{"id":42,"date":"2016-08-03T16:58:18","date_gmt":"2016-08-03T16:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/linelightgame.com\/blog\/?p=42"},"modified":"2016-08-03T17:13:55","modified_gmt":"2016-08-03T17:13:55","slug":"emotional-health-tactic-read-empowering-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linelightgame.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/03\/emotional-health-tactic-read-empowering-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Emotional Health Tactic: Read Empowering Books"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hi! How’s it going. What’s up.<\/p>\n

I went on somewhat of a self-help-book binge throughout 2015; the good ones play about the same melodies, just with different instruments. I\u2019ve read both research-based and spiritual-based books, and I\u2019ve learned I appreciate both approaches for way different reasons. My thirst for advice and vicarious wisdom has accelerated my personal growth by what I can estimate would have taken years to a lifetime on my own. So, yay, books! This is a list of my top 4, plus my other favorites.<\/p>\n

Here we go.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#1 – The Gifts of Imperfection by Bren\u00e9 Brown<\/i><\/div>\n
Self-empowerment. Qualitative research.
\nHow to be yourself and the immeasurable benefits of doing so. How to stay sane in a crazy world. With every page I read, I felt a cocktail of joy and unexpected relief.<\/div>\n
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This book is magic.<\/u> It\u2019s a short read, too, and the most densely packed with gems of any book I\u2019ve read thus far.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#2 – Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert<\/i><\/div>\n
Radical creative empowerment. Spiritual.<\/div>\n
If you create things, read Big Magic. Period.<\/div>\n
Liz Gilbert frames creativity in a way that brings me back to how I saw creativity when I was a kid, and how I\u2019d like to always<\/i>\u00a0see creativity. Big Magic invites a style of creative living beyond fear; I recently reread it to remind myself of what really matters (and what doesn\u2019t).<\/div>\n
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Do you have what it takes to be creative? “The treasures that are hidden inside you are hoping you will say yes.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#3 – May Cause Miracles by Gabrielle Bernstein<\/i><\/div>\n
Self-betterment. Spiritual.<\/div>\n
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Concrete applications and very mindfully organized. Read\/do a little daily for 42 days (passages are a page or two and any homework is small and super approachable). Takes canons from\u00a0A Course in Miracles<\/i>\u00a0and makes it more digestible. Frequently features identifying your fears, which are actually hilariously less intimidating when exposed to light.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#4 – Rising Strong by Bren\u00e9 Brown<\/i><\/div>\n
Self-empowerment. Qualitative research.<\/div>\n
Topics are illustrated with brilliantly woven, moving, and highly insightful stories. Rising Strong is about the moment we\u2019re face-down in the arena, bruised and alone. It discusses strategies to identify when we\u2019re vulnerable and hurt, and how to move through these emotions constructively and emerge from the experience even stronger. AND see that as realistic and exciting. Not surprisingly, it focuses a lot on people\u2019s behavior (especially our own).<\/div>\n
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Its lessons are broadly applicable across all terrains of life. (After reading it, my aunt texted me, \u201cRising Strong should replace the Bible.\u201d)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Smartcuts by Shane Snow<\/i><\/div>\n
Professional acceleration. Qualitative research.<\/div>\n
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Smartcuts explains simple strategies to get way more done with way less energy<\/i>. It regularly provides examples of prolific success of individuals who didn\u2019t<\/i>\u00a0do things the normal, hard way, but who actively look for \u201csmartcuts\u201d (Shane\u2019s word) to accelerate success by spending less energy in radically more efficient ways.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman<\/i><\/div>\n
Human psychology. Quantitative research.<\/div>\n
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It covers a seemingly endless array of topics. It\u2019s dry as hell, but its content is so grossly captivating and often mind-blowing that it\u2019s surprisingly readable (though skim or skip the first chapter). Very different from the other books in this list, this book is more about the psychology behind how we make decisions and perceive information. I am convinced that reading this book simply\u00a0makes you\u00a0smarter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Why Quantum Physicists Do Not Fail by Greg Kuhn<\/i><\/div>\n
Self-help\/self-betterment. Very spiritual, but through the paradigms of modern science (yes, it\u2019s weird).<\/div>\n
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Endorsing the “law of attraction\u201d, Do Not Fail focuses on how to manifest our desired reality by shifting our perspective. The real meat is in the last third of the book, which is filled with brilliant, actionable techniques. It\u2019s way too spiritual for my palate, but I read it for the how<\/i>, not the why<\/i>, and used it for the betterment of my life. (This book is what kicked off my self-help-book binge.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Headspace<\/i><\/div>\n
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Actually not a book BUT I wanted to add to this list. Meditation app for meditation noobs; Headspace had enough structure and was approachable enough for me to get\u00a0into it. I’ve been using it (almost) daily for a year, and it\u2019s worked extremely well with my other sources of personal growth. Some books I read, get psyched, and fall back to old habits a month later. My progress with meditating with Headspace has been gradual (read: “slow”), but its positive effects on the rewiring of my brain are, with my permission, nearly\u00a0permanent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Five Minute Journal<\/i><\/div>\n
Okay, another app, but GUYS gratitude is IT, man. In the morning, list 3 things you\u2019re grateful for and 3 things you\u2019ll do to make today great, and at night, list 3 amazing things that happened today and how you could have made the day even better. This doesn\u2019t have to be an app (I wrote down hourly gratitudes for a few months on my own last year), but it makes habitual gratitude easier with its structure and nice interface.<\/div>\n
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The less I want to write down things I am grateful for, the more it benefits me when I do. #truthbomb<\/p>\n

Hopefully this list has a positive impact on your life. I know it sure as hell has for mine.<\/p>\n

-Brett<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi! How’s it going. What’s up. I went on somewhat of a self-help-book binge throughout 2015; the good ones play about the same melodies, just with different instruments. I\u2019ve read both research-based and spiritual-based books, and I\u2019ve learned I appreciate … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8,2,5,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-development","category-emotions","category-general","category-human-development","category-productivity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linelightgame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linelightgame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linelightgame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linelightgame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linelightgame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/linelightgame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54,"href":"https:\/\/linelightgame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42\/revisions\/54"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linelightgame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linelightgame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linelightgame.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}