Top 10 Works for Finding the Inspiration and Motivation Within Yourself

Many of us can come up with the ideas of change. We get fed up with not having enough money for fun and nice things, so we raise our fist in the air swearing to make a change. We look in the mirror and are disgusted by our reflections. While huddling in a robe, we swear to make a change. Swearing to make a change, or recognizing the necessity of making a change, is easy. Following through, setting realistic goals, and achieving success is much more difficult. There are many books I recommend to my clients that can help them not only realize where change must occur in their lives, but also guide them on How to make the change.

Kickbuttmama's Top 10 Motivational Must Haves:

1) Awaken The Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny , by Anthony Robbins, Free Press, November 1992. One of the things I love most either in this book or CD version, is the practical, common sense approach to making change. Many of us know what needs to be changed as well as how to go about the changes. Our problem is in our staying power. We lose sight of the goal and fall back on bad habits. This book/CD is fabulous on setting your goals and developing that sense of achievement. Tony Robbins writes from personal experience. As a man who started with little to nothing and structured his life for success.

2) The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne; Atria Books / Beyond Words, November 2008. This inspirational book is all about the Laws of Attraction. Learn how to change your point of view as well as that inner voice that's setting you up for failure. Think positive and be convinced you can achieve your goals, and anything is possible.

3) Living Smart: 5 Essential Skills To Change Your Health Habits Forever, by Joshua C. Klapow and Sheri D. Pruitt, DiaMedica, October 2007. This book is written by two clinical psychologists. Again the advice relies on basic common sense with the 5 Skills being: Set a Goal; Monitor Your Progress; Arrange Your World For Success; Treat Yourself. Basically the advice is to not overwhelm, keep things simple and take a moment to recognize how far you've come, even if you aren't anywhere near your overall goal.

4) Change Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger, and Impulsiveness, by Daniel G. Amen, Three Rivers Press, December 1999. This book explores the connection between the Mind and Body. Within this work are cognitive exercises as well as some nutritional advice. Written by a Psychiatrist and Neuroscientist, this work explores the impact of unhealthy behaviors on the brain. Some of the brain scans are a little scary, as Dr. Amen shows the brain activity differences in Nicotine, coffee and heroine addictions to Manic-Depression and Epilepsy. The brain scans show areas of decreased activity to areas of over-activity as a result of such behaviors. The thing I liked about this book, though, was the natural approach to remedies - deep breathing, self-hypnosis, guided imagery, etc are all covered in this work.

5) Loving What Is; 4 Questions That Can Change Your Life, by Byron Katie & Stephen Mitchell, Three Rivers Press, December 2003. I like this book because it explores our unhealthy relationships with those in our lives. From our budding anger at our bosses, to the cattiness of our supposed friends. We often don't realize how harmful to our sense of self enduring unhealthy relationships are. Essentially, the overall point in this work is - it's never the person or situation that's the problem, it's what we tell and convince ourselves about the underlying emotion that is the problem...It's like a woman asking her spouse if her pants make her butt look big, then being devastated if he said yes, or flat out not believing him if he said no.

6) 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, by Stephen Covey. Free Press, 4th Edition November 2004. Believe it or not this book was a requirement for testing for black-belt at my martial arts school. It was ground-breaking in 1990 with it's first publication. Instead of analyzing your current habits to determine what needs to change to achieve success, this book is focused on 7 pivotal habits necessary for success, so all you need to is institute them into your life.

7) The Power of Now: A Guide To Spiritual Enlightenment, by Eckhart Tolle, New World Library, September 2004. This is the prelim book to Oprah's Book Club choice - A New Earth: Awakening Your Life's Purpose. Tolle tends to be a profound author, writing reminiscent of Buddhist or Zen teachers. Looking within yourself, to re-connect with your Self. He demonstrates, you can not connect properly with the rest of the world without first learning who You are. This work is inspirational on a spiritual level - not a theology, as it really doesn't touch on religion, more working with the vast unknown of our spirits to achieve what we want and need in this life.

8) Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming The Life You Were Meant To Live, by Martha Beck, Three Rivers Press, January 2002. We've all had a broken heart, we've all had a moment in our childhood that shattered our dreams. No one has had the perfect life. This book is about repairing your emotional compass, how to fix those hurts from early in life, so you can find your Self. Again, (as with Tolle's book) once you've found who you really are, you can better choose a path to follow in life.

9) Skinny Bitch, by by Kim Barnouin & Rory Freedman, Running Press Book Publishers, December 2005. This work is a zany wake-up call into changing how you view your relationship with food. It's a bit brutal and in-your-face, but it dies give great advice for eliminating the 'devils' from your diet. I don't agree with all of their diet implementation at the end of the book, Only because it would be very difficult to maintain such a natural diet. I much prefer giving practical choices to my clients. But this book if a funny quick read and tells the truth about much of what we put into our bodies.

10) Eat This, Not That!, by David Zinczenko & Matt Goulding, Rodale Books, December 2007. Ok this book isn't really motivational or inspirational, but in this Fast-Food world, changing how you view food is just as important as improving your self-image. This work pulls the blinders off on the easy and quick foods we eat on a daily basis. The authors reveal the truth behind the flashy advertising for fast-food and helps you make healthier choices.