Three Books I’m Devouring This Month And Better For It

Here are three books I’ve been absolutely devouring and that have made some really great mindset changes in me that I want to share with you:

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

I read this because exercise has become an increasingly important part of my life. At first, I didn’t want to read 200 pages to convince me of what I already know: I need to exercise more.

But the chapters on Learning, Depression and Addiction have now refocused me on incorporating DAILY exercise into my life. For for the past couple of years I’ve written here about my physical health journey, now more than ever I see it as absolutely vital to my mental health — in fact, over and over and over it is scientifically proven to be THE wonder drug.

The case study on Zero Hour PE created and pioneered at Naperville District 203 is incredibly inspiring and humbling. I was floored. I wish I’d had a PE class like this.

For my own intense exercise, I do what I called rualks. It’s a run-walk. I run some, I walk some. But I try to focus on intensity minutes.

But the idea behind Zero Hour PE made me think about my rualks. I do what I can do. I don’t try to kill myself, or finish that last mile.

I’m doing this because:

1. I want to feel better, first and foremost, and
2. to get my weekly intensity minutes, which focuses on heart rate.

One thing I have incorporated into my rualks though as a result of reading this book is sprinting for sections of my rualks as the author mentions.

This is a desktop reference book I’ll return to and will be going on my all-time reading list.

What To Say When You Talk To Your Self

For the last 8 months or so I’ve been really working on my self-talk. Frankly it sucks. If I said what I say to myself to my friends … I wouldn’t have friends.

The author describes Five Levels of Self Talk:

• Level 1 is “negative acceptance” characterized by “I can’t” sentences.
• Level 2 is “recognition a need to change” characterized by “I should” and “I need to” sentences.
• Level 3 is “decision to change” characterized by “I never” and “I no longer” sentences.
• Level 4 is the “better you” characterized by “I am” sentences.
• Level 5 is the “universal affirmation” characterized by “It is” sentences.

He suggests to unlearn Level 1 and 2 fast and start learning Levels 3 and 4, which I’ve been doing.

Particularly I’ve been doing Level 3 for some bad habits or ways I react in my life to situation that “I no longer” want and don’t benefit me or my relationships.

I’ve specifically used this sentence a lot: “I don’t have to react that way any longer.”

It’s also loaded with OUTSTANDING affirmations that I copied to my journal and am repeating.

The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level

I bought this one originally as an audiobook for a business road trip I had a couple weeks ago and loved it so much, I also bought the Kindle version.

The author talks about the Upper Limit Problem we all have, which is essentially our subconscious sabotaging moments of time when we experience greater success than we are accustomed to.

This resonated deeply with me, particularly the four most common barriers people run into with their own Upper Limit Problem:

• Feeling fundamentally flawed (mine)
• Disloyalty or abandonment, leaving people behind in our past
• Believing that more success brings a bigger burden on the world
• The crime of outshining others in our lives so that we dim our own brilliance

One of my favorite parts of the book is the Ultimate Success Mantra (another affirmation):

“I expand in abundance, success, and love every day, as I inspire those around me to do the same.”

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If you’ve read these, I’d love to hear your thoughts on them and what resonated with you.