Help me help you

Hello, my name’s Yvette and I’m an addict. My addiction du jour? Self-help books. All kinds, I’m not discriminating. Books about worthiness, happiness, wealthiness, cleanliness (it’s surely next to godliness!). Sell it to me with the promise of brighter better me at the end and I’m a sucker for it. I’m a slave for you. Colourful covers, old and new, frivolous or serious, I’ll pay the big bucks for it. I have self-help books read and re-read, bought and never read, started but never finished. But do they work? (Well probably not if they’ve never been opened). But some I can say hell yes have helped me. Though it’s a slow burn rather than instantaneous improvement. I’ve picked a few faves although it’s like choosing between your children!

All is well in my world: My favourite, the Queen Bee of all self-help books and my gateway drug to the self-help world is “You can heal your life” by Louise Hay. She is awesome and this book is based on the idea that thoughts create feelings and feelings create your reality. So if you can change your thoughts, you can change your life. This was a breakthrough for me as I tuned into the negative frequency of my thoughts (101.5 depressive FM) and realised with a shock I would never speak to a friend or a child like that. So I slowly tried to choose a slightly better thought each time the old hits blared. This book also has an index of illnesses and their link to a mental state and a recommended affirmation. Whenever I’m experiencing shoulder tension (carrying a burden), lower back ache (money issues), stubborn fat (stored anger) or a cold (mental confusion), I look to this book and usually it makes sense.

Money flows to me easily and often: A shift in your thinking can also bring you more money flowing into your life. Or as we say in the woo woo world, ‘abundance’. For this, I love the straight talking sassiness of Denise Duffield- Thomas’ “Get Rich Lucky Bitch”. Denise encourages you to look at your money story, beliefs and hang-ups and then forgive, tap (EFT), declutter old beliefs, stories and things to bring in new positive ones. Being told that money is the root of all evil or that it doesn’t grow on trees when we’re young can seriously impact on us and limit our ability to appreciate and accumulate money when we grow up. Great tips are given like; being grateful for what you have, thinking about money as lover or friend, and getting comfortable with having it. These are really helpful and can help you change your money story and allow more abundance into your life.

Joy fills every corner of my home: The next one has the awesome title of, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying up”. Many may have scoffed when it came out but those many are eating their perfectly folded up t-shirts now as it took over the world. Marie Kondo, a Japanese professional cleaner, developed what’s come to be known as the “KonMari method (#konmari)” as she urges readers to declutter anything that doesn’t spark joy. ‘Does this spark joy?’ you ask yourself as you hold up each item in category and order. And if not-it’s off to the op shop with a gracious “thank you for your service”. I love the Japanese way of clean, simple, minimal spaces. You can create your own Zen den by giving away anything that doesn’t spark joy. While my self-help books continue to spark joy, I will keep them and read them and hug them and dream of a brand new me. Positive, abundant and free!

Love and light and I’ll be in the self-help section! Xxx Yvette