My Top 5 Favorite Books for LIFE

My Top 5 Books for Productivity, Happiness, and Overcoming Self-Sabotage

If you follow my Instagram stories, you know that I read books every single day during playtime. Reading is my number one passion and hobby, and I read over 10 books a month! Through my reading journey, I discovered the road to happiness, self-love, simplicity and unbelievable productivity.

I am thrilled to share with you all my top My Top 5 Books for Productivity, Happiness, and Overcoming Self-Sabotage. The road to a happier you can start with the turn of a page!

Why Do I Need These Books?

My Top 5 Books for Productivity, Happiness, and Overcoming Self-Sabotage

Many of you do not know this about me, but my past was extremely rough (due to my own decisions). I had a very serious addiction to self-sabotaging myself and I never believed I was deserving of anything; love, success, or happiness. No matter how hard I tried, I would self-sabotage myself until I failed at everything I set out to do.

Procrastination became my partner in crime and self-loathing was my drink of choice.

I came across the Little Buddha Book one day at the library and read the entire book in 24 hours. Sleep did not come to me that night. I journaled for hours and hours after, determined to put into practice what the book said. I found my light….in a book and worked on myself for quite some time and eventually healed my addiction to self-sabotage. Toxic relationships were left behind, I quit spending money that I did not have, I began a loving relationship with food, and I started to love the woman in the mirror.

It’s not the book that heals you, it’s what you do with it.

After healing myself of self-sabotage (this is an addiction that never truly goes away, in my opinion, but I work hard on it daily), I entered the world of OZ. Everything was so much more beautiful and colorful. I was able to complete tasks without feeling the need to destroy it. I felt worthy of success, love, and happiness!

Except…

I realized that because I self-sabotaged my entire life, I had no real productivity or motivational skills. Before, I would do everything in a binge (workout, eating, homework, you name it) and then burn out by the end of the week and sabotage my success one way or another. It was a vicious cycle.

I went in search for books to help me be the most productive person I could be, get out of bed in the morning ( Happily, might I add), and feel in control of my own life. That is where the following books came into play.

Mindfulness. Motivation. Self-Love. Self-Acceptance. Truth. Simplicity.

These are the words that I would use to describe how I felt after reading these books. These are the words that describe these books. They are all so special to me and I am delighted to share them with this beautiful community.

So much love to you Mamas.

My Top 5 Books for Productivity, Happiness, and Overcoming Self-Sabotage

Tiny Buddha’s Guide to Loving Yourself: 40 Ways to Transform Your Inner Critic and Your Life

The reason why I love this book so much is because it is written by completely anonymous people in a community built to share the truth and build one another up. This amazing book is full of beautiful, traumatic, and honest stories of how everyday people overcame their self-hate, self-sabotage, and negative habits through changing their mindsets, opening new doors and realizing that the power lies within. Every single story opened my heart and mind up to the possibility of change and that was all I needed to overcome my addiction to self-sabotage. Not only did I gain courage, but I found ways to love myself, accept myself, and understand that I do not have to be perfect to be happy. All I need to be happy is me.

The 5 Second Rule: Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage

I 100% credit my ability to wake up at 5 am every single morning to this book. Prior to reading this book, I would wake up at the same time as my children and it was absolute chaos. I just could not fathom waking up early…I was exhausted!! Surely I needed more sleep? Well, the answer to my problem was this book; I learned how to go to sleep earlier (20 year night owl here) and wake up bright and early, ready to tackle the world. My days run so smooth now and I have three hours to do whatever it is that I want to do; I read my books, take a bath, blog, journal, or workout. I make sure that these three hours are for ME. Highly recommend the audio version!

Taming Your Outer Child: A Revolutionary Program to Overcome Self-Defeating Patterns

This book is serious stuff: If you do the work, change will happen. This book is a step by step program that will absolutely transform your life if you put in the effort. I want to make it clear that you will have to do a lot of self-work with this book and not all of us are ready for this. This dynamic, transformational set of strategies—action steps that act like physical therapy for the brain—calms your Inner Child, strengthens your Adult Self and releases you from the self-blame and shame that are the root of Outer Child issues, and paves new neural pathways that can lead to more productive behavior. I will keep this book in my library forever.

Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness

This is one of those books that you will read and then want to give it to all of your loved ones so that they can benefit from it as well! This is an extraordinary book for learning how to deal with stress and anxiety and understand how to live each day with mindfulness. So many of us live each day with so much chaos in our minds that we are never really present in the moment. If this sounds like you, I urge you to follow along with this book and start living. Imagine what the World would be like if we all really lived. 

I recommend reading this book vs the audio; have your highlighter handy!

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

One tip that I give to anyone who asks me how I stay so productive is this book. While this book has nothing to do with work ethic or motivation, it is the ACT of minimalism and tidying up that cleared my home and eventually, my mind. Minimalism transformed our family life beyond belief. We now spend less than half the time cleaning up because there is nothing to clean! Can you imagine that?

Can you imagine your child having only one box of toys? Or imagine your kitchen only having the absolute essentials and none of the “junk”? Can you imagine your closet only holding clothes that actually fit you and/or look good on you? We are constantly bombarded with advertisements and pressure to purchase items that we do not need. I beg you to read this book and transform your home today. This is, by far, the EASIEST transformation that you can make for a better life!

p.s. If you enjoyed this post, you may enjoy our top gentle parenting books as well. Fantastic for new and experienced parents alike!

**This is not a sponsored post (My Top 5 Books for Productivity, Happiness, and Overcoming Self-Sabotage). I also do not know any of these authors in real life (sadly haha). I have linked the books from Amazon USA (you can purchase these in any country where Amazon is offered) and our website receives an extremely small amount of commission if you purchase through the links. We super appreciate it and, of course, I only recommend books/items that I have in my little home. Appreciate all of your support!**