Five of My Favorite Inspirational Books

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron:

I stumbled across this book a decade ago in a used book store. I had no idea who Julia Cameron was, but something about this book just jumped off the shelf at me. I’ve been a huge Julia Cameron fan every since. I didn’t want to list everyone of her books here, just one. It was a toss up between this and her The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life. I chose the Artist’s Way because it’s the one that started it all for me.

Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain:

This book first showed up in my life about 18 years ago. A friend was reading it and I thought she was insane, turns out she was, but the book wasn’t. Practical visualization. I do it all the time.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey:

Another life changer. I’ve talked about the Franklin Covey system more than once. Reading Stephen Covey’s books were a natural progression and really helped to understand the philosophy behind the planning.

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz:

From the book:

Be Impeccable With Your Word: Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

Don’t Take Anything Personally: Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

Don’t Make Assumptions: Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

Always Do Your Best: Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

An amazing little book. If I could get #2 down, man the world would be close to perfect.

A Woman’s Worth by Marianne Williamson:

A woman who was dating my father, sent me this book and even though I never met her, I will always be grateful to her for sending it to me. I’ve talked about this before, I’ve read it more than four times. I’ve purchased quite a few copies, because every time I meet a woman who clearly needs to read this book, I give her my copy. And then I miss it and buy another.

*disclaimer: No one has solicited these reviews in any way, shape or form. I have not received anything for writing this, not monetary compensation, not free books, not anything. The links are to my affiliate account with Amazon and if you click through and purchase a book, they will compensate me, supposedly. However, I’ve had this account for 172 years and have never received a penny… so you know, I don’t expect anything here either.