When is the last time you read a book that changed your life? How about the last time an insightful read gave you an “aha!” moment you’ll never forget? Has it been a while? If you find yourself needing more bang for your buck from your book, look no further. These six self-help books are bound to improve your attitude, your outlook, and, perhaps, your life.

Simplify and Thrive
“Appreciate each day anew, each event with open and alert eyes, each thing as an invitation to participate in the mystery and joy of creation.” According to Michael Gellert, this is a child’s view of life – and we could learn a lot from it. Gellert also believes that two of the greatest obstacles to happiness lie in “relentless pursuit of prosperity without regard for the spiritual side of life” and “the inability to find satisfaction with what one has.”

In his book, The Way of The Small: Why Less is Truly More, Gellert makes a wonderful case for how simplicity can bring the sacred into your everyday life. His essential principles include these basics: being ordinary but exceptional, celebrating the right details, being situated in the world in a strong but humble way, ruling through service, and operating by the power of love in contrast to the love of power.. Gellert’s suggestions for happiness and simplicity are worth a read many times over.

Prepare for the Man of Your Dreams
Since the phenomenon of “The Secret,” much has been written about The Law of Attraction. In Excuse Me, Your Soul Mate Is Waiting, Marla Martenson teaches women how to utilize the same principles to attract “Mr. Right.” An important principle of this book asks you to create and go with good feelings. She urges you to experience now how good it feels to be living with the perfect person for you (and, yes, even though he isn’t there yet). Visualize yourself getting to know the man of your dreams and being in sync with him. When you are truly ready, he will appear – and this book will prepare you for that very moment.

Happy Habits for Happy Couples
Light-hearted and loving in tone, What Happy Couples Do: The Loving Little Rituals of Romance is chock-full of everyday happy couples’ unique and fun habits – and even some laugh-out-loud intimate secrets. Written by two Interpersonal and Family Communication college professors (as well as happily-married women), Carol J. Bruess and Anna D.H. Kudak, this book was created from more than 15 years of research in interpersonal communication.

What Happy Couples Do reveals how successful couples create a “culture of two” through shared gestures, language, and activities; and by avoiding corrosive kinds of communication (criticism, contempt, defensiveness, withdrawing, and hostility). If you and your partner are seeking closer connection, this book is a godsend.

Pregnancy and Empowerment
Would a mom-to-be create a more wondrous human being if she, herself, were living to her fullest potential? According to Giuditta Tornetta, author of Painless Childbirth: An Empowering Journey Through Pregnancy and Birth, maternity is an important time for a woman to concentrate on getting her act together.

Tornetta, a veteran birth and post-partum doula, believes that responsibility for a mother’s child begins with knowing and understanding the “9 Rights of Pregnant Women” (the rights coinciding with each month of maternity). Through them, a pregnant woman is empowered and guided to look within herself to discover where she needs to grow. In her book, Tornetta puts forth the idea that a painless childbirth is one where the mother has been able to shed her fears, heal her past, and take charge of her pregnancy and birthing experience. This wise book shows women how to accomplish just that.

Follow Your Heart, Find Your Happiness
Do you want a more fulfilling career? If you long to quit your job and follow your dreams but find yourself overwhelmed with the prospect of change, pay attention to Bob and Melinda Blanchard’s guidance in their book Changing Your Course: The 5-Step Guide To Getting The Life You Want.

Bob and Melinda Blanchard have created and run eight successful businesses from the ground up in a wide variety of industries including toys, ski equipment, kitchen products, and a multi-million dollar line of gourmet sauces. In each case, they followed their hearts and designed a life that allowed them to spend time doing things they cared about with people they loved. The Blanchards wrote Changing Your Course in response to the many people who have asked how they manage to make so many significant and successful life changes. This book is filled with practical tools and inspiring advice to help you live the passionate and fulfilling life that you’ve always dreamed about.

Psychologist, family therapist, and author Daniel Gottlieb addresses one of life’s greatest questions (“What does it mean to be human?”) in his part memoir / part self-help book, Learning from the Heart: Lessons on Living, Loving, and Listening. He begins with the idea that a condition of being human is that each person has suffering and problems on some level. In his book, Gottlieb does not see this reality as a negative; rather, he views these challenges as means to a fulfilling life.

Gottlieb knows about life’s difficulties first-hand. In 1979, he was in a near-fatal automobile accident, which left him paralyzed from the chest down. Over the ensuing years, he faced depression, divorce, and the death of his wife, sister, and parents. With wisdom, honesty, and great heart, Gottlieb writes movingly about seeing the life lessons in personal trauma. In doing so, he proves to be an adept spiritual teacher, helping readers understand and grow comfortable with their own humanity – and recognizing that we are all more similar than we think.

Each of these six self-help books offers an inspiring perspective. Take your pick and continue your journey to a better life.

~Jill Daniel
www.gratitudegroove.com

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