Hey everyone and welcome! I hope you are having a great week. As I’m recording this the sun is out, there is a breeze and I can hear bird song. I’ll be heading outside as soon as I can to get in a jog and do some burpees. That Spartan race is not going to run itself. I wanted to share with you today some of the books that have changed my life for the better. I’ve read a lot of books that have had an impact on my process and thus influenced positive changes I have made. Over time I’d like to share with you all the books that I found helpful to me in the hopes that they will be helpful to you as well. But there are some books that went right to my core and transformed what I believed about myself, other people, the world and what was possible for me and my life. Each of these books helped to lighten my load and see things in such a new way that I found myself experiencing less stress and more joy. I’m listing them in the order in which they came into my life and not in the order of overall impact in my life. Each book was the most impactful book while I was reading it because it was exactly what I needed at that time. You have to follow your own instincts to take you to the resource that will best serve you, where you are right now. Here are the books that gave me what I didn’t realize I needed at the time. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff and It’s All Small Stuff by Richard Carlson This was probably the first personal development book I was introduced to. It was published my senior year in high school and I’m pretty sure I read it that year or my freshman year in college. Although I gave this book away many years ago (I don’t believe in holding onto books; I believe they are meant to be gifted away) I remember seeing the wisdom in not getting so worked up over little things. This book, in a wise and gentle way, challenged common held beliefs and ideas about the “should” in our life. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz If you’ve been listening to this podcast for any length of time you’ve heard this book mentioned time and again. This book was a game changer in my life. Published almost 2 years after Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, for me this book was a deep dive into exactly what was at the root of my stress. Each of the four agreements, if you understand them correctly and live by them, will transform how you relate to the world around you. The four agreements are: Be Impeccable With Your Word, Don’t Take Anything Personally, Don’t Make Assumptions and Always Do Your Best. I read this book right at the end of my college years and I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I felt more free, more confident and joyful. It was a blessing I didn’t see coming. A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle This book builds upon Eckhart’s other book, The Power of Now, but I was introduced to A New Earth first. A New Earth is about a shift in consciousness that is currently occurring. This shift is from that of the ego-mind to a consciousness that is at the core of who we are. If you’ve heard Wayne Dyer’s quote, “you are not a human being having a spiritual experience, you are a spiritual being having a human experience,” this is exactly what Eckhart is getting at. Reading this book ignited in me my clear understanding that I was called to be a coach. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer I put these two books together because, even though they each separately have value, for me they delivered and reinforced a similar message. Reading The Power of Now introduced to me the concept of the observer behind the thoughts. It helped to anchor for me the spiritual being having a human experience. We are not our thoughts or our emotions, nor are we the doer of deeds. We are actually the observer behind these things. The Untethered Soul took this a step further for me and I have more regularly had experiences of utter peace and joy. I’m still in the practice of this but that’s all part of the journey. Loving Wh