Category: Book club

So Many Books. So Little Time.

That heading sums up the story of my life. Books have been my best friend ever since I can remember. I loved curling up in my bed with a good book. I also sucked my thumb until I was 18 so my book plus my thumb…well…clearly I was in heaven. 😂 And yes, at 18 cigarettes replaced my thumb and thankfully now it’s me and my book. 😊

I have just completed ‘Life Visioning’ by Michael Bernard Beckwith. I watched his interview with Oprah in about 2019 and wanted to know more about his process. I don’t think i was ready at the time to fully understand it so I couldn’t get into the book. I decided to give it a try again about 2 weeks ago and have just completed it. It was what I needed to get me started this year. I always wanted to understand the difference between Visioning and Visualisation and how to utilise both. This book explains it all in a very easy to understand way. I would highly recommend it if your are on a spiritual growth journey.

Currently I have 3 books open. Actually, according to Goodreads I have way more than that open. I was mortified when I first saw how many books I had not gotten around to finishing yet. It’s ok though, as with Life Visioning, I will complete them when I am ready for them. So what are those 3 books you ask?

  1. Let’s talk Money: You’ve Worked hard for it Now Make it Work For You by Monika Halan – My finances are in a mess at the moment so I figured it is time to make some changes. If I find her system difficult to work with then I will go back to Suze Orman’s way which worked for me in the past. I have no idea why I stopped using it actually.
  2. The Art and Business of Online Writing: How to Beat the Game by Nicolas Cole – I used to follow him on Quora and probably on Medium too. I really enjoyed his writing and he seems to be making a decent sum of money from it. Why not learn from someone who has already forged a path I figured. Besides, I need a side hustle to help me out of my financial mess.
  3. Personal – Jack Reacher #19 by Lee Child – I love, love, loooove Jack Reacher! He oozes testosterone but he has a heart and I love that he is so authentic. This is my escapism novel. A woman has to have a little fun too 😁
  4. Oh wait there is a 4th as well. Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins – I signed up for an informal reading challenge by one of the members on Tony Robbins Facebook group. I think we are reading 6 books this year and this is the first one for the year.
My books on my Kindle for Q1 2022

The next book/s on my list which will probably keep me busy until the end of March are:

  1. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham – If it’s made Warren Buffet the great investor he is today, I figure I can learn a thing or 2 from it as well. As you can, this also feeds into my financial journey. I need to do things differently this time around.
  2. Principles by Ray Dalio – I was just drawn to this book. I will find out why when I read it. There is something it that I need to know to help me on my journey. I can’t wait to find out what it is.
  3. The Mistress of Justice by Jeffery Deaver – I love, love, love Jeffery Deaver’s work. I don’t think it is ever possible to guess who did it because he takes you on such a roller coaster ride that it’s just not possible to figure it out until he tells you. He is the master of the twist in the tale!
  4. Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill (book 2 for the reading challenge) – I read this years ago and am looking forward to rereading it.
My books for Q1 2022

If you have read any of these or have any recommendations for me, I would love to hear from you. I have set myself a goal of reading 50 books this year so any all recommendations are welcome.

Let me get back to my book! Bye for now🌷

Book Review: 3 books in 4 days-Diet, Surrender and Inspiration

Wow, 3 books in 4 days and I have 2 others open😱. I am on a role! 😂 In all honestly, each book had me captivated, entertained and a little wiser. Thought I would share a review of each while it is all still fresh in my mind. Besides, with covid infection rates rising, home and reading is the safest place to be right now.

Image created on PS Express

1. The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life’s perfection by Michael A. Singer

How does a man go from just wanting to be on his own in a cabin in the woods to being a CEO of a multi-million dollar company (while still living in a cabin in the same woods)? He surrenders to life’s flow, that’s how. If you think back to the times when you just followed your instincts and things just fell into place and everything turned out way better than you could have ever expected, that’s surrendering and following life’s flow. Michael Singer discovered his ego voice (my words not his) by chance one day and became obsessed with trying to silence it so he could enjoy inner peace. The book details how this obsession led him on a journey that he could never have foreseen. It teaches us the power of faith in a higher power/life’s flow and how important it is to get out of your own way and not overthink things. Accept that everything and everyone is in your life for a reason and that if you are focussed on the right things, the right people, experiences and even money will appear just as you need it. It’s a very powerful story.

2. A Recipe for Miracles by Jeanne Danielle Brooks

I was so inspired by this book. This is the founder story of Wicked Donuts, a hand crafted gourmet donut brand that is available in Durban, South Africa. The author takes you on the roller coaster ride that was her life until she found her calling. My heart broke for her, then I got excited for her and next thing you know I was punching the air in sheer joy. If you find yourself in a space where you feel like nothing ever works out for you and you don’t know what your next step forward is, pick up this book and let the author inspire you with her story. The last 20% of the book is filled with tips and tricks for budding entrepreneurs which the author learnt along the way. I am sure that she and her brand will only go from strength to strength in the future.

3. The New Keto Friendly South Beach Diet: Rev Your Metabolism and Improve Your Health with The Latest Science of Weight Loss by Arthur Agston, M.D.

I remember buying the original book when low carb diets became the in the thing back in the day but I didn’t follow it at all. I don’t even think I got very far into the book. This time round, I didn’t put it down until I was done. This is probably because I am far more invested in my health now than I was back then. (Oh how wish I was still that weight. That was about 30kg ago🙈🤪) The science is so easily explained that each time you put an item of food in your mouth, you are making an informed choice. There is no space for excuses. I bought it because it was only $2 on the Hay House Sale and because I knew I needed to be more serious about my nutrition and I was looking for a ready made eating plan that I could just start using. I find creating one for myself overwhelming so I end up procrastinating and, next thing you know I am a few kg’s heavier instead of lighter because my eating goes off on a tangent. 🤦🏽‍♀️ I got way more than I was expecting for my $2.29/R34.66. I received an invaluable education in nutritional science and the eating plan I was hoping for. I cannot begin to detail the where, why’s and how I have diabetes today but I am grateful to finally have a better understating of where I went wrong and how I got here. The authors aim is really to help you prevent diabetes but the science was very relevant to me as well. Science has come a long way in a very short space of time in understanding how we ended up overweight and pre-diabetic/diabetic and how to turn the tide. If you are looking for links to scientific papers to back him up, you will be disappointed but hey, he even references Dr Tim Noakes who essentially woke South Africa to the benefits of the low carb Lifestyle and Banting. Dr Tom Noakes does science! He also incorporates Intermittent Fasting into his recommendations so he ticked all my boxes.

Each of this books happened to catch my attention at just the right time and the message in each was just what I needed to hear at this moment in my life. I am so excited about 2021 because I feel better equipped by them to achieve the goals I have set for myself. I could have ignored them and told myself I have enough books to last me a good few years (which I do) and I don’t need more but they tugged at me so I followed my instincts and purchased and read them anyway and I am really glad that I did.

I hope you enjoy these books and find them as enlightening as I did. All are available on Amazon right now. 50% of the profit from A recipe for Miracles will be donated to Gift of the Givers who do amazing work throughout the country and the world.

Stay Safe! Happy Reading!

Welcome 2021!

2020 was a great growth year for me. Books, Courses and Motivational speakers that were placed on my path helped guide me to where I am today. This post includes a list of resources I used.

2020 went out with a bang last night! We had storm after storm roll on by as if to wash away the year’s energy; to refresh the earth and make space for the wonderful energy that 2021 brings with it. Today, it continued to rain. I feel as if we have begun a period of renewal. I am so looking forward to the gifts that this year brings.

Image: Canva

Lockdown was a blessing in disguise for introverts like me. Suddenly everything was available online. I didn’t have to leave the comfort of my home to do anything if I didn’t want to. As a result, 2020 was a year of growth for me in so many ways. My words for the year was Focused, Intentional and Disciplined and that is exactly what happened. I focused on my health, my mind and my spirituality. I read books to gain knowledge and understanding, completed courses that gave me the tools I needed to “shape my destiny” and I listened to motivational speakers via Audible to keep me on track. Each of these were placed on path as I was ready to read or listen to them. God was working His magic to get me where I needed to be right now. That being said, there were 2 tools in particular that I found very very useful this year:

  • Meditation

I have dabbled in meditation over the years but have never committed to it despite seeing the benefits whenever I did. In the latter half of this year, I committed to a 2 week course that that was free on Facebook, run by Gilan Gork’s Influence Institute. I didn’t realise that it required doing a form of meditation every morning but once I had made the commitment I stuck with it. At the end of the 2 weeks I chose to keep going. I had noticed that within a week of starting, I was finally able to pause for that split second before responding to people’s questions to allow my mind to gather myself. This was so exciting and I didn’t want to lose the skill so I stuck with it. I downloaded Insight Timer on my phone and created a timed mediation for 10 min and Wa-La… a new addition to my morning routine was created. I do find that changes to my routine can have a knock on effect on fitting in my meditation so I try and catch up in the evening.

  • Affirmations

I have used affirmations in a number of ways. Two of these is to change my limiting beliefs and to open my mind to new possibilities. I do them every morning.

  • Changing my limiting beliefs: As part of the Mind Power course, run by Robin Banks, we are encouraged to understand what our limiting beliefs are about money, relationships, our abilities and what we can achieve in this lifetime. As Robin says, “You can’t change what you don’t now”. Just as people have possibly affirmed to you since childhood that “that there is not enough money to go around” or “you are not good enough”, you can affirm positive messages to yourself. It’s not easy to turn your long held negative beliefs around so I find that I need to believe that the affirmation is possible to achieve in order to buy in to it. In his book “The Power of the Subconscious Mind”, Joseph Murphy recommends saying an affirmation like “By day and by night I am being prospered in all of my interests” is far more acceptable to the subconscious compared to “I am wealthy” while debt collectors are knocking on your door. Your subconscious will accept what it really feels to be true.
  • Open my mind to new possibilities: In the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad”, Robert Kiyosaki talks about changing the way you see challenges. As an example, if you want to buy a new house that is a little out of your price range, you can either tell yourself that it’s too expensive and leave it at that or you can ask yourself, “How can I afford that?”. Your mind will immediately start looking for solutions especially if you keep asking it the questions. You can also use affirmations to get a similar effect e.g. tell yourself that opportunities are everywhere. They really are. If you contemplate all that is being invented right now and accept that people will be inventing things to the end of time then your mind will accept that opportunities are indeed everywhere and be scanning for them. Those opportunities can also extend to finding your life partner (“All the good ones are taken” vs “there are so many wonderful partners available to me right now”) Lastly, affirmations also have helped me grow my faith in God. In order to have faith in what God will do for me, I needed to first believe that I was worthy of His wonderful blessings. Affirmations have really helped me accept my worth.

By the grace of God I have seen the following changes this past year. There have been others as well:

  • I have ended the year 4+kg’s lighter. It’s a smaller win that I had planned but I will take it. It is a win after all.
  • I started and maintained Intermittent fasting. I doubt I will ever go back to eating the way I used to. I just feel so much better as I am now.
  • I signed up as a Honey Accessories Sales Consultant. In essence this is my first foray into owning my own business (baby steps 😉 )
  • My friend and I signed up with a personal trainer and completed 9 weeks of online training, 3 times a week with him on the 31st. I feel fitter and I see that my flexibility has improved so I am very happy with this progress. I, night owl of note, do this at 6am! If I wasn’t doing this at home I don’t think I would have coped with that early morning start 🤣
  • Through the practice of mediation as well as intentionally trying to strengthen my connection to God, I have become more aware of the world around me and, in particular, the signs that are sent my way to guide me in the direction I need to go. It is so amazing to watch God in action in my life.
  • I completed my BA in Psychology and Anthropology

Before I sign out for tonight I would also like to share some of the books, courses and audible books that helped me grow this year:

Books:

Courses (All online so you attend classes from home and your whole family can participate for the price of one)

  • Mind Power – Robin Banks – If you are disciplined about doing the exrecises, you will get everything out of this course that Robin promises. He has free webinars to introduce the course. Upcoming dates can be found here and on his social media pages.
  • Mind Power Master Class – John Kehoe. This a recording and not an actual class. It’ a 6 week course in which a new lesson is released each week. Ienjoy listening to John Kehoe. He is the author of the book “Mind Power” so it is interesting to listen to his take on the subject. He is Robin Bank’s Mentor. Irecommend attending Mind Power first.
  • Shaping Your Destiny – Robin Banks. You don’t need to attend Mind Power for this. A bonus in this course is one-on-one session to help you create your personal mission statement. You can find out more at the Mind Power link above.

Audible Books – these are actually a collection of speeches and not books as such. I prefered listening to these over spending time searching through Youtube for similar material.

Note that none of the above links are affiliate links

I plan on keeping those 3 words for 2021 and I will add “Surrender” to them. I found that when I truly surrendered an outcome to God this past year, things tended to fall into place so I am letting go of control this year. It is a scary thought as God has a tendency to send you in a direction that you didn’t think you wanted to go to get you were you need to be but I look forward to the journey. It’s going to be epic!

May your 2021 be blessed. Thank you for your support throughout 2020. Thank you to those friends, old and new, that were sent to help me on my journey. I appreciate you. Stay safe everyone! Wear your mask, wash your hands and sanitise them and keep a safe distance.

The Game of life and how to play it…

Life is a game that must be played by certain rules and laws. In this post, I share what I now know to be true as learned from the book The Game of Life by Florence Scovel Shinn

I was having a discussion with my boyfriend yesterday and at the end of it I walked away very frustrated. I felt like I was being judged on mistakes that I had made when we first met and that the changes I had made since then were largely ignored. While lying in bed it suddenly it dawns on me…I have spent my whole life judging people, including myself, why am I surprised that I am now feeling judged?

Then I remembered this quote from Florence Scovel Shinn’s book “The Game of life and how to play it”. I realised that by judging others I have brought judgement on myself. My heart sank. I immediately started asking God for forgiveness for my misguided behavior. I have been working so hard on learning to let things go and just accept people as they are and not judge them that I forgot that it wouldn’t erase the past. The are always consequences for one’s actions after all.

The great thing though is that forgiveness is always just a request away. A request through prayer to my God, my Universe. He will forgive me and I need to forgive myself as well in order to stop the cycle. I has taken me a while to understand this though.

I spent months at the end of last year and through January looking for answers. I knew that there was another way to approach life. I knew that there was something that I just wasn’t getting and I was right. Each book I read opened a new door of understanding. Eventually I happened upon Florence Scovel Shinn’s book and suddenly everything fell into place for me. At the end of the day there are spiritual laws that we must obey in order to live a life of love and abundance. There is a mindset that we must adopt in order to be open to a life of love and abundance. I think for me, her book consolidated everything I had read and put it in a Christian and metaphysical context in such a way that it all fell into place for me.

Life is a journey so I am learning as I go along. What I am sure of now is:

  • that God is my supply.
  • That everything that I need is already out there and available to me and I just need to release it with my words and show active faith.
  • That there is no loss. What’s not meant for me will fall away and it will be replaced with what is meant for me. This applies to people and things.
  • That active faith requires making space for the things and people that I have asked for and then letting go and letting God do the rest.
  • That I cannot ask for specific people. I can ask for the right friend or partner but not a specific person. God will send the right person to me as and when I need them in His time and not my time. His will be done and not mine.
  • Very little is actually in my control and that’s ok. When things aren’t working and feel disharmonious, I have to stop and ask myself where am I trying to control situation so that I can stop, mentally take my hands off it, and trust that all will work out as it should. Phew, this is a hard one but it’s getting easier.
  • Lastly, that there are no limits to what I can achieve. The only limits are the ones that I place on myself. This is also a hard one to accept and implement. I have spent my life believing in limits. Limits to the money I can earn and the things that I can achieve. Limits to the small things and the big things. There actually are no limits and I just need to accept and believe this. God is my supply after all and God’s supply is limitless.
  • Last lastly 😜, it is important for me to recognise when God is showing me what is meant for me. He will too. Then just believe, show active faith and then let go of it. What He has planned for me is always far greater than what I have planned for myself. God’s supply is limitless.

There is loads more that I have learnt on this journey which I am sure that I will write about in the future. Starting my day reminding myself that God is my supply gives me a sense of peace deep inside. I start the day knowing that no matter what happens, everything will workout as it should and that I just need to show up in faith. Forgiveness comes easy these days. Letting go is getting easier and my faith is growing. Life is beginning to flow more smoothly.

Thanks for reading. I will leave you with a quote from Florence Scovel Shinn’s book, “The Power of the Spoken Word:

You can never do a thing you cannot see yourself doing, or fill a place you cannot see yourself filling—not visualizing, making a mental picture (this is a mental process and often brings wrong and limited results); it must be a spiritual realization, a feeling that you are already there; be in its vibration.

Book of the month# 1: Seat of the Soul_Gary Zukav

This book was recommended to me by a colleague at work. She kept repeating that Oprah said it changed the way she viewed the world and herself (she actually does say this in her preface to the book). I was intrigued.

It was the right book at the right time for me. It opened up wounds that I didn’t realise I had and helped me find the courage to acknowledge them so that I can move forward in my life. I cannot begin to tell you the changes that have happened in my life just in this past week alone due to an adjustment in my perspective. Most are subtle but their impacts will be huge as time goes on. Doors are opening. My perceptions of people and the events around me are shifting. I am so grateful for these experiences. I can’t wait to see what each new day brings.

The chapter on the soul really affected me. I was with my mum when she passed a few months ago. I couldn’t help but go back to the hospital bed in my mind and re-experience my mum’s passing. It was painful and yet cathartic. It also brought home the reality that there is so much more to us than our bodies. Our bodies are just a vehicle really. It is such a profound concept to get one’s head around. I remember walking away from her bed that night knowing that the body that lay there was no longer her. Her energy had moved on. It felt so strange then and it still feels a little weird now as I write about it. I am grateful that I got the opportunity to be with her though and that she had her family with her to send her off.

The chapters on power and trust are also extremely useful. I will definitely be returning to this book from time to time. Some of it just makes sense and you feel that shift in your energy as you acknowledge it, while some needs to be processed before you can really make sense of it. There are a few bits where I zoned out so I need to go back to those 😜

All in all I found the book very thought-provoking and enlightening. I would highly recommend it if you find that you are searching for answers to some of life’s questions.

Book cover Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav

If you would like to get a copy for yourself, I bought the book from http://www.Loot.co.za as they were way cheaper than Takealot.com and Exclusive Books for the this book.

Next on my reading list: Becoming by Michelle Obama. It was a Christmas gift from my baby sister. I have been dying to read it but somehow felt that I wasn’t ready for it yet. I knew that once I started I would not want to stop. I also knew that I had to be in the right frame of mind to take in the lessons and just enjoy the journey.

Well, the time has come, and my intuition was right (of course). I won’t be putting this book anytime soon. Will share my views on it when I am done.

Enjoy your weekend! Happy reading!

For the love of books

“A room without books is like a body without a soul.” Marcus Tullius Cicero

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This is a pic of the bookshelves in my room. In fact I have one or two in every room in my home. They are a constant companion. I can’t imagine life without them. Some are permanent fixtures that I turn to time and time again and some are there to entertain me when I need down time or to teach me more about a topic that I am currently interested in. Some titles made my curiosity antenna stand straight up😜. No matter the reason they found their way onto my shelves, they are each loved and treasured. I am very grateful for my love of reading and, to the thousands of authors who tap away at their keyboards bringing their stories to life, I say thank you!

Do have a bookshelf or two? Which are your favourites?

Bookshelves. Quote by Marcus Tullius Cicero
Image by author. Quote by Marcus Tullius Cicero

“I told my myself: Life is growth. You grow or your die.” Phil Knight

red and black nike fitted cap
Photo by Aman Jakhar on Pexels.com

Shoe Dog: A memoir by the creator of Nike by Phil Knight…what a story!  I am not a big fan of autobiographies, but I definitely enjoyed the style of writing in this one.  It reads like a novel.  Full of twists and turns as well as valuable insights and lessons. Not only is a great story, it is also filled with great examples of what the power of intention can produce together with purpose and action.

Let me share with you a few of the key lessons that I learned from this book

  1. State your intention and own it.

Phil was clear from early on that he had a “crazy dream” and that was to own a running shoe store.  Everything he did thereafter was ultimately to make that dream a reality.  It was his sole focus.  It drove him.  His single-minded focus is what ensured that he would succeed.

He often quotes the following from George S. Patton in his book “Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”  He knew what he wanted to achieve and largely left the people around him to get on with it.   Another example of how clarity of intention enables delivery of the intended result and sometimes more

2. God/The Universe will send you the right help at the right time

Whenever he needed to take the next step, help was always there.  It came in different forms, a new employee who had a skill that he didn’t realise the business needed or, a new supplier or a new source of finance just when everything seemed to be falling apart.  When your intention is clear, the right help will come at the right time.  You just need to be open to it and embrace it.

An example is employee no.1, Johnson.  In the book, it appears that he was largely left to his own devices.  He created the first store. He came up with idea of making branded T-shirts and photographing athletes with them on (even if they weren’t wearing Nike). He was as passionate about selling those Japanese running shoes and, in many ways, his initiatives took the company to the next level.

3. You will make mistakes, but you can overcome them

I think it is fair to say that Phil Knight made several mistakes along the way.  Some massive and some small.  Most of the time, the way he overcame them was through honesty. He didn’t always have much of a choice, but he stresses how honesty saved his hide more than once and it also brought them business when they weren’t expecting it.  Of course, it’s one thing to make a mistake but the important thing is to own up to it, learn from it and move forward.

4. Be open to learning

It appears that Phil Knight was quite the reader. He enjoyed learning and especially about other cultures.  He also looked for opportunities to learn from other people. He was constantly growing and evolving.  Often, he didn’t even believe in what others were recommending but he just did it anyway and that includes using the name “Nike” as the company name.

white graphing book
Photo by Bich Tran on Pexels.com


5. Passion and purpose are powerful

There is a passage towards the end of the book that communicates the power or purpose way better than I could, so I am just going to share it here: “We wanted, as all great businesses do, to create, to contribute, and we dared to say it aloud.  When you make something, when you improve something, when you deliver something, when you add some new thing or service to the lives of strangers, making them happier or healthier, or better and when you do it all crisply and efficiently, smartly, the way everything should be done but so seldom is – you’re participating more fully in the whole grand human drama. More than simply alive, you are helping others to live more fully, and if that’s business, all right, then call me a businessman.”  A similar sentiment was shared by Steve Jobs when talking about Apple.  For me, it’s further proof that a selfless purpose together with passion and focused action are an unstoppable combination.  Yes I know, we pay through our noses for those very products.  They do achieve their intentions though in that their products do let us live more comfortable or convenient lives.

At the end of the day, if you are true to your purpose and you don’t just do something for the money, the money will come anyway.  Let’s not be naive though, the trick is being true to your purpose but be business savvy at the same time.

There’s a lot more learn from the book.  I plan on reading at least once more as there is always more to gain from it.

Hope you enjoyed this review. If you have read the book, I would love to hear your take on it.

Until next time… Happy Reading

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