Famed American novelist George R.R. Martin once said in one of his books, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. Reading does not only take us to places we have never set foot in before, but it also gives us the chance to live in the shoes of others; to feel what they feel; to immerse ourselves in a whole new world; to feel inspired and motivated. I have picked these inspirational books I believe all women should read for inspiration.
Books are the ferry we need to travel across continents; the time machine we could use to transport us in the past and into the future; the lens we need to widen our horizon and change our perspectives on certain matters; the therapy we need; and the source of energy that would keep us motivated and even more inspired to keep going.
Here are some powerful books that you can grab and help you get the kick of inspiration you need right now.
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1. The subtle art of not giving a fuck by Mark Manson
Yes, my friend, you read the title quite well and you might want to say it again. It is indeed one-of-a-kind, right?
Well, this attention-grabbing book is indeed a life-saver in the face of today’s psychological dilemma. Yes, we all struggle with our deep-seated insecurities and self-doubt. Yes, we all have our share of disappointments. We wallow in misery and self-pity as a result.
But Bestselling Author and renowned blogger Mark Manson is likely to advise us to screw them all! His book is not your conventional self-help type as this is blunter, on-point, realistic, and practical. It allows us to suck sometimes and embrace our flaws. It teaches us not to try so hard in achieving something. That if we only allow ourselves to step back and care less, we do better at it eventually.
The idea of not giving a fuck does not mean we would become indifferent. It only means we have to learn how to discard, shift, and let go of trivial and unnecessary things; hence, focusing on what is imperative.
In a nutshell, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck is about “Picking our battles wisely.” What are the struggles we are willing to endure? What pain do we want in life? We cannot expect to win if we are not willing to play, can we?
2. Find your way by Carly Fiorina
Human Potential – the only limitless resource in the world – is the heart of former HP’s CEO Carly Fiorina’s New York Times Bestselling book, Find Your Way. Her book encapsulates her life, struggles, and how she transcended those. Once a struggling person herself, she knew she had to find her place in this world one way or another. Thus, even against her parents’ better judgment, she mustered the courage and told them she didn’t want to enter Law School and become a lawyer like her father; that her heart was set for another path.
Her story, which she graciously revealed in her book, is tremendously inspiring. She believes in the incredible power of knowing our potential; what moves us? What thrills or excites us to wake up every day and face the world?
She further believes in the freedom we can experience from knowing what we are capable of. She suggests that to find our path, we have to start with finding a meaningful problem to solve. From that point, it will gradually lead us to that place we are destined to be.
3. Limitless by Nick Vujicic
If you are thinking of how lousy, how inadequate, how ugly you think you look, how physically challenged you are, please take a step back and think twice about your words. You may not realize it but you are limitless; you just have to look within and see yourself.
Limitless – Nick Vujicic’s devotional, Christian book – has a million pieces of advice to living a ridiculously good life. Whether we are battling with our faith, relationship, career, challenges, anger, frustrations, or low self-esteem, his biblical and inspiring messages would certainly help us regain ourselves. He believes in anchoring ourselves in our Creator for He is, without a doubt, limitless.
Born with tetra-amelia syndrome or having no arms and legs, he had his fair share of struggles as well. He had his bad episodes in life. Yet despite his circumstance, he found solace and strength in his faith. And he is encouraging us to do the same – to entrust our journey to our Creator.
4. Eight rules to live by by Robin Roberts
The former anchor of Good Morning America Robin Roberts crafted this little book in hopes of imparting valuable wisdom on how we can be our best self through her personal and inspirational stories. As a woman of color, she went through several challenges. But knowing how feisty she was, she did not back down. Like a mythical phoenix, she slowly rose from the ashes.
To give you a glimpse of her most-sought-after Eight Rules to Live by, one of which is “Never play the race, gender, or any other card.” If you are the type to play the victim or to come up with petty excuses to justify your circumstance, then this book is a must-read for you. She emphasized that we should not be too-skinned; that we should refrain from taking things personally.
The crux of her book was her struggle with breast cancer and how she handled it, considering all the pressure surrounding her. She credited her family, faith, and fundamental values for all the successes she reaped and is continuing to enjoy in life.
5. The seven habits of highly effective people by Stephen Covey
Truly a legacy, highly esteemed author Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People stole the hearts of the masses, I included. I have been obsessed with this gem. It centralizes on the idea of being proactive and beginning with the end in mind. I believe those are among those transformative skills we must develop.
Regularly, we are confronted with stressful and demanding situations. Sometimes, they can get out of hand and that may drive us mad. Yet instead of being reactive to the situation, Stephen Covey suggested we practice being proactive instead. Our response to a stressful situation will define the result we want to achieve. Thus, between being reactive and proactive, the latter promises a better result. It even fosters good relationships with others as we get to become team players.
Accordingly, by taking initiative and responsible for what we do, we are yielding favorable and lasting results; hence, making us effective and productive.
ALSO READ: 7 habits of Highly productive people
6. How to live a miracle life by Bo Sanchez
A man of God, bestselling Filipino author Bo Sanchez believes that we can live a life of miracles every day. Thus, in his book How to Live a Miracle Life, he carefully put together the 7 life-changing keys that can lead us to abundant blessings, wholeness, and happiness.
However, to be able to have life oozing with miracles, we have to open up ourselves. We have to be willing to accept and recognize the world of miracles. Yet how do we do this?
In this book, we can learn tons of life strategies on how to do just that – to live a life full of miracles. We will get to realize that we are a miracle ourselves and we will need to do well to keep that in mind.
7. The kindness pact by Domonique Bertolucci
I said it before in one of my posts but I dare say it again – we are our own worst critics. We tend to be extremely unkind towards ourselves. And then, we wonder why we feel miserable and seem to be in low spirits right after.
The brainchild of one of the International best-selling authors, Domonique Bertolucci, the Kindness Pact basically includes eight promises to make us feel good about who we are and the life we currently live. These show us how to be kind towards ourselves; that by practicing these eight promises daily, we would be able to restore or boost our self-confidence. It helps us nurture our self-esteem and to have that energy boost we need to function at work and in our life in general.
The essence of kindness seems to have been long forgotten. But thanks to Domonique Bertolucci, we get to be reminded of how significant this is for us at present.
8. My point…and i do have one by Ellen Degeneres
Ah, Ellen DeGeneres – her famous humor never fails to amuse us, not only on TV but even in her book! If you are a fan of her all-time favorite antics and want to know more about her story way back in the ‘90s, you would love this. Her book revolves on how we strive and fail in so many of the small things in life and succeed in the larger things. Back in the day, she was living a normal and ordinary life like what we do. But her quirkiness made hers peculiar.
At one point while she was with her dogs, she had the seemingly dreariest, most boring part of her life. In one of her journal entries in this book, she revealed how meaningless her life was; how she felt the hollowing emptiness inside her. She then set out to find her path, follow her heart, and become one of the most celebrated TV hosts and comedians in America.
9. What successful people know about leadership by John Maxwell
From one of America’s most acclaimed leadership authors, John Maxwell’s What Successful People Know about Leadership is loaded with insights intended to help us improve on our professional life.
It walks us through the concept of leadership; how we can effectively and efficiently resolve conflicts in our team and work with challenging members. But most of all, it guides us on how we can better lead ourselves. For how can we possibly lead others without having to lead ourselves first?
Leader or not, we require these proven techniques to excel at what we do, most particularly in working with our colleagues. Truth be told, this book holds a special place in my heart.
10. The twelve universal laws of success by Herbert Harris
This book authored by Dr. Herbert Harris is among those must-have tools to success. Each law is designed to help us master the art of success and to better excel at it. Each law also provides step-by-step strategies that we can apply and get the desired result we are aiming at.
Study Guide Questions for this book are also included at the end of each chapter to better assess and guide us as we go on with our reading. It may then require time for us to fully digest what we want and how we proceed to realize what we want in life.
Success is what we are here for; it is the reward we all want to relish. But it demands our best efforts and perseverance. Dr. Herbert Harris’ book is here then for that purpose – to guide us in materializing our goals.
Keeping ourselves truly inspired and motivated can be practically done by reading some of these books. At some point in our lives, we would experience feeling lost and not sure of where we are heading. We are sometimes left in the dark. In times of difficult situations like the Pandemic, take some time to read inspirational books. If you are still in quarantine, take a look at these books to read. It will surely boost your spirit.
OVER TO YOU
Through reading, we can find our purpose, our reason for living and thriving. We get to know ourselves even better. Through reading inspirational books, we, women will be able to break free from the shackles that we put around ourselves which limit us to perform more.
Which of these Inspirational books for women to read is your favorite? It is my greatest hope then that you find the fulfillment or the boost or the encouragement you need among these books. Take the time and get ready to get even more inspired and dedicated!
These are all great books, and I am now itching to go to my Amazon books and get them. Thanks for your recommendation.
1st one is my favorite book by Mark Manson, that book literally helped me get through a lot of things. haha
Definitely, a must-read one if you need some boosting.
Great recommendations! I have only read the first one!
How did I not know Ellen wrote a book, I gotta read this one!
I love this list because you are introducing books I probably wouldn’t have picked up at a bookstore. Hence, this is a great inspiration – thank you so much for that!