Top Ten Books on Self-Help Topics

This was a labor of love for me. The categories I read most are Self -Help and Spirituality. I found it challenging to narrow the list to just ten. But I did it.

1.Harmonic Wealth :The secret of attracting the life you want. - James Arthur Ray

Wealth or the acquisition of money may not be on the top of your list of priorities. That's ok. That is certainly not the primary reason for reading this book. You can still take away something of value in other areas of your life. Perhaps your relationship is suffering, or you are out of shape, or you are just unhappy with the quality of your life and desire to make a change. Wealth as it applies to the reader means all areas of life in which you could use some abundance. Reading this book will change you in ways you may never have expected, but I promise it will be for the better.

"When you achieve true happiness and fulfillment, you learn that the journey is the adventure, the excitement and the fun in life. You won't wait until you have achieved wealth to have quality time with your family. Do it now"

2. Key to Living the Law of Attraction: a simple guide to creating the life of your dreams - Jack Canfield

The law of attraction is based on the simple idea that what you focus on, and give attention to, will be automatically attracted to you - good, bad or indifferent. This concept is gaining popularity with Self-Help and Spiritual Teachers everywhere. I myself have experienced this in both positive and negative ways. The book guides you through the concepts and principles, pausing in places for the reader to go through a series of exercises in the seven key areas of Personal goals ,Relationships, Health and Body, Career, Education, Recreation, Financial and Contribution (Donation or giving back on some level).

The exercises are very helpful in getting concise about what we deeply desire from our lives and also our fears. As for me, the more I wrote the more I discovered wants I have that were hidden down deep, buried underneath the layers of demands of family, work and home. I'm still a work in progress, but I am finding that I do make an effort to do more of the things I really enjoy - just for the sheer pleasure they bring me.

"Start living consciously and "on purpose", everything you do, every activity you participate in, should be in alignment with your joy, your higher truth, and your mission in life."

3. Real Life: Preparing for the 7 most challenging days of your life - Dr Phil McGraw

So what are the 7 most challenging days of your life? No doubt days that none of us want to face. The day your heart is shattered, The day you realize you have lived your life as a sell out, The day you realize you are in way over your head, The day the body breaks down, The day the mind breaks down, The day addiction takes over, The day you have lost your purpose and have no answer to the question "why"

Dr Phil addresses these issues in his uniquely eloquent style of straight to the point. Although reading this book will not make it all go away, it will raise your awareness of How to Cope with the stresses of life - major and minor. The book includes Audits - Questionnaires - to help you assess stress, fear, existential crisis, addiction and health levels. It is real life, no non-sense advice on how to pick yourself up and dust yourself off when life knocks you down.

"Life can be tough but we are not victims - at least we don't have to be"

4. Woman and Money: Owning the power to Control Your Destiny - Suze Orman

As women in a modern world we all need to be able to take care of ourselves financially - Suze Orman gets that and her book provides the basis we need to understand the financial world. Everything from FICO Scores to Roth Ira's Suze explains it all in simple, easy terms.

"The most powerul attitude you can own when it comes to your future is Self-reliance."

5. Actually, it is your parent's fault:Why your romantic relationship isn't working and how to fix it - Phillip Van Munching and Bernie Katz PhD.

A great book on two levels: One it helps the reader gain insight into their own behaviors and two it doubles as a parenting guide - there is so much background on child and personality development that you can't help but learn a few things about parenting as well.

The book offers up some wonderful insight and advice on relationships - relayed with humor making it a very interesting read.

"The stuff we're born with is substantially modifiable, the stuff we take in as we're being raised ....that's a lot harder to change."

6. 30 Days to getting over the dork you used to call your boyfriend . (A heartbreak Handbook) - Clea Hantman

This book is a teen book. I have a teen so it made a worthwhile read for me. It deserves a place on the list because it is cleverly written and actually contains some very healthy advice for teens on getting over a break-up. Everything from doing Yoga to Fung Shui.

"There is scientific proof that exercise releases endorphins, which are like self-generating good-mood pills for your body."

7. Stealing your life: The Ultimate Identity theft prevention plan - Frank W Abagnale

After reading this book I was surprised at how easy it is to steal someone's identity - worse still how easy we make it for people to do so. The most frightening thing for me was realizing that a person could steal your identity, use it for wrong-doing and you could end up in jail.

The good news is the author does provide some excellent advice on how to prevent and combat the aftermath of identity theft. Having your identity stolen can have disastrous consequences. Put this book on your list of must-reads.

"The real Anthony Stone was driving through Nash County, North Carolina, when he was stopped for speeding; when his license was inspected the police gave him the news that he was wanted for drug possession. Geez, he said, they had to be kidding. They weren't and he got tossed in jail for the night."

8. Me, MySpace, and I: Parenting the Net Generation - Larry D Rosen PhD

The internet is even replacing television and video games in our children's lives these days. As parents we are aware of the dangers of our kids being totally exposed on the internet. Being informed is the best way for us to educate and keep an eye on our kids and their online activity. This book takes a balanced look at how the internet and social networking sites affect our children's lives and their social, emotional and even sexual (gasp) development. The basic message is stay involved, and know what your kids are doing with their time online.

"Like Ben, many teens in my studies reported that by talking online they felt more comfortable talking offline.

9. It's so Hard to Love you: Staying sane when your loved one is Manipulative, needy, dishonest or addicted -Bill Klatte, MSW, LCSW, Kate Thompson

I have had, and continue to have, difficult or what the book refers to as Troublesome Loved Ones or TLO's. The book takes a look at the different behaviors of our TLO's - Our emotions and responses to those behaviors and how we can alter these behaviors and empower ourselves to break free from the "ties that bind" in negative ways.

"To deal effectively with a difficult loved One - and take care of yourself at the same time, you need to strike a balance between giving too much and giving too little"

10. How to Wow:Proven Strategies for presenting your idea's, persuding your Audience, and perfecting your image - Frances Cole Jones

Learn the most persuasive words and how to present them in ways that will captivate and fascinate your audience. Whether in person or through your writing there are definite techniques and tricks one can use to make a presentation more, interesting but not overdone. The book does focus pretty heavily on face to face presentations because I think that is the Authors area of expertise, however there are some strategies for other written presentation types as well, such as resume's and PowerPoint presentations.

"7 percent of our influence comes from the words we say.

38 Percent from our tonal quality while saying it.

55 Percent by what our body is doing while we are saying it."

That concludes my List of the top ten. Hopefully you will find something here of interest to you.