped me understand that low self-esteem is the main thing that seems to creep up on me.
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I couldn’t not mention Happy by Fearne Cotton. I love the balance of this book, Fearne is really honest about some of her darkest moments and on the flip side she shares what helped her get through it and the things she does daily to look after herself. When it comes to self help I love hearing other people’s experiences and knowing their daily rituals that help them lead a positive life, so for Fearne to share her’s is really motivational. I learnt quite a lot about the importance of discipline and getting out of old habits and that really resonated with me. I would definitely recommend listening to the Happy Place podcast by Fearne too.
I know I’m going to go off on one with this next book and sound quite extreme, but I’m one of those people that can’t focus if my house is untidy, it makes me unproductive and actually pretty unhappy. Anna Newton (aka, The Anna Edit) released An Edited Life, and it was a no brainer for me to pick it up. I’m still making my way through it, but her philosophy on organisation and “stuff” that we simply don’t need is the push I needed to have mammoth clear outs. Honestly with every bin bag of random stuff I donate or get rid of, the better and more stable my life feels (told you I would go off on one). But seriously, it’s taught me a lot about what makes me tick, and feeling like a have my shit together is one of those things.
I’ve mentioned my love of The Secret, and the Law of Attraction before, but I really owe a lot to it. I can’t remember where I discovered The Secret, but as soon as I started reading it I couldn’t believe how much of my behaviour mirrored what I shouldn’t be doing, it’s honestly become my bible. Another favourite is ‘Law of Attraction is The Key To Living The Law of Attraction‘, this is more like a workbook/ journal that reads well alongside The Secret, and both of them have given me so much guidance in terms of positive thinking and feeling good everyday.
A bit of a different post from me but I hope you enjoyed it, I definitely aim to share more about self care this year and talk about my own mental health more to help others.
Do you have a favourite self help book?
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