What’s better to do in quarantine than launch a business and…read! While our reading list here at Simply Hudson spans personal growth, professional learnings and some fun beachfront fiction, we found these recent books to be impactful and empowering.
Brave Not Perfect: How Celebrating Imperfection Helps You Live Your Best, Most Joyful Life
Written by the founder of Girls Who Code, a woman who can’t code herself, Reshma Saujani captures your attention right off the bat with her own story of failure – and first feeling of true bravery in adult life. Brave Not Perfect is about leaving the pursuit of perfection behind to live a better, bolder life. Saujani helps paint the picture of how girls are being trained and rewarded for perfection, causing a nearly insurmountable fear of failure. These lessons are deeply engrained and stay with us well into our adult life – and her examples make it clear to see. She urges us to flex our bravery muscles and shift our focus to a growth mindset. Her book is full of examples and tips to break away from perfection and live a brave life. If you’re looking for a relatively quick, yet impactful read – whether it’s for yourself, or to shift in how we’re treating younger generations – I highly recommend starting with Saujani’s inspiring words.
Untamed
Glennon Doyle brings a refreshing tone that keeps the pages turning when reading her most recent book, Untamed. Her stories are thought provoking and impactful while providing relatable glimpses into her life and family. The prologue caught my attention from the start presenting a story of a caged cheetah. Covering a plethora of topics, Doyle aims to guide women into their own, breaking away from who they are told to be in order to be the person they choose. She covers topics such as shame, belonging, the impacts of technology, and reminds you that feelings are hard, but you’re meant to live them. I found her ‘knowing’ to be particularly impactful, and while my personal knowing takes its own form, Doyle makes the idea approachable. This book is empowering, entertaining and lives up to the hype.
Favorite quote: “Thinking is like…it’s like googling your own brain.”
The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts
While I read The Five Love Languages a few years ago, it’s a book I go back to regularly, and recommend more than any other book! Gary Chapman explains that there are five different love languages in which we both speak and receive love. You may show and receive love through different languages, and you may speak more than one! But Chapman’s most important lesson here is to understand and communicate our love language to the important people in our lives. Looking back, I was able to identify where things went wrong in former friendships, relationships, and family fights by recognizing the fact we were speaking different languages. Take the time to read this book – with a highlighter – and embrace what you learn about yourself and the important relationships in your life.
I read the original, but there are editions for singles, children, workplace, men and more. You can also take the online quiz to help understand your own love language here.
The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good For You And How To Get Good At It
Reading as a book club recommendation, The Upside of Stress caught me by surprise! The Upside of Stress presented more scientific facts than I expected, but Kelly McGonigal makes the science approachable in a way that opens your mind to the idea that stress can be good. While I have always thought a certain level of stress was positive – motivational even – I was surprised to learn the results of simple mindset shifts, and the long-term benefits that followed. This book expanded my understanding of stress responses and taught me to embrace stressful situations, simultaneously training my mental and physical responses. McGonigal uses scientific proof to set the stage before providing strategies to incorporate mindset shifts into your life, helping readers relate with stories from her students. If you want to improve your view and reaction to stress, this book provides the evidence you need to shift those perspectives.
What are you reading? Let us know of any recommendations to add to our list!
Here at Simply Hudson, we help individuals, entrepreneurs, and startups simplify their lives and businesses to create meaningful, impactful, and sustainable growth. Whether you are overwhelmed and overworked, ready to scale but getting blocked by decision fatigue, or looking to improve your business strategies to regain control, we provide personalized coaching and consulting vital to your success.
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