I really don’t know what inspired me to start reading self help books, but I am so glad that I did. I was in a weird spot in my career/ life for the past year after my son, Forrest, was born. Life got super busy with having a full-time job and a side hustle with photography and navigating motherhood. I really got in this place where I just felt like I was always tired, unproductive, and just a mess. So I decided I would download some audio books to read during my commute to work and to weddings. AND IT CHANGED MY LIFE BIG TIME. Below are the three books I read within days of each other. By implementing the suggestions that these books talk about, my perspective on life has changed, I have more energy, I am more productive, I’m super inspired and just ready to take on the world. I hope that one or possibly all of these books change your life in the ways that they changed mine.

1. Girl Stop Apologizing, by Rachel Hollis.

RUN and go pick up this book RIGHT NOW! I literally have never read a book where I was like oh my goodness…what have I been doing with my life?! It really inspired me to be more productive and change habits that were not helping me be successful. Because of this book, I am so much happier and so much more confident in myself. One habit that I changed after reading this book, was my morning routine. I was such a grumpy person in the morning and until reading this book. I also always slept in until the last possible second. Then I would drag myself out of bed and rush to get myself and Forrest ready and run around flustered and tired all morning. Now, I get up and HOUR early….which I thought ME of all people would never be able to do that, but here I am. I’m doing it. I wake up, make some chai tea, edit at least 50 pictures (or have some other goal to work on), I take a shower and actually get ready and look nice (look good feel good am I right?), make my bed before I leave, and play my anthem song “Good as Hell” by Lizzo on full blast (my husband is very tired of this song already). I dance around the house and feel so good to be awake and to have already accomplished something before heading to work. There are some many other things in this book that I have used to better my life, but you’re just going to have to go read it for yourself to see what I mean.

2. You are a Badass, by Jen Sincero.

I mean the title says it all, right? This is the book that really inspired me to look at my life and think about which career path I wanted to choose and how to make my dreams come true. It wasn’t until reading this book that I finally realized that I wanted to do photography full time. When I first started photography, I was super excited and I told everyone that one day I would do it full time, but then life got busy and the more I thought about it, the more I felt like it was impossible. I almost got to the point where I thought I would have to quit because my full time job and photography combined were getting to be too much and I missed my son and husband. After reading this book I realized that all along I wanted to do photography full time, but pushed it away because I was scared of taking a leap of faith. I knew I couldn’t do both so I thought I wanted to stick with the security of a job with a fixed salary and benefits. I now know that my calling is wedding photography and because of this book I am more inspired than I ever have been to make my dreams come true. I know that one day, I WILL be a full time wedding photographer and I am confident in myself that I will make it happen.

3. You are a Badass at Making Money, by Jen Sincero.

I mean after reading “You are a Badass,” obviously this had to be next on my list. With the last bookI realized what I wanted to do with my career, so I figured this book could help me turn my dreams into reality so I can eventually make enough money to do my dream job full time. This book was the ultimate game changer for me. I am actually reading it a SECOND time right now. The concepts she talks about in this book have actually blown my mind. If you want to make money and master the mindset of wealth, this HAS to be on your list. This book has changed my outlook to focus on what amazing things I have in my life already and how to make my life even more awesome going forward. I started a grateful journal after reading this book. I write down 10 things I am grateful for each day and it has made me really look for all the good things in my life.

Hopefully these books can do the same for you that they did for me. Any other books you love that helped you??