A book that totally changed my perspective

Recently, I went through a couple of months where I had almost no motivation. You can read a little more about that here. But then I read a great, inspirational book that really helped me dig myself out of the slump I was in.

That book was You are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life, by Jen Sincero. Now, normally I'm not the type of person to pick up a self-help book. Or even read a self-help article online. But this one was different.

When I first started reading it, I was little skeptical, but she writes in the first few pages that for this book to work, you have to keep an open mind. And it's true, you do. Sincero writes in such a genuine way that it's hard to feel bad about yourself for reading it. It's like a virtual ass-kicking that you just need sometimes.

Within the book it goes over things like money and weight loss, but what I really needed was just to hear that I can do it. There was no specific "it" that I couldn't do or needed to do; I just really needed some pushing. I went through the book, did the activities instructed, and it really changed me.

Now, I can't say I do everything I was instructed to continue doing, like writing out mantras and things, but I do think about the advice in the book almost every day. Her basic idea is that you have to live the life you want to live. You can't wallow in your lack of money and expect money to come flying at you. And that really spoke to me. I can't sit around thinking about how unmotivated I am and expect motivation to magically appear. So since I finished reading it, I've thought about the advice in the book. I've been taking steps to keep my motivation and ambition, working to keep myself ready for whatever comes next for me, and I must say, it's been work but it's also been well worth it.