5 Books to Start Your Mindset Reset Transformation

By: Erika Fehrenbach Prell

One of SoulShine Life Connections goals is to guide you on your journey to your best life. Guiding means to show the way, right? And, one of the ways Jackie and I got to this point in our lives was using books as a tool. I particularly found audiobooks to be a huge #gamechanger for me, turning wasted time like driving and folding laundry into useful self-discovery time. You want to get ahead in the mindset reset game? You need to tap into the power of books.

For you newbies out there, I hear your pain. Where do I start?? That was me 7 years ago. My husband had been consuming “those kinds” of books for years already. But, I proudly turned my nose up at “them”; I didn’t need personal growth and development, or SELF-HELP, books. Thanks, no thanks.

Boy was I wrong. Turns out, “those” books make you the best version of yourself if you listen and act on them. (Like everything else, it’s the action that gets the actual results). But, I almost gave up before I really got started. My mistake was starting with a book I was not ready for...Brene Brown’s book Daring Greatly. It is all about vulnerability and, turns out, that it is one of my weaker areas, aka needs continued work. I came away with a bad taste in my mouth, which re-enforced my already negative feeling towards this particular genre.

And, if I am being honest, the only reason I even finished the book at all was because I was reading it with several other people in a study group. Otherwise, I would have swapped it out for a beach read. 

As luck would have it, my husband asked me what I thought of the book. He hadn’t read this particular one but was really excited for me to try out some PG&D (that’s what we like to call those books...personal growth and development. Sounds cooler with just the letters. Or, so we tell ourselves). I was honest and told him I didn’t like it; I may have actually said that I hated it (my apologies to Brene. I now love her work and books. This was simply a case of drinking from the firehose). After a discussion that I can’t really recall, Adam got the drift; it was too much and too in depth a topic in my PG&D career. 

He asked if he could recommend an audiobook to me to listen to in my car on my work commute to give this genre another shot. Since morning radio drives me a little crazy anyway, I figured I had nothing to lose by swapping out radio for a book. The book? The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. The result? Mind-blowing #gamechanger. 

This book had a science base that caught my interest and gave it legitimacy in my nurse practitioner-science-needs-the-facts brain. It was all about thinking differently on a simple concept. The book itself wasn’t deep but the concept had a deep meaning. It was the perfect place to start, and I am grateful that I gave PG&D a needed second chance.

I’m not sure where you are in exploring this genre; if you are here with SoulShine, you are at least interested in the concept of living your best life. Books are one tool that will accelerate your journey. But, as I learned, you want to be intentional in your book selection. There are a lot of books out there, and I get feeling paralyzed on where to start. So, if you are new to PG&D, I want to give you what I would call my do-over book list to dip your toe into the self-discovery genre!

5 Books to Start Your Mindset Reset Transformation

1. Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun, and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rimes
Shonda Rimes is the uber talented Hollywood creative behind Hollywood’s top shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder. No surprise, Rimes is hilarious and entertaining as she takes you on her life-transformation by embracing one simple word - Yes! This book is a great first stop on your mindset reset journey!

2. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow
Mindset Reset stop #2! This book recounts the life and life-lessons of Randy Pausch, professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon. The “Last Lecture” series was created at Carnegie Mellon University as an opportunity for featured professors to think about and share with their audience from the perspective of the last lecture they would ever give and how they would like to be remembered. In the case of Randy Pausch, he was fighting advanced pancreatic cancer at the time he delivered his lecture. He used this lecture as an opportunity to leave lessons he wanted his children to learn and know about him before he died. I know, it sounds sad and depressing but it is actually uplifting, insightful, and incredibly eye-opening.

3. On Fire: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life by John O’Leary
Next stop! (Anyone else imagining a train or is it just me?) This book is an all time favorite of mine, not just a favorite mindset reset book. Author John O’Leary recounts his triumph over tragedy when he suffered severe, life-threatening burns as a child. He reflects on the life-giving choices made by himself and others on his journey back to health and the resulting life lessons he learns and wants to impart on others.

4. The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success by Jeff Olson
Book #4 coming at you! This is the book I mentioned that brought me around to the power of personal growth and mindset shifting. This book is a philosophy and new way of thinking about how the small choices we make every day can compound to massive success or failure. If this doesn’t rock your mindset, I will be shocked!

5. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
Okay, now that you are warmed up a bit, it’s time to dive deeper and get YOUR mindset on track. A great place to start is this book by Carol Dweck. Dweck discusses the differences between having a fixed versus a growth mindset, and how your mindset will greatly affect your success in life. This is not only a #gamechanger but also a #lifechanger!

This is only the start, DreamChasers! And, some of these books might not resonate with you the same way they did for me. That’s what’s cool about self-discovery; we are all different and what we need at a particular place in our lives is as different as we are. The key is to start! (And, PS, if you haven’t explored the audiobook route, try it out! There are so many areas in your life to fit audiobooks in and turn wasted time into self-discovery time!)

Shine on!