You have heard of self-help books right? Perhaps you know them by their more politically correct name, personal development books. They get such a bad rap; I’m not sure why. Maye it’s because when they first really arrived on the scene, talking openly about feelings, therapy, and self-improvement was taboo, seen as a sign of weakness. Thankfully, the authors who found themselves writing about what they had learned kept on doing it, and I am forever grateful that they did.

You see, I wasn’t raised to value these kinds of books. They aren’t typically literary classics, so weren’t shared in school, and they weren’t in my home as I was growing up. I discovered them in my mid-20s when I first entered the field of multi-level marketing/direct sales. At that time, I was introduced to amazing authors and gurus like Jack Canfield (founder of the popular Chicken Soup for the Soul series), Brian Tracy (an incredible goal-setting teacher), and Rhonda Byrne (author of The Secret, which is so well done but requires you to do the work to access the secret law of attraction, which is sometimes misunderstood). My mentor shared these authors and their books with me and I soaked it up. For the last 15 years, I have consistently read at least five pages per day in a personal development book. Don’t worry – I’ll share some really great ones at the end!

Why am I such an advocate for investing your time and energy in personal development and these kinds of books? Let me share a few stories with you as examples.

I am a leader in a relationship marketing company, where I serve as a health transformation coach. A few years ago, one of my friends, who is also a coach on my team, came to me. She was incredibly frustrated with the lack of response she had been getting despite her efforts to build her business. She had been sharing her story, building relationships, sharing the value of what she had to offer, but no one would join. She was ready to quit. The first thing I asked her was, “What are you currently reading or listening to for personal development?” She embarrassingly replied, “Nothing.”

I told her that, just like she did her workout every day, she had to engage in some kind of personal development effort every single day, no matter what. It has to become a habit if you want to make a change and help others. I advised her to unplug from all social media for the entire weekend, to find a great author with whom she felt she could connect, and to find and watch all the videos that author had put out. I wanted her to immerse herself in her own personal development all weekend and to come back to me on Sunday night with an update. She was skeptical, but she had seen my success, to which I credit personal development, so she went to work. I gave her a few names, one of which was E.T. The Hip Hop Preacher. She had no idea whether or not this guy would resonate with her, but he did, in a HUGE way. She came to me Sunday night on fire, crying, thanking me for making her invest that time in her personal development (though I only suggested; she did the work). That next week, she signed up five new clients and that month had her highest paycheck yet. I tell you, personal development is some powerful stuff; but, and this is a BIG but, it only works if you do.

Our family began setting goals together every Sunday night about nine years ago. My husband would write down his goals as more of a to-do list, but they were things he had been procrastinating about for years. Within one year, all the items on that list had been accomplished. The power of writing down your goals cannot be overstated.

I have been teaching my girls, who are now 9 and 13, about positive mindsets, personal growth, vision boards, and dreaming big. I love that I get to share these tools with them now so that they can benefit from them as they grow into who they will become, rather than not find these resources until adulthood, like I did. For the last three years, my oldest daughter and I have created vision boards every January 1; this year, my younger daughter did it with us for the first time. The girls have already achieved their 2019 goals, so we will sit down before school starts and set some goals for the rest of the year. We set family goals and they each set individual goals, envisioning what they want to achieve in their activities, their friendships, and their school year.  It is so much fun to do this together, and it gives me some amazing insights into what matters to them.  

So, you are (hopefully) asking, “Ok, Nicole, I’m in! But, where do I start?” Here is a list of my favorite starter personal development books.

(will work with Mark to post amazon links to my top 4/5) Now that you have these resources, I hope you take the leap and start this path to personal growth. I promise, if you put in the work, you will not be disappointed