Personal Growth books to add to your reading list

Hello September! It is Self-improvement month! What better way to start the month than with 9 awesome personal growth books to add to your reading list this year. If you have been a frequent visitor to my little slice of heaven over here on Our Redonkulous Life then you know that I have been working hard to make reading a habit with my little reading challenge. You can read about it here Redonkulous Book Challenge and I gave you 15 inspiring books to read this year for personal growth. Well, I am back with 9 more that I have added to my personal collection and need to catch up on. I know I have been slacking!!!!!!

With each book, I read I figure out a little bit more about myself. I can not recommend enough to journal while you read. Or at least keep post-it notes next to you. I make notes for myself on quotes I want to remember, Books, or authors recommended in the book I am reading. (I am that girl by Alexis Jones did that a lot.). Parts that inspire blog posts or social media posts. Most of all I want to remember the paragraphs that hit me hard. You know those ones that just hit you right in your heart and give you the feels. Those are the parts I want to remember.

But without further ado let’s get into the 9 personal growth books to add to your reading list.

ALL BOOK DESCRIPTIONS ARE FROM GOODREADS.COM

Get out of your head

Are your thoughts holding you captive? I’ll never be good enough. Other people have better lives than I do. God couldn’t really love me. Jennie Allen knows what it’s like to swirl in a spiral of destructive thoughts, but she also knows we don’t have to stay stuck in toxic thinking patterns.

As she discovered in her own life, God built a way for us to escape that downward spiral. Freedom comes when we refuse to be victims to our thoughts and realize we have already been equipped with power from God to fight and win the war for our minds.

In Get Out of Your Head, Jennie inspires and equips us to transform our emotions, our outlook, and even our circumstances by taking control of our thoughts. Our enemy is determined to get in our heads to make us feel helpless, overwhelmed, and incapable of making a difference for the kingdom of God. But when we submit our minds to Christ, the promises and goodness of God flood our lives in remarkable ways.

It starts in your head. And from there, the possibilities are endless.

Adulting

If you graduated from college but still feel like a student . . . if you wear a business suit to job interviews but pajamas to the grocery store . . . if you have your own apartment but no idea how to cook or clean . . . it’s OK. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Just because you don’t feel like an adult doesn’t mean you can’t act like one. And it all begins with this funny, wise, and useful book. Based on Kelly Williams Brown’s popular blog, ADULTING makes the scary, confusing “real world” approachable, manageable–and even conquerable. This guide will help you to navigate the stormy Sea of Adulthood so that you may find safe harbor in Not Running Out of Toilet Paper Bay, and along the way, you will learn:

What to check for when renting a new apartment–Not just the nearby bars, but the faucets and stove, among other things.

When a busy person can find time to learn more about the world (It involves the intersection of NPR and hair-straightening.)

How to avoid hooking up with anyone in your office–Imagine your coworkers having plastic, featureless doll crotches. It helps.

The secret to finding a mechanic you love–Or, more realistically, one that will not rob you blind.
From breaking up with frenemies to fixing your toilet, this way fun comprehensive handbook is the answer for aspiring grown-ups of all ages.

The 5 Love Languages

Falling in love is easy. Staying in love—that’s the challenge! How can you keep your relationship fresh and growing amid the demands, conflicts, and just plain boredom of everyday life?

In the #1 New York Times bestseller The 5 Love Languages, you’ll discover the secret that has transformed millions of relationships worldwide. Whether your relationship is flourishing or failing, Dr. Gary Chapman’s proven approach to showing and receiving love will help you experience deeper and richer levels of intimacy with your partner—starting today.

The 5 Love Languages is as practical as it is insightful. Updated to reflect the complexities of relationships today, this new edition reveals intrinsic truths and applies relevant, actionable wisdom in ways that work.

Includes the Couple’s Personal Profile assessment so you can discover your love language and that of your loved one.

The Dharma of The Princess Bride

Humorous yet spiritually rigorous in the tradition of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and The Tao of Pooh, drawing from pop culture and from personal experience, The Dharma of “The Princess Bride“ teaches us how to understand and navigate our most important personal relationships from a twenty-first-century Buddhist perspective.

Friendship. Romance. Family. These are the three areas Ethan Nichtern delves into, taking as departure points the indelible characters from Rob Reiner’s perennially popular film–Westley, Fezzik, Vizzini, Count Rugen, Princess Buttercup, and others–as he also draws lessons from his own life and his work as a meditation teacher. Nichtern devotes the first section of the book to exploring the dynamics of friendship. Why do people become friends? What can we learn from the sufferings of Inigo Montoya and Fezzik?

Next, he leads us through all the phases of illusion and disillusion we encounter in our romantic pursuits, providing a healthy dose of lightheartedness along the way by sharing his own Princess Buttercup List and the vicissitudes of his dating life as he ponders how we idealize and objectify romantic love. Finally, Nichtern draws upon the demands of his own family history and the film’s character the Grandson to explore the dynamics of “the last frontier of awakening,” a reference to his teacher Chogyam Trungpa’s claim that it’s possible to be enlightened everywhere except around your family.

With The Dharma of “The Princess Bride” in hand, we can set out on the path to contemporary Buddhist enlightenment with the most important relationships in our lives.

The Happiness Project

Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany one rainy afternoon in the unlikeliest of places: a city bus. “The days are long, but the years are short,” she realized. “Time is passing, and I’m not focusing enough on the things that really matter”. In that moment, she decided to dedicate a year to her happiness project.

In this lively and compelling account. Rubin chronicles her adventures during the twelve months she spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages. Doing current scientific research, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier. Among other things, she found that novelty and challenge are powerful sources of happiness; that money can help buy happiness when spent wisely; that outer order contributes to inner calm; and that the very smallest of changes can make the biggest difference.

Sounds like one of any one of these would be amazing to read.

Personal Growth books to add to your reading list

#GIRLBOSS

The “New York Times” bestseller
Sophia Amoruso spent her teens hitchhiking, committing petty theft, and dumpster diving. By twenty-two, she had resigned herself to employment but was still broke and directionless. Working a mediocre day job she’d taken for the health insurance.

Eight years later, she is the founder, CEO, and creative director of Nasty Gal. A $100 million-plus online fashion retailer with more than 350 employees. Sophia’s never been a typical CEO or a typical anything, and she’s written “#GIRLBOSS” for outsiders (and insiders). Those seeking a unique path to success, even when that path is winding as all hell and lined with naysayers.

“#GIRLBOSS” proves that being successful isn’t about how popular you were in high school. Not even where you went to college (if you went to college). Rather, success is about trusting your instincts and following your gut, knowing which rules to follow and which to break.

Get over your Damn Self

Romi Neustadt is passionate about helping others build lucrative direct sales and network marketing businesses. It helps create lives with more freedom and flexibility, greater purpose, and a lot more fun. In this book, she offers you the same direct, no-BS coaching. She’s given to tens of thousands to help you acquire the skills to build this sucker. Also, teaches your team to do the same. And, equally important, she’ll work on your mindset so you stop overcomplicating it all. Stop letting the negative voices in your head win.

You’re going to learn:

• The Posture to confidently connect with anyone about your business

and your products.

• The Possibilities for a lucrative, efficient, and enormously rewarding turn-key business.

• The Power that’s already within you to build the life you really want…

if you dare.

Dodging Energy Vampires

Highly sensitive people—or empaths—see life through the eyes of compassion and caring. They were born that way. As a result, they carry a tremendous amount of inner light. But they’re also the favored prey of “vampires” who feed off empaths’ energy. They disrupt their lives on every level… physical, emotional, and financial.

In Dodging Energy Vampires, Christiane Northrup, M.D., draws on the latest research in this exciting new field. Along with stories from her global community and her own life. To explore the phenomenon of energy vampires. Show us how we can spot them, dodge their tactics, and take back our own energy. You’ll delve into the dynamics of vampire-empath relationships. Discover how vampires use others’ energy to fuel their own dysfunctional lives. Once you recognize the patterns of behavior that mark these relationships. You’ll be empowered to identify the vampires in your life too.

In these pages, Dr. Northrup opens up a toolbox full of techniques you can use to leave these harmful relationships behind; heal from the darkness they’ve cast over your mind, body, and spirit; and let your own light shine. In the end, you may find yourself healthier, happier, wealthier, and more vibrant than you ever believed possible.

How to be a BAWSE

From actress, comedian, and YouTube sensation Lilly Singh (aka ||Superwoman||) comes the definitive guide to being a bawse. A person who exudes confidence reaches goals, gets hurt efficiently, and smiles genuinely. Because they’ve fought through it all and made it out the other side.

Told in her hilarious, bold voice that’s inspired over nine million fans. Using stories from her own life to illustrate her message. Lilly proves that there are no shortcuts to success.

WARNING: This book does not include hopeful thoughts, lucky charms, and cute quotes. That’s because success, happiness, and everything else you want in life needs to be fought for—not wished for. In Lilly’s world, there are no escalators, only stairs. Get ready to climb. 

What is on your list?

I am stoked to read these. I did start Dodging Energy Vampires and then I went to How to be a BAWSE. So I am currently jumping in between the 2. I think I should stop though. Each book needs its moment. It’s time to shine while I read it. The authors took the time to write it. So why shouldn’t I give each book their deserved moment to be held in my hands? LOL

What Books are you interested in reading off of this list? Are there any personal growth books that should be added to this? Let me know in the comments.

Until Next Time, Have a great day, and remember you are a badass!