Summer Reading List: Eight Books That Will Transform You

Summer is a great time to relax and renew yourself. Here are eight of my favourite authors and chapter excerpts that will inspire you to create the life you’ve always imagined:

How To Say No Without Feeling Guilty by Patti Breitman & Connie Hatch – 272 Pages

“Ideally, your inner circle of close friends and family is the perfect place where you can most easily relax and be yourself. With the people you’re closest to, you want to be able to say, ‘No, I’m too tired’ or ‘No, it’s not convenient for me to do that,’ without agonizing over the possible consequences. However, the atmosphere inside the inner circle isn’t always so amicable. At times the nature of close relationships can make saying no more difficult. There may be individuals - a parent, sibling, spouse, friend, or lover – who exert a power over you that others don’t have. Perhaps they manipulate you by withholding affection or approval unless you do things their way. As a result, you may find yourself trying vainly to please, always saying yes in hopes of getting what you want and need from them. Others may intimidate you with their anger or belittle you by mocking your attempts to make your own decisions. To spare yourself the trauma, you agree to whatever they ask and behave the way they want you to. Guilt is another powerful weapon that loved ones may use to control us. We say yes to their excessive demands out of fear that if we don’t help, they will be very hurt or even come to harm.”

Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui by Karen Kingston – 179 Pages

“When all your available space is filled with clutter, there is no room for anything new to come into your life. Your thoughts tend to dwell in the past, and you feel bogged down with problems that have dogged you for some time. You tend to look back rather than forward in your life, blaming the past for your current situation rather than taking responsibility for creating a better tomorrow. Clearing your clutter allows you to begin to deal with your problems and move forward. You have to release the past to create a better tomorrow.”

Beyond Motherhood, Choosing A Life Without Children By Jeanne Safer – 208 Pages

“Challenging convention comes naturally to the majority of the women I interviewed. Having a mind of their own is an important source of their identity and self-esteem. They were the most ambitious ones; they were often the only child in their families or the only girl to move away, get an education, and not reproduce. The most basic reason why motherhood does not suit a sizable minority of women is that people are not all the same. For them, choosing childlessness has a dual function; it simultaneously prevents them from being oppressed by certain types of duties and demands and ensures that they retain what they consider essential for their own happiness. Their personalities compel them to choose between child development and self-development.”

Happier Than God by Neale Donald Walsch – 272 Pages

“It is addiction – to people, to places, and to things – that creates agitation where once there was peace, misery where once there was joy, pain where once there was pleasure, sorrow where once there was happiness. You can tell that you are addicted if the absence of a person, place or experience causes you to lose your happiness. When facing any life experience there is a formula, a process, through which every person may move forward toward mastery. Simply make the following statements: 1) Nothing in this world is real; 2) The meaning of everything is the meaning I give it; 3) I am who I say I am, and my experience is what I say it is.”

Present Moment Wonderful Moment by Thich Nhat Hanh – 120 Pages

“Each toothpaste advertisement promises that this particular brand will make our mouth clean and our breath fragrant. But if we do not practice Right Speech, our breath can never be completely fragrant. Our speech can build a world of peace and joy in which trust and love can flourish, or it can create discord and hatred. Right Speech means that our words are both truthful and beautiful. When we remember to speak words that are true, kind, and constructive, we nourish a beautiful flower in our hearts, and we can offer its sweet fragrance to everyone.”

Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life by Wayne W. Dyer – 416 Pages

“Your primary relationship needs to be with yourself, not your family, your business, country, culture, or ethnicity. Affirm: The number one priority in my life is my relationship with my Source of being. Go there first, before any other considerations, and you’ll automatically discontinue demanding more of anything else. You’ll begin living heaven on earth. Practice knowing when to stop. Alert yourself to recognizing when it’s a good time to stop demanding, chasing, talking, walking, working, sleeping, playing, shopping, complaining, striving, and so on. By practicing cessation, you’ll move into prioritizing what’s important in your life in that moment. The more you are attached to wanting and possessing, the more you lose in your relationship to the Tao.”

Secrets Of The Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker – 224 Pages

“It is essential you recognize how your old ways of thinking and acting have gotten you exactly where you are right now. If you want to move to  a higher level of life, you have to be willing to let go of some of your old ways of thinking and being and adopt new ones. The results will eventually speak for themselves. Here’s the rub. All the statements you heard about money when you were young remain in your subconscious mind as part of the blueprint that is running your financial life. If your motivation for acquiring money or success comes from a nonsupportive root such as fear, anger, or the need to ‘prove’ yourself, your money will never bring you happiness.”

The Success Principles by Jack Canfield – 512 Pages

“There is only one person responsible for the quality of the life you live: you. If you want to be successful, you have to take 100% responsibility for everything that you experience in your life. This includes the level of your achievements, the results you produce, the quality of your relationships, the state of your health and physical fitness, your income, your debts and your feelings. That means giving up all your excuses, all your victim stories, all the reasons why you can’t and why you haven’t up until now, all your blaming of outside circumstances. You have to take the position that you have always had the power to make it different, to get it right, to produce the desired result. For whatever reason – ignorance, lack of awareness, fear, needing to be right, the need to feel safe – you chose not to exercise that power. The past is the past. You only have control over three things in your life – the thoughts you think, the images you visualize, and your actions. If you don’t like what you are producing or experiencing, you have to change your responses. Change your negative thoughts to positive ones. Change your habits. Change what you read. Change your friends. Change how you talk.”

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