11 Books For Bettering Your Life In 2020

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Every season we like to share a few new book releases in the personal development, career, and finance spaces. Here are 11 that caught my eye this season. 

11 Books For Bettering Your Life In 2020

1. Conscious Leadership by Neil Seligman

I am always interested in books about leadership. This one in particular caught my eye because it focuses on self-awareness and self-reliance — two characteristics I am passionate about.

From Amazon: 

Conscious Leadership introduces you to the importance of establishing a centered, compassionate and resourceful outlook, to allow you to take on your future with confidence and ambition.

Drawing on mindfulness techniques and ten years of experience working with individual clients and top tier businesses, Neil Seligman provides practical tools to help increase your emotional self-awareness and build stress-resilience, to improve your clarity on who you are, where you are headed, how you are going to get there and most importantly, why.

Learn the power of making a conscious commitment to aligning yourself to your goals, and be ready to lead yourself and others with purpose.

2. Find Your Own Magic by Elizabeth Ermenkova

This journal is absolutely gorgeous! It is hand-illustrated as well which makes it even more personal. It helps you to create your own reality and improve your life according to your own goals and values.

From FindYourOwnMagic.Space:

Find Your Own Magic is a carefully created, illustrated guide that will help you stay inspired and focused on the way to bringing your dreams into the physical world. 

Beyond the concept of a book, it is a whole experience, where you are not only the reader but also the creator. This guided journal combines techniques that mix psychology, science and some ‘miracles’, proven to enhance the quality of one’s life. 

You can start your journal at the beginning of any month of the year. In the book you will find 12 sections. Each one is dedicated to one month and contains:

• a challenge 
• pages for your notes 
• self reflection questions 
• a goal tracker

You will be challenged a lot. And provoked. And inspired. 

And hopefully you will bring your best self to the surface and everything in your universe will align.

3. The Real Estate Journey by Dr. Brian P. Simon

If you’re interested in real estate, this book will break it down for you! 

From Amazon:

Relatable stories, complex concepts broken down into bite-sized pieces, and an overall optimistic tone makes The Real Estate Journey an easy, enjoyable read for those who have an interest in real estate or business ownership.

Dr. Brian P. Simon provides a guide for those who want to get started on working towards their dreams and goals, as well as detailed steps for buying a first home and what it takes to become a successful real estate agent or investor.

The Real Estate Journey includes a step-by-step guide to managing finances while on an entrepreneurial journey to make building a business or entering into the world of real estate a feasible reality. For those struggling with believing that real estate is a viable option for building wealth, Dr. Simon offers reassurance that once people connect with their ambition, unpacking their dream and claiming their piece of the pie is simple with the guided principles he supplies. With authentic leadership, Dr. Simon shares a realistic outlook for entrepreneurs by sharing his own failures and successes and invites real estate agents, every day investors, and entrepreneurial spirits alike to spread their entrepreneurial wings and fly.

4. Life Unscripted by Jeff Katsman and Dan O’Connor

I’m super interested in this one because of how improv exercises can help you tap into your imagination and charisma.

 

From Amazon:

Learn to collaborate with others, think on your feet, and both welcome and celebrate mistakes using the skills of improve theater

Offering readers critical tools to enrich relationships, unleash the imagination, and build a more personally meaningful life, psychiatrist Jeff Katzman and TheaterSports LA cofounder Dan O’Connor draw from contemporary understandings in neuroscience and psychology to explore the nature of our personal capacities and limitations.

Many of us go through life following a script written for us before we were even born–designed by our friends and family, and shaped by the expectations from others that we meet. But the script that worked when we were younger can impact us in different ways as adults and make it hard to get along in the world. Using concepts from improvisational theater, we can all learn to think spontaneously, relish our mistakes, and improve how we work with those around us.

5. Don’t Keep Your Day Job by Cathy Heller

This books features some amazing women I look up to — I can’t wait to read their words of wisdom!

From Amazon:

The pursuit of happiness is all about finding our purpose. We don’t want to just go to work and build someone else’s dream, we want to do our life’s work. But how do we find out what we’re supposed to contribute? What are those key ingredients that push those who succeed to launch their ideas high into the sky, while the rest of us remain stuck on the ground?

Don’t Keep Your Day Job will get you fired up, ready to rip it open and use your zone of genius to add a little more sparkle to this world. Cathy Heller, host of the popular podcast Don’t Keep Your Day Job, shares wisdom, anecdotes, and practical suggestions from successful creative entrepreneurs and experts, including actress Jenna Fischer on rejection, Gretchen Rubin on the keys to happiness, Jen Sincero on having your best badass life, and so much more. You’ll learn essential steps like how to build your side hustle, how to find your tribe, how to reach for what you truly deserve, and how to ultimately turn your passion into profit and build a life you love.

6. There Is Nothing To Fix by Suzanne Jones

As mental health advocates, we are passionate about encouraging others (and ourselves) to reach out for the resources we need to heal. This book aims to give you the tools to do that.

From Amazon:

Suzanne Jones has helped thousands of participants with her life-changing somatic healing program and has put the knowledge into the last self-help book you will ever need. She leads you on a journey back to your authentic self by guiding you through a personal exploration of recovery, growth, and resilience. There Is Nothing to Fix is The Power of Now meets the #MeToo movement. Interspersed with case studies and stories of real people—stories you can connect with—the book illustrates the power of Jones’s approach to create innate healing and hope.

Jones begins where most teachings on self-compassion, emotional regulation, and healthy relationships end, by going to the source of lasting change—the body. This book provides a practical lens through which readers can understand their responses and emotions while offering step-by-step guidance for changing these responses, all with an emphasis on compassion and empowerment. Through this revolutionary approach you will be able to experience true freedom from the constant urge to fix yourself from the outside. Jones teaches you everyday tools to build self-confidence, self-compassion, and most important, self-acceptance—tools that have been within you all along.

In today’s struggle to feel connection and approval in our chaotic and critical world, There Is Nothing to Fix teaches us how to suspend judgment, become curious, and find emotional freedom from within.

7. Why Are We Yelling? by Buster Benson

After reading the description of this one, it is 100 percent on my to-read list for 2020. If you work or collaborate with others in any environment, this book is for you.

From Amazon:

If the threat of raised voices, emotional outbursts, and public discord makes you want to hide under the conference room table, you’re not alone. Conflict, or the fear of it, can be exhausting. But as this powerful book argues, conflict doesn’t have to be unpleasant. In fact, properly channeled, conflict can be the most valuable tool we have at our disposal for deepening relationships, solving problems, and coming up with new ideas.

As the mastermind behind some of the highest-performing teams at Amazon, Twitter, and Slack, Buster Benson spent decades facilitating hard conversations in stressful environments. In this book, Buster reveals the psychological underpinnings of awkward, unproductive conflict and the critical habits anyone can learn to avoid it. Armed with a deeper understanding of how arguments, you’ll be able to:

• Remain confident when you’re put on the spot
• Diffuse tense moments with a few strategic questions
• Facilitate creative solutions even when your team has radically different perspectives

Why Are We Yelling will shatter your assumptions about what makes arguments productive. You’ll find yourself having fewer repetitive, predictable fights once you’re empowered to identify your biases, listen with an open mind, and communicate well.

8. RetireSMART! by Mark Anthony Grimaldi

As someone who doesn’t have a traditional 401(k), I’m intrigued by what exactly this means. 

From Amazon:

In his acclaimed first book, The Money Compass, practicing economist Mark Anthony Grimaldi shocked his readers by showing them how their 401(k) plans benefited no one but Uncle Sam.

In this follow-up, he dives deeper into the subject and proves once and for all that a 401(k) plan might be the single biggest hindrance to a secure Tax Free retirement. This nationally recognized economist will give you a guide on how you can improve your retirement with 3 simple steps. So if you would rather “spend” your retirement savings as opposed to “spend” your retirement savings paying taxes, buy this book and follow his 3 simple steps and RetireSMART!

9. Tarot For Self-Care by Minerva Siegel

photo via Minerva Siegel

This one is for all of you tarot lovers out there.

From Amazon:

Self-care is an important daily ritual to everyone’s lifestyle. But it is about more than simply pampering yourself in a bubble bath or getting a manicure. It’s about connecting and understanding your true self. That’s where the magic of tarot comes in—it puts you in touch with your hidden fears and secret hopes, weaknesses and strengths. These revealing cards do more than simply predict the future. They offer essential, insightful messages from your subconscious, showing a new perspective on how to achieve personal growth.

Tarot for Self-Care uncovers how to make the most out of your daily tarot practice with mindful readings, pre-reading rituals, daily one-card check-ins, practices to explore your intuition, and more. You can think problems over by laying out a spread, ask the cards yes or no questions, or explore your intuitive skills. It will definitely be worth adding these techniques to your tarot self-care toolbox.

Here is an excerpt from the book (Excerpted from Tarot for Self-Care by Minerva Siegel. Copyright © 2019 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. Illustrations by Nicola DosSantos. Used with permission of the publisher, Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved.):

Self-Care: Beyond the Buzzword 

Self-care is en vogue and here to stay, and that’s marvelous—but what is it, exactly? In the simplest terms, self-care is the practice of doing things for yourself with compassionate intent. Through self-care, you restore both mental and physical energy, nurture the wonderful traits and talents that make you who you are, and simply feel good. It can involve those little things you often hear about, like skincare routines and indulging in little luxuries that make you happy, but, at its heart, it’s much deeper than that. The ultimate goal of self-care is to cultivate yourself comprehensively so you can become the brightest version of yourself. Unlearning toxic behaviors, recognizing the ways in which you can improve yourself, and taking care of your health are all major parts of self-care.  

Through the magic of tarot, you will discover your own path for personal wellness, but above all else, remember that self-care is the best way you can show yourself love. After all, you need to love yourself just as much as you love other important people in your life.  

Types of Self-Care  

This comprehensive self-care can also be broken down into three main types that cover every aspect of your life. As you dive more deeply into the world of personal care, you will discover how each type can be tailored to your unique needs, and how tarot can act as a guiding light to the best self-care practices for you:  

• Mental Self-Care     

This involves any practices that restore or nurture the mind, including managing stress through a breathing exercise, cultivating creativity through an artistic hobby, and boosting your mood with a funny video. Mental self-care is important for managing your emotions, organizing and understanding thoughts, and succeeding in everything you do—from career ambitions to personal interests.  

• Physical Self-Care     

This involves any practices that restore or nurture the body, including getting enough sleep, working out, and eating a balanced meal. Your body is a temple, and physical self-care allows you to properly honor and nourish it.  

• Spiritual Self-Care     

This involves any practices that restore or nurture the spirit, including meditating, attending a worship service, and releasing negative energy through a Reiki session. Spiritual self-care is important for exploring meaning and connecting to the world around you, no matter your personal beliefs or values.  

 You might use a self-care activity to target one area that you feel is in need of a little extra TLC—like using the mental self-care practice of journaling to calm anxious thoughts during a stressful week at work—or you might weave activities within all three types into your daily routine. Paying attention to what aspects of your life need self-care and when will enable you to maintain balance and overall wellness, no matter what life throws your way! 

 Self-Care and You  

It is also through practicing this care for your mind, body, and spirit that you celebrate your successes, learn from your missteps, and, most importantly, discover who you are at your very core. After all, when you really get to know yourself, you can reject the things that don’t align with your best, happiest life. Rather than wasting time on thoughts, people, or practices that don’t help you vibe higher, when you get to know and trust your truest self through self-care, you are better equipped to fill that space with the kinds of positive beliefs, relationships, and activities that deeply nourish you.  

This is a lot to think about, I know, but luckily, the wonderful realm of tarot is here to help.  

Whether you lean heavily into the spiritualism of tarot, approach this art from a more secular lens, or are picking up a tarot deck for the first time, reading tarot can provide you with an absolute wealth of personal insight. The cards are tools to help you access your subconscious mind. They encourage you to be analytical, and they help you view the situations you find yourself in more objectively. After all, it’s often hard to see things practically when you’re in the thick of it, so tarot can help you take a better look from different, unexpected, and beneficial perspectives. It encourages you to discover and acknowledge your most intrinsic truths— both positive and negative. Using these revelations, you can celebrate your light (the positive qualities that give you your signature je ne sais quoi and brilliant inner glow), recognize your shadow (any negative or problematic traits you hold), and discover which behaviors, conditioned responses, ideologies, and perceptions might not be serving you well. 

At its core, self-care involves digging deep within yourself to create energetic balance in your life, recognize social and environmental conditioning that isn’t serving you well, and embrace your truest self. Tarot can help you accomplish all of this—and more! A marvelously versatile tool, tarot is about much more than turning over cards in a deck; it can be used to exercise your intuitive muscles, analyze yourself in constructive ways, and learn to own your potential. Through these powerful, insightful cards, you’ll soon be a pro at caring for your unique needs. 

Minerva Siegel is an atheist witch living in Milwaukee with her husband and their little pack of rescued misfit dogs. Disabled and plus size, she focuses her attention and talents on helping others feel empowered by promoting body positivity and cultivating deep self-love. You can find her on Instagram @SpookyFatBabe.

10. More Than Just Weather & Music by Bradley Metrock, Lauren Helmer, and George Otvos

I’ve always wondered what else my Alexa can do. Time to put her to the test! 

From Amazon:

Everyone’s got an Alexa-enabled device, whether an Echo in the living room, an Echo Show in the kitchen, or an Echo Auto in the car. But not everyone knows there’s a whole lot more you can do with Alexa than just ask for the weather, or to play your favorite music. More Than Just Weather And Music: 200 Ways To Use Alexa, the new book by Bradley Metrock, host of #1 tech podcast This Week In Voice and regular speaker on the impact voice technology is having in our world, will share many of these best-in-class Alexa skills and use cases that will change the way you view Alexa completely.

11. Emotional Detox For Anxiety by Sherianna Boyle

As someone who has always struggled with anxiety, this book is something I need to turn to when my anxiety rears its head.

From Amazon:

Most of us view a detox as a physical experience, but what we don’t realize is that it’s not just our physical bodies that need to be cleansed in order to return to a healthy state. When we’re unable to process our stress and worries, they can become toxic to ourselves and those around us. Wellness expert and author of Emotional Detox, Sherianna Boyle modifies the revolutionary C.L.E.A.N.S.E method to guide you through the 7 steps to a successful anxiety detox. The 7 steps include: Clear, Look Inward, Emit, Activate Joy, Nourish, Surrender, and Ease.

Experiencing reactions to worries, stress, and doubt can put obstacles in our path to a happy and fulfilled life. An anxiety detox is a systematic and mindful way to purge these harmful thoughts. Once freed from this burden, an anxiety detox returns us to our joyful, carefree state.

Emotional Detox for Anxiety is a reset for the soul, flushing out negative feelings, clearing a path for new habits and behaviors, and energizing you to accept peace, acceptance, and pure joy.

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These books were sent to us as review copies from their respective publishers or authors. Opinions and thoughts are our own.

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