20 Books That Have Changed My Life

“Successful people have libraries. The rest have big screen TVs”~ Jim Rohn

I am a bibliophile. There, I said it!

When I was a little girl I was very introverted. I used to play alone and in my quiet little world, I would envision what my future would be like- what I wanted to be.

I recall there was a day in particular, I was doing my chores, sweeping the concrete steps that led to the tiny wooden house that my brothers and I lived in with our mother. While sweeping guava leaves off the stairs with a cocoyea broom I thought to myself that one day I wanted to write a book or have my very own magazine.

At the time we had no computer, far less the internet and I am pretty sure the internet was nothing like it is now. However, there were the volumes of World Book Encyclopaedias and Charlie Brown’s ‘Cyclopedias my mom had purchased from a travelling salesman. Other than Sesame Street, I was not much into television and instead I would spend a lot of my time picking a random book and just looking through the pages, absorbing the information and marvelling at the world and all that was in it.

It was always such a fascinating experience to learn so many new things, for example, the origin of the sandwich or classification of different insects and animals or parts of the human body.

I suppose if I did have any friends at the time, they would have found me quite a boring individual. Lol!

Needless to say, the information that I soaked in benefitted me personally and also at school.

Even at such a young age, I think I could have been around eight or nine years old, I saw the value in these books and it was here that I made a conscious commitment to myself to learn all that I could to change my life in a positive direction.

Little did I know that this was the start of my self-development journey.

Through my adolescent years, with school books being so expensive, there was not much money to be able to afford self-improvement books. Essentially I made do with the encyclopaedias and there was also this one book lying about the house (not sure where it came from) called, ”What A Young Woman Should Know About Sex” by Dr. John F. Knight – that was my go-to book on adolescence. This book taught me how to take care of my body, skin, hair, nails etc., as well as how to deal with the life changes that were taking place.

When I got my first job at nineteen years old I was finally able to afford the books that I knew would set me on the right path towards being the person that I truly wanted to be. Since then, I have amassed, in my opinion, a nice library of books.

One thing that I have found been immensely beneficial is listening to audiobooks.

Through audiobooks I am able to consume so much more information while I do everyday things like preparing a meal, doing household chores or taking public transportation.
I have been able to improve my cooking skills, organizing, meditation, visualization, gardening, parenting, spiritual studies, fitness and nutrition and so many other areas that interest me.

Not just through books, but now we have access to an entire universe of information through the internet which we can use to better our lives in so many ways. I make it a point to try to learn something new every day and I am constantly adding to my bucket list of things to learn, see and do.

I believe that we should all take advantage of the wonderful time in which we live, this information age and do all the things we ever wanted to do, pursue all our goals and reach our full potential.

Here I will share 20 books that have changed my life for the better.

The Millionaire Messenger: Make a Difference and a Fortune Sharing Your Advice by Brendon Burchard

2. Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy

3. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo

4. Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives: A Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth Through Meditation, Ayurveda, and Yoga Techniques by Deepak Chopra M.D. and David Simon M.D.