Me again.
While I’m here, I wanted to make note of the last few books I’ve read that I found very helpful. I’ve linked to each book so you can easily find it on Amazon if you want to read more about each book. If you happen to make a purchase, I may make a small commission which comes at no additional cost to you. I hope that if you do make a purchase, you like the books as much as I did.
One of the things that’s helped me get back to myself the past while is picking up a good book and consuming it for hours at a time on my weekends. I can’t even believe how little I read for so long — when I was a kid, I’d stay up every night way past my bedtime reading. It was the best. I feel like I’m finally getting back to that, though my reading time is mostly morning or afternoon now. I still want to read a whole lot more than I allow myself to lately.
Latest Reads
Around December, I finished You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero, a book that I’d paused reading probably shortly before the pandemic. It’s good! It does get a little delusional toward the end when she encourages you to buy whatever car you want, even out of your budget (which to me is lol, no), but 90% of this book was an inspiring read and I’m glad I finally finished it. I’d recommend it if you need a bit of a reminder (or a lot of reminding) that you bring value to the table of life, whether it’s in your friendships, your family, your work, or your relationships… or anywhere else.
Soon after that, I read The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. I think I finished it about a month before the stock market started crashing due to tariff … uncertainties, we’ll say. Which just kind of proves the point of the book in a lot of ways. I recommend it if you’re not really a money person but you’d like to be some day. I’d also recommend it if you’re already getting your feet wet in investing and if you want to learn how your mindset can actually hinder your money growth if you’re not careful (or, if you’re too careful).
Somewhere in there, I also read The Mountain is You by Brianna Wiest. I cannot even tell you how good this book was. Well, yes I can. Look at all those flags! I flag any part that resonates a lot with me. This has helped me understand others as well as myself a whole lot better, and given that, I am inclined to try to be a lot more patient with people and myself as a whole. I’d recommend it if you know someone who shoots themselves in the foot a lot, even though they could do incredible things if they didn’t — maybe especially if that person is you. It was awesome. Like, best book in a while. And I read it very quickly.
And currently I am reading Rewire by neuroscientist, Nicole Vignola. Like the previous book, I am loving the heck out of this one. Following the Netflix series, The Mind, Explained, I became interested in the inner workings of our brains with regards to how we form habits (and cannot seem to break most of them no matter how much we say we want to). I don’t watch a lot of Netflix, but there have been a few other docuseries since that kept my interest in this topic fresh. I follow Nicole Vignola on Instagram, and after a while of finding her posts incredibly useful and logical, I decided I wanted to read this. And then I got it for my birthday! So that worked out well. This book is helping me to reduce the amount of screen time I have, reduce burnout through incorporation of a few specific practices (that, by the way, I know do work, given I used to be a lot better at incorporating all of them into my life). Great read. Highly recommend.
I’m also reading How to Do the Work by Nicole LePera, another book I got years ago and finally decided to get into. It’s good, and has a lot of useful ideas that can be put into practice throughout. I didn’t take a picture of it, but you can find it here.
So that’s it.
My first substantial and topical post in a very long time. You might wonder why I read so much of what could be considered ‘self help’ or therapy-focused books. I work in a field that requires a deep understanding and empathy of people, and the more I do, the more I find books like this helpful. And to be honest, I’m pretty sure the more I try to learn about myself and, hopefully, grow too, the better off the people around me might be for it, and so will I.
Over the past year or two, self awareness has become something I feel is one of the most beneficial traits a person can have. I try to be, and I hope to always continue on that way.
What are you reading lately? Leave your thoughts and your recommendations in the comments!
Thanks for stopping by.
–Nik
