MUST-READS FOR PERSONAL GROWTH

The support I’ve found in the pages of the following books has offered me seeds of courage and confidence that I’ve worked hard to grow over time. Because of these books, I feel more free to create the life I want to live. I hope you find one or two that speak to you and where you are on your journey.

Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant To Be by Rachel Hollis

“Recognizing the lies we’ve come to accept about ourselves is the key to growing into a better version of ourselves,” Rachel Hollis writes. Girl, get ready. Rachel speaks to those questioning their path, knowing there must be more to life but feeling stuck and unsure how to move toward their dreams. 

In Girl, Wash Your Face, Rachel showed me how to deconstruct the internalized societal conditioning we’ve bought into. This book encourages self-reflection by example, with chapter titles representing real lies Rachel herself has believed, like: I’m Not Good Enough, and There’s Only One Right Way to Be. 

I felt inspired to weed out the untruths I unknowingly believed about myself. The impact has stayed with me long after reading the final page, and supports me through the continued hard work of self-examination and curiosity. This book was my first wake-up call to consider my life choices from my own perspective FIRST. Finding the courage to quiet any external judgement and pressure allowed me to start redlining the elements of my life that were no longer serving me.  

Untamed by Glennon Doyle
When I got to the end of the prologue in Untamed, I knew this book was about to deliver something powerful: “You are a goddamn cheetah,” Doyle declares. 

The premise of Untamed is that, as women, we’re conditioned into being tamed: forgetting our wildness and losing sight of our internal compass. Sharing unfiltered explorations of deeply personal situations from her own life, Glennon creates an intimate, safe space for readers to begin their own explorations. Where have we been tamed? Where can we revive our wild?

In one of my favorite sections, Glennon describes coming to understand her Knowing. She writes, “The more I live by my own Knowing, the more my life becomes my own and the less afraid I become.” Whether you call it Knowing or intuition or whatever you like, it’s inside all of us. Glennon shows us that we can reach our Knowing more often, with more conviction, and, as she says, “Continue to shorten the gap between the Knowing and the doing.” 

So how do you find this Knowing? You find the quiet. Glennon first found it in a closet, but now she listens to her true voice on-demand by finding stillness and silence throughout the day. You have a million tasks and people vying for your attention, but you have to prioritize finding the silence. That’s where your soul’s voice can be heard.

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
You may already know of Liz Gilbert from her mega-bestseller-memoir Eat Pray Love. In Big Magic, she draws on her years of experience writing and living to create an empowering guide for those aspiring to a life of creativity (without the emotional baggage). 

Only, don’t actually call this book a guide. “I did not write this book for you,” Gilbert says. “I wrote this book for my own pleasure. If what I’ve written here ends up helping you, that’s great. But at the end of the day, I do what I do because I like doing it.”

As a creative, it feels so validating to see representation in Big Magic, simply creating art for enjoyment of it. Elizabeth Gilbert makes me feel seen and (strangely) unconditionally loved. “Your own reasons to create are reason enough,” she gently writes. “Do whatever brings you to life. Follow your own fascinations… trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart.”