My Recommended Reads
These recommendations are great tools that have helped me along on my journey to self-respect, boundaries, and joyful creativity.
You Are Your Best Thing
Tarana Burke &
Brene Brown
The Black experience is nuanced & varied
Tarana Burke and Dr. Brené Brown bring together a dynamic group of Black writers, organizers, artists, academics, and cultural figures to discuss the topics the two have dedicated their lives to understanding and teaching: vulnerability and shame.
Contributions by Kiese Laymon, Imani Perry, Laverne Cox, Jason Reynolds, Austin Channing Brown and more.
It started as a text between two friends.
Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, texted researcher and writer Brené Brown to see if she was free to jump on a call. Brené assumed that Tarana wanted to talk about wallpaper. They had been trading home decorating inspiration boards in their last text conversation, so Brené started scrolling to find her latest Pinterest pictures when the phone rang.
But it was immediately clear to Brené that the conversation wasn't going to be about wallpaper. Tarana's hello was serious, and she hesitated for a bit before saying, 'Brené, you know your work affected me so deeply, but as a Black woman, I've sometimes had to feel like I have to contort myself to fit into some of your words. The core of it rings so true for me, but the application has been harder.'
Atomic habits
by James clear
Little and often wins the race
Transform your life with tiny changes in behaviour, starting now.
There's never been a better time to make a few tiny changes that will revolutionise your life.
A revolutionary system to get one per cent better every day.
People think when you want to change your life, you need to think big. But world-renowned habits expert James Clear has discovered another way. He knows that real change comes from the compound effect of hundreds of small decisions – doing two push-ups a day, waking up five minutes early, or holding a single short phone call.
He calls them atomic habits.
In this ground-breaking book, Clear reveals exactly how these minuscule changes can grow into such life-altering outcomes. He uncovers a handful of simple life hacks (the forgotten art of Habit Stacking, the unexpected power of the Two Minute Rule, or the trick to entering the Goldilocks Zone) and delves into cutting-edge psychology and neuroscience to explain why they matter. Along the way, he tells inspiring stories of Olympic gold medalists, leading CEOs and distinguished scientists who have used the science of tiny habits to stay productive, motivated, and happy.
These small changes will have a revolutionary effect on your career, your relationships, and your life.
Miracle Morning
by Hal Elrod
Start with a miracle morning
What if you could wake up tomorrow and any - or EVERY - area of your life was beginning to transform? What would you change? The Miracle Morning is already transforming the lives of tens of thousands of people around the world by showing them how to wake up each day with more ENERGY, MOTIVATION, and FOCUS to take your life to the next level. It's been right here in front of us all along, but this book has finally brought it to life.
Are you ready? The next chapter of YOUR life-the most extraordinary life you've ever imagined-is about to begin. It's time to WAKE UP to your full potential...
'Every once in a while, you read a book that changes the way you look at life, but it is so rare to find a book that changes the way you live your life' Tim Sanders, New York Times bestselling author of The Likeability Factor
'To read The Miracle Morning is to give yourself the gift of waking up each day to your full potential. It's time to stop putting off creating the life you want and deserve to live.
Do Less
by Kate Northrup
Rest makes you more productive
In our culture, the way we work isn’t working. Our addiction to busyness and obsession with always trying to do more leads up to feel like we’re always failing our families, our careers, our spouses, and ourselves.
We need to revolutionise the way we work. It’s not acceptable to work ourselves to the bring of exhaustion, to constantly be “on-call” and checking our work e-mail around the clock.
How do we fix the system? The answer isn’t some corporate policy. And it isn’t “leaning in.” It’s a system within ourselves, in our daily work lives, and in our homes.
Instead of “leaning in,” and “doing it all,” entrepreneur and best-selling author Kate Northrup invites you to experiment with doing less. By doing less, paradoxically, you can have – and be – more.
In this book, you’ll get the permission and tools to change the way you approach your life, and embrace living in tune with the cyclical nature of the feminine. By cutting out the extraneous busyness, you’ll have more satisfaction and joy, and you’ll let yourself be more often instead of doing all the time.
The Latte factor
by David Bach
Retrain your money mindset
This book has changed my relationship to money. It's very simple and very relatable. Follow the steps. Scarcity is an inheritance that doesn't serve us.
In this compelling, heartwarming parable, Bach and his bestselling coauthor John David Mann (The Go-Giver) tell the story of Zoey, a twenty-something woman living and working in New York City. Like many young professionals, Zoey is struggling to make ends meet under a growing burden of credit card and student loan debt, working crazy hours at her dream job but still not earning enough to provide a comfortable financial cushion. At her boss’s suggestion, she makes friends with Henry, the elderly barista at her favorite Brooklyn coffee shop.
The Fear Fighter Manual: Lessons from a Professional Troublemaker
By Luvvie Ajayi Jones
Fear is real but so is the strength of your dreams
Luvvie Ajayi is known for her trademark wit, warm voice and exceptional integrity. But even she's been challenged by the enemy of progress known as fear. She was once afraid to call herself a writer because she was afraid of the title. She nearly skipped out on doing a TED talk that changed her life because of imposter syndrome. Also, she's deathly afraid of bugs. And, as she shares in The Fear Fighter Manual, she's not alone.
We're all afraid of asking for what we want because we're afraid of hearing 'no'. We're afraid of being different, of being too much or not enough. We're afraid of leaving behind the known for the unknown. But in order to do the things that will truly meaningfully change our lives, we have to become professional troublemakers: people who are committed to not letting fear talk them out of the things they need to do or say.
With humour and honesty, and guided by the influence of her inspiring and professional troublemaking grandmother, Funmilayo Faloyin, Luvvie walks us through what we must get right within ourselves before we can do the things that scare us; how to use our voice for a greater good; and how to put movement to the voice we've been silencing - because truth-telling is a muscle.
The point is not to be fearless. It is to know we are afraid and to charge forward regardless, to recognise the things we must do are more significant than the things we are afraid to do. This book shows you how she's do
