Episode 14: My Top 5 Personal Development Reads in 2019

Welcome to the Pursue You Podcast, where we are empowering you to continually reflect, design and pursue who you were created to be so you can give the gift of your best self to your family, community, and business!

I’m going to start today’s episode with a question? What was your favorite book that you read in 2019? What if I asked what was your favorite book of all time? What would your answer be? The reason I want to ask you this is because a few years ago I would have had to think back to college when I was forced to read books, and I would only read the cliff notes version, and after an assignment I’d forget it all. Once I got into business, I read books here and there, but I want to share today how I used to think about reading, because I don’t want you to feel intimidated by a personal reading list and just skip over this episode. I want you to know that reading wasn’t always a natural thing I loved to do. I was too busy. You’re probably feeling the exact same way. As I’m recording this year in 2019, however, I have read more books this year than I have ever read in one year. Reading impacted me in such a positive way this year that I want to inspire you and share with you some books that you may want to check out in 2020.

[4:00] I share how I developed a passion for reading. It all started with listening to podcasts. As I started to enter leadership positions in my real estate team, I started consuming more podcast content, and I discovered book recommendations from my favorite shows and their guest interviews.

[8:30] I share how I was inspired by Chris Suarez to read books on the things I claim to value most. This year was a focus on personal development, so my books are all tailored to that. Don’t worry, I’ll do a separate post on my favorite business development books in the future!

[10:50] Book 1: Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder by Ariana Huffington: Ariana focuses on the third metric of our lives that we need to focus on aside from just pursuing money and power as we seek to create a life of success. She teaches us how to focus on our well-being, wisdom, wonder, and giving, and how all of these together are going to help us become the people we want others to remember when we’re gone.

[15:30] Book 2: Keep Your Love On: Connection, Communication, and Boundaries by Danny Silk: Danny focuses on relationships in his book and especially on teaching us how to recognize whether these relationships allow us to feel confident or are causing us to feel vulnerable. He focuses on three points: connection, communication, and boundaries.

[20:30] Book 3: Today Matters: 12 Daily Practices to Guarantee Tomorrows Success by John Maxwell: If you are looking for a book that is going to spark a fire in you, this is the book to add to your 2020 reading list. John points out that we tend to do three things: over-exaggerate yesterday, overestimate tomorrow, and underestimate today. He then follows with 12 daily practices to make today matter.

[24:30] Book 4: Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals by Rachel Hollis: Rachel is very inspiring in this book, and it’s a great choice from this list to listen to on Audible. Her book helped me see excuses I needed to let go of, habits I needed to develop, and skills I needed to acquire.

[31:45] Book 5: Marriage Meetings for Lasting Love: 30 Minutes a Week to the Relationship You’ve Always Wanted by Marcia Naomi Berger: I love this book and it’s practical teaching on how to establish marriage meetings with your spouse. Whether you do it weekly or seasonally, I encourage you to take a look at how to set up a meeting with your spouse and have intentional conversations that include appreciate, chores, planning good times, and discussing problems and challenges.

[36:00] I share a few of the other books I read this last year that you might want to check out for your 2020 reading list. I also share about my goal to really make reading the Bible a priority for myself in 2020.

[38:00] I share practical tips on how reading changed my nighttime routine. Instead of screen time before bed, this was a perfect opportunity to read. I’ll take 5 or 10 minutes checking in on social media, and then I’m done, and I allow myself to read before bed to get my mind and soul prepared for sleep.

I recently read a quote from Warren Buffet, “This is how knowledge works, it builds up like compound interest, all of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.”. I have been the busy one. If you had asked me a few years ago what I read, I wouldn’t have been able to answer you. It wasn’t a priority. It can be hard to get started, but maybe one of these books will put you on a path to success this year. It’s easy to make excuses, but I hope that you can find something in your world that ignites your passion for reading. You can take your self and your relationships to the next level through personal development by consuming more of these books. My 2019 is living proof for me, and I hope I can be a spark to get you started or to the next level because investing time into yourself is the best investment you’ll every make.

My 2019 Reading List:

• Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder by Ariana Huffington

• Keep Your Love On: Connection, Communication, and Boundaries by Danny Silk

• Today Matters: 12 Daily Practices to Guarantee Tomorrows Success by John Maxwell

• Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals by Rachel Hollis

• Marriage Meetings for Lasting Love: 30 Minutes a Week to the Relationship You’ve Always Wanted by Marcia Naomi Berger

• Do Less: A Revolutionary Approach to Time and Energy Management for Ambitious Women by Kate Northrup (hear more about how this book impacted me in Episode 8: Pursue You Picks: Do Less)

• The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream by Paulo Coelho

• Sit, Walk, Stand by Watchman Nee

My 2020 Personal List:

• Lore: Harnessing Your Past to Create Your Future by Jeanette Schneider

Subscribe to the Podcast

I am grateful you were here for today’s episode! To make sure you don’t miss out on future episodes, I encourage you to subscribe to the podcast. Click here to subscribe on iTunes.

In order to help others find this podcast and help inspire them, I would love for you to leave a review of the podcast. Share something that motivated you, or something that helped you re-frame the way you approach your life and goals. I’d love to hear how you’re pursuing your best self. Click here to review the show on iTunes. You can go to “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review”. Your comments are greatly appreciated!

More Episodes You’d Be Interested In

• Episode 13: Set Goals You Actually Care About

• Episode 8: Pursue You Picks: Do Less

• Episode 7: Screen Time Hacks

Episode 4: The Antidote to FOMO

Welcome to the Pursue You Podcast, where we are empowering you to continually reflect, design and pursue who you were created to be so you can give the gift of your best self to your family, community, and business!

We’ve all heard of FOMO right? It’s the fear of missing out. It’s a classic phrase we kind of joke about, but it’s pretty real. It has a big impact on us because we say yes before we consider anything else we’ve made a commitment to. It affects our businesses, our families and even the opportunities we have to serve. It’s often overwhelming and can be debilitating.

Don’t worry though! I have the antidote for FOMO: a little thing called JOMO, the joy of missing out. I saw this and fell madly in love with it, so I’ve gone really deep into it. Life is a bunch of small decisions that are all about what you’re saying yes to, and what you’re saying no to. This makes up how we spend our time and that is what our life is. So how do we make sure that what we say yes or no to is leading us to find JOMO?

[3:00] I introduce the two things we need to find JOMO. If we are ever going to begin to experience joy instead of fear, we must first begin by getting clear on our purpose and priorities.

[4:40] I help you ask the question that’s going to lead you to getting clear on your purpose. You need to ask yourself, “How do I need to live to feel proud of the way my heart is showing up?”.

[7:30] I get practical on what it looks like to clarify your purpose. I suggest finding a space where you can be in solitude, you can reflect, and you can take all your titles, achievements, successes, all of that exterior armor, and take it off. Then you need to ask yourself, “How do I need to show up? What impact do I want to make? What will make me proud of myself?”.

[8:00] I remind you that while finding your purpose is an ongoing pursuit, you need to start somewhere, and you need to realize that your purpose is unique to you!

[11:00] I talk about incorporating finding your purpose into your reflective self-care that I spoke about in Episode 2.  

[12:00] I talk about what it means to get clear on your priorities. It’s not just about naming a priority but identifying what focusing on that priority looks like for you.

[12:40] I talk abut what it looks like to make yourself the most important priority. Ask yourself questions that will help you see what it is you need to do for you to show up the best way that you can.

[13:40] I talk about clarifying your relational priorities. I walk you through an example of motherhood and our relationship with our children.

[16:30] I explain my C & E method: counsel and experiment. This method is crucial when you are trying to decide if your priorities need a shift or change.

[20:30] I talk about how C & E can help clarify and/or solidify your purpose and priorities. It gives you confidence in the decisions you end up making, which leads to a greater joy.

[23:30] I talk about clarifying your business priorities. I talk about how sometimes certain priorities are easier to pinpoint or clarify once you’ve set up boundaries with other priorities. I give you an example about how getting clear on my business priorities is much easier when I’m already clear on my personal and relational priorities.

[29:42] I talk about the importance of recognizing when your priorities change. We have to understand that other people’s priorities, or their expectations of our priorities can’t dictate what we believe is the best way to live our lives to gain joy and confidence.

I hope I’ve been able to help you start the process of getting clear on what you say yes to and what you say no to. When you’re taking the time to identify what you’re saying yes to, and your purpose and priorities are your filter, then you can kick the FOMO out of your mind and step into JOMO.

Remember, the antidote to FOMO is JOMO and the only way to truly have JOMO is by being confident that what you’re doing in that moment is where you want to be. Be confident in being you. Your purpose and priorities are evolving and growing, so get clear on what that is, so that you can continue to pursue you.

Subscribe to the Podcast

I am grateful you were here for today’s episode! To make sure you don’t miss out on future episodes, I encourage you to subscribe to the podcast. Click here to subscribe on iTunes.

In order to help others find this podcast and help inspire them, I would love for you to leave a review of the podcast. Share something that motivated you, or something helped you reframe the way you approach your life and goals. I’d love to hear how you’re pursuing your best self. Click here to review the show on iTunes. You can go to “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review”. Your comments are greatly appreciated!

More Episodes You’d Be Interested In

Episode 1: Find Your Way Back to You

Episode 2: Why Self Care is NOT the Answer…and What Is!