4 Game Changing Books That Could Change Your Life... For REALS! | Life Love and Hiccups: 4 Game Changing Books That Could Change Your Life... For REALS!
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Tuesday 10 January 2017

4 Game Changing Books That Could Change Your Life... For REALS!

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I guess - I'm what you would call a good old fashioned binge reader. 

I show periods of great self restraint that see me often go for months reading just one or two books (if I'm lucky and the books that I am reading don't get used as a missile in World War #783 between my precious gentile children).

But then, like a true junkie does, I have my moments of weakness and just as a chocoholic would eat an entire packet of chewy caramel Tim Tams in one sitting, I devour a pile of books in a matter of days.

OK, I devour books AND an entire packet of chewy caramel Tim Tams in the one breath.

Semantics people.

My point is, when I dive down that big old black hole of book hunger, I am GONE. Like - get yourself your own dinner and does that shirt smell yet no then wear it - kind of GONE you guys and I LOVE it.

I have a particular weakness for books that make my eyes lift from the page and stare trance like off into space and unlike my I'm going to rearrange the entire house trance I go into when I read house porn magazines, my husband is not so scared of this stare. 

He knows well and good that there is to be no furniture rearranging when I emerge from this trace, but he also knows it means I am contemplating really humongous things like... LIFE and the UNIVERSE and all kinds of mystical magical stuff.

My absolute favourites are the books that leave you inspired, uplifted, and ready to stash those Tim Tams in the bin (or at least the fridge) and face the world with a bucket load of unbridled childlike enthusiasm. I live for those book that make you think "Holy Shitballs, how did I survive these forty odd years without ever having read these words before"?

There are four books I put into that extra special "Holy Shitballs" category. 

Actually there are probably more, but these four are my faves that I will read over and over again and these are the ones that I will preach about to friends and strangers and dedicate blog posts and maybe even an Instagram post to. 

These are the books that I buy for friends and random people that I see crying outside the medicare office (alright, I have only ever done that once and I sort of knew her in a sister of a friend kind of way and... she looked REALLY sad).

I am going to share these four books with you and if you haven't already stuck your nose into them for yourself then I will only say this once.... YOU need to beg, borrow or steal these books you guys. Heck stand outside medicare crying and wait for me to come along and feel sorry for you and race into Kmart and buy a copy for you if you have to, just get these books by any means you can and eat them up for they are really good.

I'd even go so far as to say that they are total game changers kind of good.

Since the old saying goes "Don't judge a book by its cover" blah blah... please allow me to explain why I believe these books could possibly be the kryptonite that changes your life.



BIG MAGIC by Elizabeth Gilbert

Totally awe inspiring stuff this book. If you have ever felt yourself failing to launch, worrying about risk and money and failing or even just standing at the edge of awesomeness and being too scared to leap, then this book is for you.

Through her words she literally turns fear into some kind of magic that gets you going to where you want to be. This book will help you to realise that the anxiety you feel about all those big dreams you have, is not only common and normal, but you can put that energy to good use.

Elizabeth also wrote Eat Pray Love... the book that inspired the movie that inspired my fabulous midlife crisis. We like that woman!









THE POWER OF NOW by Eckhart Tolle

This is one of those books that I must have been hiding under a rock when it first came out or something, because apparently Oprah and the whole world were jumping off couches and thanking the heavens for the creation of this book and I didn't not have a stinking clue it even existed...

Until that one day I was having a massage and the lovely masseuse (bless her), would not shut the fire truck up about this book that she had just read and so in order to get her to be quiet so I could enjoy the last ten minutes of my massage (you know -the BEST bit of a massage where they massage your head and you drift off into a blissful euphoric sleep before waking abruptly at the end and then offering them whatever money you have left in your wallet or bank account or stashed under your bed to NOT STOP MASSAGING your head) in order to avoid that NOT happening, I promised her I would head straight to Berkelouw Books and grab myself a copy.

True to my word I did and after devouring it in one night I too would have been jumping from couches with Oprah and the rest of the world... if it weren't for my dodgy knees stopping me.

Whilst the language used in this book can be a little hard to get your head around... push through the first few chapters and I promise you will have your "AHA" moment.

This book will teach you how to not let your mind and your thoughts control you and the message is pretty simple in that it is all about being in the moment and living in the now. The past and the present do not even exist - it has either been and gone or has not yet happened and so they really don't exist.

Given that most of our worries and our anxiety stems from something that happened in the past or something that we fear may happen in the future, realising that nothing exists outside of this one moment we are in right now... well holy shitballs that is a pretty darn empowering realisation.

Apparently it is also a very enlightening realisation so if you aspire to be someone who floats through life with a smile on your dial and an imaginary shield that deflects negativity, then this book could just be your golden ticket.

This is also the book I buy for random people crying outside the Medicare office.














THE HAPPINESS PROJECT by Gretchen Ruben

Oh my words cannot do justice to how much I loved this book. It's all about how Gretchen realised that time is passing like super dooper fast and that she was not focusing enough on the things that really mattered to her, and so she decided to dedicate a year to making changes in all areas of her life and she chronicled that year and called it her happiness project.

This book is kind of like one of your favourite blogs that you just want more off and so you keep turning the pages to get your fix and follow how her project plays out.

There are SO many "AHA" moments in this book and so many valuable lessons to be learnt from it's pages that as corny as it sounds - it will make you that much happier for reading it.

I also had a fan girl moment when I posted a photo of this book on instagram and Gretchen herself commented back to me. It proved she is a real genuine down to earth kind of person... my favourite kind of human.


THE LIFE CHANGING MAGIC OF NOT GIVING A FUCK 
by Sarah Knight.

Admittedly I am smack bang in the middle of reading this book right now, so some may say it is a little premature of me to include this book in my list, and to that I say "I don't give a Fuck".

My friend Tessa gave this book to me over six months ago and I laughed myself stupid at the awesomeness of the title and then it sat on my desk untouched until a few days ago when one of my other friends - Jayde sent me a photo of the book cover and said "OMG, we have to read this, someone told me it is freaking awesome" and I texted her back with a photo of the book sitting on my desk and I was all "OMG I have that book, this HAS to be a sign, I am going to read it right now".

And I did, read it that is.

I still am, and it is ridiculously funny but so damn empowering at the same time.

It's kind of a take on KonMari - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up (a book which I haven't read yet but I totally will) but instead of being all about de-cluttering your life, it's about taking control of your life and not giving a fuck about useless stuff you can't control -  like what people think of you and your choices and learning to say "no" instead of yes all the time - and doing it all without turning into a gigantic asshole.

Alright my fellow book junkies... consider yourself informed and as I said earlier, if you haven't already read these gems, get into them... as fast as you can... oh an don't forget the chewy caramel Tim Tams.

They are just a given!

Do you have any books that you would recommend everybody to read? Any particular book or books that have been a real game changer for you too? 
Tell me please because I am pretty sure I will want to read it.