The motivational book market is growing exponentially, with those that are excelling in business either writing their own or creating articles listing their favourite books that everyone should be reading if they want to get ahead.
No one is immune to this type of book. If you haven’t picked up an explicitly open motivational read, I am pretty sure you have glanced at a biography written by someone successful. I for one have been known to read books by Warren Buffett, Sir Alan Sugar
Knowing that more than 1,000 business and motivational books are published each month I decided that I wanted to learn more about what makes these people feel that they are an authority on success. 2019 is, therefore, the year that I have decided to start reading more from these people starting with Amber Rae’s Choose Wonder Over Worry.
Who is Amber Rae?
Known as a Millennial Motivator, Amber states on her website that “I write, speak and make art to encourage emotional wellness and personal growth.” So, probably the easiest way to describe her is as a life coach; someone that will challenge others to unpick themselves so that they can grow and succeed in whatever it is they choose to do.
Unlike some people who write books of this nature, she has had her fair share of knockbacks and suffered from severe bouts of self-doubt, so part of me does think she must know a bit about how others feel when they are struggling to achieve their dreams; which is one of the reasons I decided to pick her book up as my first motivational read of 2019.
Choose Wonder Over Worry: Move Beyond Fear and Doubt to Unlock Your Full Potential
I know that some people will argue that by reading about other peoples’ success and how they achieved it, I am still somewhat hiding away from what is stopping me. That I am prolonging the fact that I do not want to delve into whatever barriers I have created but actually, sometimes these barriers are so hidden you actually need to use the wise words of others to uncover them, which is what I was hoping when I started to read this particular book.
WONDER is what we’re born with.
WORRY is what we learn.
NOW IS THE TIME TO RETURN TO WONDER.
Choose Wonder Over Worry
She wants us to start thinking positively, to think that we are good enough and that we can achieve whatever we desire.
The majority of people have been brought up to worry about things and have a natural default to thinking more about how others will react to our ideas rather than wondering whether if we give it a go we might succeed. We have developed a fear of other peoples’ perceptions.
“What will they think about me?”
Unfortunately, it is this inner voice of worry that is causing us to fail before we even start.
Amber highlights that we want to remain safe; we don’t like to ruffle feathers. We want to remain comfortable at all costs. But do we really?
The more I read Amber’s words the more I could hear my inner voice screaming out at me to take action. I needed to change my attitude to myself and stop worrying about others.
“I’m committed to living a life that is true over one that is comfortable.”
However, it was this quote from Todd Henry that really got me thinking about things:
“In the graveyard are buried all of the unwritten novels, never-launched businesses, unreconciled relationships, and all of the other things that people thought, ‘I’ll get around to that tomorrow’”.
I needed to start thinking about myself rather than living a life others expected of me. I wanted to make sure I don’t die with my “gifts still inside”.
It was only then that I decided I needed to act because you just never know what will happen in the future. I realised at this point that I needed to start stepping out of my comfort zone, to gain a bit of confidence and finally admit to myself as much as everyone else what it is I wanted to do with my life and start to come up with a way of achieving it.
It might sound silly, or like I am simply saying wonderful things because that’s what book reviews are meant to be about, right? (Very wrong – book reviews should always be honest no matter what). It is one of the first books I have read that has actually motivated me to want to change – and that want is probably the thing that stops most of us from putting ourselves out there.
Why I think others should read Choose Wonder Over Worry
This is a book that anyone struggling with self-doubt should read. It makes you challenge not other people and their perceptions of you, but your own. It is emotive and thought-provoking. If read right it will leave you drained but in a good way. It is a book that makes you think that feeling vulnerable is actually a good thing if you want to grow and teaches you how to explore that vulnerability with an end goal in mind. In actual fact, I would say it is a book that teaches you to love yourself and forget about what others think.
Of course, you have to put what you read into action but why would you be reading a book like this if you didn’t feel it was time to change?
Have you read Choose Wonder Over Worry? What business or motivational books have you read that have left you mentally drained but have forced you to challenge yourself?
