The 5 Books That Changed My Life

  

Although I write mostly about skin care, occasionally I get e-mails from readers asking how to better manage their time or whatnot.  With that said, I believe that the best form of advice is empowering others to change their own lives.  And while I still have many dreams to achieve, here are the books that have helped me the most thus far in the process:

1.  Finding Your Own North Star, by Martha Beck.

If you’ve ever felt as though you’ve lost your way (or if you’ve never had a direction to travel in the first place), this is a fabulous book for you.  There is advice in here to find what you reallywant, a step-by-step plan to achieve it, and how to shed your fears and overcome the inevitable judgments of others along the way.  This book is both life-changing and phenomenal, and I recommend it to anyone who is sad, lethargic, angry – or someone who is just looking to consistently improve his life.  I’ve given copies to a bunch of my friends, who are great and always trying to improve further.  

2.  The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne.

Okay, I must admit, when I first skimmed over The Secret, it seemed a little too “mystical humbo-jumbo” for my practical taste.  (Like attracts like is not the way magnetic force works!  Grrrr!)   I walked on and grabbed another installment of the Shopaholic series.  Yet, after my boyfriend handed me a copy this summer and requested that I read it, I did – and it truly changed my life.  (My boyfriend is awesome.)  

Essentially, thoughts become things.  If you simply change every thought of “I can’t” to “I can,” any mention of “I should” to “I will,” and all “impossibles” to “possibles,” you empower yourself.  You change your outlook.  Slowly but surely, formerly helpless situations gain hope and a sense of perspective in your life.  It’s pretty powerful stuff, and while I must admit that I still don’t like some of the skewed scientific jargon, I still love the concept of this book.  

3.  Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill.

I was 23 and on a plane to NYC when the prominent older businessman sitting beside me struck up conversation.  He noticed that I was writing in my journal, the one that said “Dreams” on the cover.   By the end of the conversation, he arranged to send me this book, the one that helped his dreams come true.

If you want to make your dreams come true, you have to turn your desires from wishes to choices.   It turns out that the vast majority of highly successful people continuously follow a formulaic series of steps to achieve (and re-achieve) their success.  Whether these people do so consciously or subconsciously, it works the same.   I’ve employed these own techniques in studying for exams, and I’ve seen my scores improve.  I’ve employed these techniques to my personal life too (“rich” is much more than financial wealth here), and that’s going great too.  

One caveat with this one:  it is a bit verbose, sort-of like reading presidential speeches from the 1940’s.  As such, I recommend buying the audio book (as I did) and listening to it often.  

4.  Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lechter.

I love financial security and the idea of becoming very rich someday.  But I also have pretty luxurious tastes (Fendi shoes and Chanel handbags are favorites).  And for years, advice from most financial experts left me cold: I didn’t want to clip coupons (Nordstrom usually doesn’t take those, anyway) or sacrifice my Starbucks lattes.   There had to be another way.

So imagine my surprise when I picked up Rich Dad, Poor Dad and read that I don’t have to give up my lifestyle to become rich.  Instead of spending less, Kiyosaki simply suggests to earn more.  Lots more.  So much, in fact, that his advice has the potential to free you from the typical 9-5 job and retire 10, 20 years early.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  After reading the books, I’ve gained a whole new perspective on what my financial goals are, discovered that saving is bad and investing is good, and learned to build assets and limit liabilities.  In other words, I’ve gained knowledge and made a plan, and it’s extremely freeing.  And while it may not mean that I can buy my Lady Dior handbag today, it does mean that I know I will earn the money to bring her home soon.  

5.  The Top 10 Distinctions Between Millionaires and the Middle Class by Keith Cameron Smith.

What I love about this book is that it is short and simple.  I re-read it often, and almost every time, there’s a new tidbit of knowledge that comes flying out.  (For instance, did you know that it is more profitable to talk about ideas rather than things or people?)

My only suggestion for this book involves the title.  Not all millionaires are ubiquitously rich.   “Ubiquitously rich” means that you are not only financially secure, but emotionally, physically, and spiritually as well.  And having a mil in the bank doesn’t exactly make you rich by that definition.  Conversely, some middle class people have great success in those areas.  One of my closest friends is a fantastic, beautiful, and religious person who has absolutely no interest in earning more money than needed to maintain a middle-class lifestyle.  And even though her income falls in the middle class range, to me, she’s rich.  

That little tidbit aside, the advice is amazing and jumps from the page – and can apply to all aspects of your life.