Life-Changing, Eye-Opening Books I've Read
And Think You Should Read, Too.
There are no shortcuts to being at your optimum for good health, strength, stamina and longevity. You have to fuel your muscles, bones, organs and cells with nutrients and make time every day to work your body physically.
The same is true for your mind and spirit. To be at your optimum mentally, you must intentionally feed your mind and spirit with good input — not just junk — and work it every day. Your mind needs to be pushed and challenged, and you need to learn from those who have wisdom to share with us.
On September 1, 2022, I began reading for just TEN MINUTES every morning, and immediately experienced the power of reading books like the ones below. It was hard at first to resist the urge to scroll social media or check the news and my texts. But before long, I was realizing amazing changes in myself, especially in my mindset and perspective. I soon added listening to audio books on my way to the office each day.
And at night before I turn out the lights, I read a “just for fun” book for ten minutes.
Below are books I’ve personally read or listened to since September 1, 2022 and highly recommend. Each of these has given me the information and fuel to make changes in my life, whether to break out of a rut, change faulty “wiring,” learn important truths about myself, gain understanding of important principles for the life I want, or push me to do hard things. I’ll continue to add books, podcasts or other media here as I read them, if I believe they will be powerful tools for you as well. ~MDQ
The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life Before 8 AM
The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward
Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money -- That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
I read this book for the first time in September of 2022. I’d been suffering for months from awake-all-night anxiety, while waves of fear and hopelessness filled my days. I looked around and realized I’d spent the better part of my life investing in the dreams of others — ignoring my own gifts, waiting for the “right time” to be good to myself. And now I was 59. Was this really how my life would end? Filled with regret, bitterness and resentment?
One night, crying out to God over and over again, “Help me, God. Please help me,” I heard the words “Miracle Morning.”
Read more…
I’ve lived my life with regret, starting from a very early age when I regretted tattling on my brother, Bruce, and witnessing him bear the terrible brunt of physical and emotional beatings. The rest of my life was built with bricks of one regret upon another. “I shouldn’t have bullied Kathy Smith. What the hell was wrong with me?” “I should have listened to my gut and gotten out of that relationship earlier.” “I should have told someone who could help.” “I should have refused to go to college until I knew what I needed to do.” “I shouldn’t have moved off campus.” “I should have left anyway and not allowed him to manipulate me with fear.”
Read more…
Rich Dad Poor Dad was the first book I chose for my 10 minutes of Miracle Morning reading time. I listened to author Robert Kiyosaki read it to me during my morning commute to my job as the office manager for an architecture firm.
My boss’s unusual generosity baffled me. He not only owned his own thriving firm (started in his attic!), but believed financial success was a gift to be shared. I didn’t understand why he was so open-handed when I, who had so much less, was tight-fisted. I knew he eschewed carrying credit card debt. But there was something else at work here.
Read more…