A Fellow Writer Made Me Cry

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Yesterday a fellow writer made me cry. 

Not sad tears – happy tears, tears of acceptance and recognition.

I’ve been called many things professionally – barmaid, waitress, cleaner, lab technician, analytical chemist, Lean practitioner, manager, leader, blogger, travel photographer and possibly a few less professional adjectives 🙈

Yet I’ve never been called a writer or if I have it hasn’t hit me as hard as it did yesterday.

It was a simple comment.

Eddie Shleyner (copywriter extraordinaire) thanked me for commenting on his post and said it meant a lot coming from a fellow writer.

Fellow writer.

Eddie views me as a fellow writer.

I am a writer, I’ve been writing all my life and writing online for over 12 years yet why did that comment literally bring tears to my eyes?

Because I’ve given up a lot to be a writer.

  • I’ve given up everything I’ve ever known professionally.
  • I’ve given up the financial stability of the corporate world – my salary, my bonus, my pension and all future earnings of same.
  • I’ve given up all sense of professional certainty.

All to focus on writing, the sheer joy of putting one word in front of another.

My writing was always on the side, never given the spotlight it deserved, it hid in the shadows behind a day job that kept me safe.

That safety net is gone now and I’m on a tight rope wondering what I am doing and how I even got here. I look around and there’s no equipment, it’s tricky and it’s a real balance but I must move forward, there’s no going back.

Yet I’m not alone – I’m with my fellow writers.

I am a fellow writer.

  • Steve Jobs taught us to find what we love and not to settle until we do
  • Seth Godin taught us to find our tribe

I’ve taken Steve and Seth’s advice, I’ve found what I love and I’ve found my tribe.

I am a fellow writer.

Gratitude to Eddie Schleyner for his acceptance and recognition

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Thanks for reading 🙏

Siobhain

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The Speed of Trust

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I’ve made the first hire for my new project – my connector!

I have immense trust and respect for my connector. Not just for their skills and decades of expertise but because I have known them for what seems like a lifetime and I have worked with them many times before.

A foundation for working together is rarely more solid than that.

When choosing a team, I’ll always look for trust and respect first. The right skills are very important yet trust and respect are more important to me.

The lack of trust and respect will do far more damage than the lack of skills ever will.

💎  If you have trust and respect every single interaction will be easier and more enjoyable.

Without trust and respect every interaction will be an uphill struggle and will become less and less enjoyable as time goes on.

💎 If you have trust and respect, you can trust what the person says – is there anything more important in every relationship?

Without trust and respect you will never know if what you are being told is the truth – about anything.

This causes all sorts of problems that escalate with every conversation. In the back of your mind you’ll always be thinking – is this the truth or not?

💎 If you have trust and respect, you can trust what the person does.

Without trust and respect you will never know if the work is done or not, if shortcuts have been taken, if the work is to the agreed standard or if anything to do with the work is the actual truth!

This causes all sorts of problems – the less trust and respect that exists, the less gets done and the more frustrating the entire journey will be.

💎 If you have trust and respect you know the people you work with have your back. They will do their very best and will go above and beyond for you.

You can then return the gifts of having their back, doing your best and going above and beyond for them.

Without trust and respect you’ll always be watching your back, the work will never be as good as it can be and the journey will be rocky and difficult.

💎 All of the above highlight why trust and respect are so important to me in terms of who I work with.

In his best-selling book The Speed of Trust,  Stephen M.R Covey outlines why trust speeds up everything and how the lack of trust slows everything down.

The Speed of Trust is a great read if you want to learn more about the benefits of trust and the exponential damage lack of trust creates.

The A-Z of Effective Change ebook contains 26 ways you can start creating (and embracing) effective change in your life today. 

Download your copy below 😊

Thanks for reading 🙏

Siobhain

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The Importance of Connectors

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I’m starting a new project and I’ll be working with loads of new people in a field that I have no expertise in.

I’m excited for this as it means I will learn a huge amount. There is nothing like working in a field of expertise that you don’t know anything about to steepen the learning curve!

Currently I’m building my team – it’s a team of tradespeople, all highly skilled and immensely experienced in their chosen skillset.

I know a few of my team personally and a few of them I’ve never met yet they all come highly recommended which is good enough for me.

One of the most important people on my team and the one I have hired first is my connector.

The term connector comes from Malcolm Gladwell’s brilliant book The Tipping Point.

Gladwell refers to connectors as those who know everybody; the networkers with large social circles; the social glue.

I love this quote I found online re connectors ‘they always know how to help or if they can’t help they know someone that can and will quickly put you in touch with them’.

Connectors have been defined as ‘confident, persuasive, and relationship-focused. You can always catch a connector mingling and introducing one friend to another. They know how to make those instant connections with others and are often helping others make those connections themselves.’

By being part of so many different worlds and by being a real people person, connectors have the gift of bringing the people in these different worlds all together – what an amazing gift.

My connector has advised me who he works with, who he trusts and respects and who he thinks would be the best team for me to work with.

These are all good enough reasons for me to hire the people he recommends.

My connector is central to the success of my project and I have no doubt that I will have as much trust and faith in those I hire next as I do in him.

  •  Who is the connector in your life?
  • Who is the connector in your business?
  •  Who is the connector on your project?
  • Are you the connector?

Connectors are very special people – they make the world a better place to live in and they have immense gifts to share with us all ❤️

The A-Z of Effective Change ebook contains 26 ways you can start creating (and embracing) effective change in your life today. 

Download your copy below 😊

Thanks for reading 🙏

Siobhain

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The Three Time Thieves

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Let’s talk about time thieves.

In The Currency Of Time I wrote about how important the currency of time is. 

In Defying the Aging Timeline I reiterated the importance of prioritising our time throughout the different stages of our lives.

Time has always been important to me and is one of the reasons I became a Lean practitioner. There is nothing worse than wasted time in the workplace as that’s where we spend much of our lives.

Recently I’ve been thinking about where my time goes and how I can proactively utilise my time better. It occurred to me that there are three time thieves stealing precious time from me.

 

Maybe these 3 time thieves are stealing your time from you also?

1. Phone

I have an on/off relationship with my phone.

I’m not a phone person meaning I don’t like being on my phone. I don’t like talking on the phone, I dislike getting notifications on my phone and I don’t like spending too much time on my phone in general, I find it all very overwhelming.

In saying that I do like what my phone allows me to do. I like that everything is accessible on my phone – my photos, my writing, emails, banking, podcasts, audiobooks, the knowledge of the internet – everything is available instantly.

The problem is all of the above means I spend way more time on my phone than I would like.

 

2. Email

Email has widely been labeled as a communication tool, I think email is actually really poor at communication. It’s great for information sharing but in terms of communication, I think it creates more communication problems than it solves.

Think about how effective email is compared to a phone call or a conversation in person – there’s absolutely no comparison. What could take 50 emails back and forth would be better communicated in a 10 minute phone call or a 2 minute face to face conversation.

For me email is more of a miscommunication tool!

For the 25 years I spent in the corporate world I really disliked email and found it overwhelming and most of the time, a massive waste of time. So many emails could have been avoided by quick phone calls or face to face conversations.

Even though I don’t work in the corporate world anymore I still find too much of my time goes on emails.

 

3. Social media

I also have an on/off relationship with social media.

Sometimes I like it and sometimes I dislike it.

I use social media to share my writing and I also use it for scrolling and can end up going down the social media rabbit hole which costs me way more time than I’d like.

Social media is addictive.

It’s addictive because it’s built to be addictive. There are literally teams of very skilled people behind every app we use pushing what they want us to view in terms of posts, videos, ads etc.

Recently I watched The Social Dilemma on Netflix and it was frightening. The social media apps we use literally make money from our attention. Of course we don’t think of our scrolling as making money for someone else but it does!

 

Do you find your phone, email and social media are time thieves?

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Siobhain

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Defying the Age Timeline

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Did you know the currencies of Money, Health, Time & Energy follow a timeline in our lives?

It’s not an exact science but it is a pattern that will hold true for most of us – unless we do something to change the pattern.

The timeline is as follows,

  • In youth we have lots of time & energy, our health is in peak shape but we have very little money
  • In middle age we have money, health & energy but we are time poor. The health & energy we have isn’t what it was in our youth and has started to decline
  • In old age we have money that has been accumulated over our lifetime and we have lots of spare time but our health & energy will be diminished

This timeline is explained further below,

YOUTH:

We have lots of spare time in our youth as we don’t have many responsibilities. This means we have the gift of a huge amount of time – what freedom!

We have optimum health & lots of energy just by the nature of being young.

We spend most of our youth in some form of education and when we start working we do so at the bottom of the salary scale, moving on up that scale throughout our working lives – this means in youth we have very little money.

I think this timeline is pretty accurate – in my youth I had excellent health, loads of energy and lots of free time but very little money. Most people’s youth is probably similar to this.

MIDDLE AGE:

The timeline suggests that in middle age we have money, energy and health but we are TIME POOR.

In middle age we are possibly earning and have accumulated a certain amount of money. More than likely we have less time and our health & energy will naturally start to decline.

In this stage of life earning more money may come at the cost of having less time.

As I moved into middle age where I am now I became TIME POOR – REALLY TIME POOR!

This absence of time didn’t suit me and so I left my day job, one of the reasons being to gain more time. The financial cost of leaving my day job was one I was more than willing to pay in exchange for the precious gift of time.

Moving through middle age my health isn’t what it was in my 20’s and 30’s. Yes I’m relatively fit and healthy but all sorts of ailments are starting to appear!

In terms of energy, I do not have the same energy I had in my youth. The energy I have now is different, I would call it more vitality than energy.

OLD AGE:

In old age we have money that has been accumulated over our lifetime and we have lots of spare time but our health & energy won’t be what it was in our youth or middle age.

We have lots of spare time as our work will have slowed down or we will have retired from work altogether.

Our health & energy, no matter how well we look after it, will have declined over the previous decades.

I have a few years to go before I reach old age but going by this timeline what is waiting for me is money & time but no health or energy to enjoy it!

IS THIS WHAT I WANT?

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

So, how do I change the timeline that seems to ring true for every stage of life?

How do I create my own timeline?

I prioritise where I spend & how I improve the currencies of Time, Energy, Health & Money.

  • Here in middle age the priority is to gain more time and to have sufficient money, health and energy to enjoy this time
  • To avoid what is waiting for me in old age the priority is to improve my health & energy so that I can enjoy my time and money

The above will be a balancing act and a work in progress for the rest of my life but hopefully one that will pay dividends here in middle age and throughout the years ahead.

What do the currencies of money, health, time & energy mean to you?

Can you see the above timelines in your own life?

Do you want to defy the age timeline and create your own timeline?

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Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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The Currency of Energy

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The Currency of Energy

ENERGY is a currency I have only taken notice of over the past 2 years. When I left the working world, I was sure I would have sufficient time to do everything I wanted to do. The irony is I do have plenty of TIME but I don’t always have the ENERGY!

This has been a real learning curve for me and the more I learn about the currency of ENERGY the more it fascinates me.

In order to live our best lives and fulfil our dreams we need to understand how we conserve, spend, refuel and optimise our ENERGY. This is different for all of us and so it’s really important that we evaluate what works for us as individuals.

While we all have 24 hours in every day this doesn’t mean that we have 24 hours of HIGH ENERGY.

  • When we don’t have ENERGY its very difficult to optimise our money
  • When we don’t have ENERGY it’s very difficult to optimise our health
  • When we don’t have ENERGY it’s very difficult to optimise our time

​What increases our ENERGY and what depletes our ENERGY is different for all of us. What we eat, what we drink, how we sleep, what we think, where we spend our time and how we live our lives in general all have an impact on our ENERGY levels.

What we feed our minds affect our energy levels more than we realise. Self talk, our conversations & interactions with others, social media, books, podcasts all affect our ENERGY levels immensely.

Two of the biggest factors influencing our energy levels are,

1.Who we spend our time with

  • Some people will refuel our ENERGY levels and give us ENERGY
  • Some people will deplete our ENERGY levels and will take our ENERGY

2.Whether we are introverted or extroverted

  • Introverts replenish their ENERGY levels by being in solitude
  • Extroverts replenish their ENERGY levels by being in the company of others

​How important is the CURRENCY OF ENERGY to you?

How do you conserve, spend, refuel and optimise your ENERGY?

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Siobhain

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The Currency of Time

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The Currency of Time

What does the currency of time mean to you?

TIME is finite yet TIME is infinite.

We all have the same 24 hours in a day and 365 days in a year yet no one knows how many years we have in our lifetime.

This isn’t something most people think about on a daily basis but none of us have infinite TIME.

THERE IS A TIME LIMIT FOR US ALL.

One of my favourite quotes is from Jim Rohn,

‘Time is more valuable than money. You can always get more money, but you cannot get more time.’ ​

Prior to Covid I was working full-time, juggling many side hustles and living life at an unsustainable speed. This level of over working impacted the amount of time I had to spend on all other areas of my life.

I was absolutely TIME POOR!

In 2020, Covid slowed down all of our lives and I enjoyed not running & racing around trying to get everything done. I started to really enjoy the gift of time instead of always complaining about its absence and how I needed more.

I then left the working world in October 2021 and I received the most precious gift – THE GIFT OF TIME.

The GIFT OF TIME is truly one of the greatest gifts I have ever received and I want to ensure I get to enjoy this precious gift at this level for the rest of my life.

Whilst we can’t make more time we can absolutely utilise our time to ensure we are only spending it where we want to spend it.

  • We can’t create more time but we can certainly have more TIME FREEDOM by increasing our MONEY, HEALTH & ENERGY wealth
  • Having more HEALTH & ENERGY means you can enjoy your time more
  • Having more MONEY means you have more options in terms of where you spend your time

One of the most important elements of the currency of TIME is how much of your own TIME you give to yourself.

  • It’s very important to give yourself the precious GIFT OF TIME
  • Your TIME belongs to you and you decide how you spend it
  • How much TIME in your day is solely used for yourself?
  • How much TIME do you plan every day for yourself?

My favourite episode of the Diary of a CEO podcast is the one with Jimmy Carr titled ‘The Easiest Way To Live A Happier Life’. Jimmy is not only a genius comedian but also a deep philosophical thinker who is wise beyond his age and time. I’ve watched this interview on YouTube many times and my favourite part is where Steven asks Jimmy what he thought happiness was.

Jimmy simply said,

Happiness is enjoying the passage of time’

How fabulous is that? 

Imagine, the sheer simplicity of happiness being enjoying the passage of our precious resource of time. I absolutely love this philosophy and have infused this philosophy throughout every aspect of my life since I first heard it.

To enjoy the passage of time, we must first be aware of and have the precious resource of time.

How important is the CURRENCY OF TIME to you?

Do you give yourself enough of THE GIFT OF TIME?

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Siobhain

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The Currency of Health

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Health

Health is by far my most important currency.

Without health, nothing else in our lives will function optimally.

Without HEALTH, we cannot maximise, enjoy or spend the other currencies how we want to.

Without HEALTH,

  • We cannot maximise, enjoy or spend our MONEY how we want to
  • We cannot maximise, enjoy or use our TIME how we want to
  • We cannot maximise, enjoy or use our ENERGY how we want to

Health has always been important to me but recently it has become even more important. Our health declines naturally as we age, our metabolism slows down, our tolerance for unhealthy things reduces and it takes more work to stabilise and improve our health!

As I continue to age, I want to be fit, strong and healthy to live my best life every day and pursue my dreams.

It then makes sense to focus on the precious currency of HEALTH as much as we focus on the currency of MONEY.

Our HEALTH is impacted by everything we do – everything we eat, everything we drink, everything we listen to, everything we watch and everything we fill our minds with.

Our HEALTH is also impacted by how we treat ourselves, how we treat others and how we allow others to treat us.

For me there are 4 elements of health and all are important to function as best as we can in the world.

  • Mental health – this is about understanding our minds, thoughts, behaviours and the world that exists within each of us. Mental health is by far the most important element of my overall health as without mental health, nothing else will function optimally

 

  • Emotional health – this is about understanding our emotional world, what drives our emotions and how we manage them. Tony Robbins says ‘Emotions are the fuel for life’ which I agree with and so it’s very important to understand and improve our emotional world 

 

  • Physical health – this supports us to be the fittest and strongest we can be so we can continue to live our lives to the fullest. Much time and focus is given to physical health but it’s very important to ensure it is not at the expense of other elements of our health!

 

  • Spiritual health – this will be different for everyone, it’s about who or what you feel connected to. For some it may be a connection to God or for others it may be a connection to themselves, the Universe or whatever brings them peace & comfort

How important is the CURRENCY OF HEALTH to you?

What amount of MONEY, TIME & ENERGY do you trade for this HEALTH?

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Siobhain

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The Currency of Money

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If someone asked you what your currency is, chances are you might say the currency of your country which in my case is euro.  

​What if the question was – what are your currencies for life?
​My answer to this would be MONEY, HEALTH, TIME & ENERGY

I haven’t earned money since I left work in October 2021 and while I know I need money to function in the world, not focusing on money as the only currency of my life has opened up a whole new world.

This whole new world allows me to focus on the other currencies of my life which are HEALTH, TIME & ENERGY.

We all need money but money has limitations.

Money can only buy material things. No matter how much money we have, money cannot buy the important things in life. 

We spend a huge amount of our lives working which is trading our precious time for money.

This is something we all need to do but how much of our HEALTH, TIME & ENERGY do we want to trade for this money? 

For 25 years I worked for various companies trading my time for money. Sometimes I traded way more HEALTH, TIME & ENERGY than I was being paid for. 

I am grateful for what these jobs afforded me, what I learned, the skills I built and the friendships I made. However giving so much of my time and trading my time for money no longer suits me and the thoughts of spending 50+ hours working for someone else makes me incredibly anxious and on edge.

I am passionate about many things but I don’t want work to take up such a large portion of my life and time anymore. 

The other areas of my life are so important that I want to dedicate sufficient time to them – Sense of Self, Health, Relationships, Finance, Experiences/Fun, Environment & Contribution – see my Wheel of Life below. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also want to dedicate more time to the other 3 currencies of my life – HEALTH, TIME & ENERGY.  

Going forward I will focus on how much of my HEALTH, TIME & ENERGY I am willing to trade for MONEY.

When evaluating my work I will be asking the following questions,  

  • How much HEALTH will this cost me?
  • How much TIME will this cost me?
  • How much ENERGY will this cost me?

As important as money may be, it’s worth noting that no matter how much money we have, money cannot buy the other currencies of HEALTH, TIME & ENERGY.

  • MONEY CANNOT BUY HEALTH

Money can allow us the freedom to learn more about health, to learn how to optimise our health and give us time to improve our health but it cannot buy any element of our health for us.

Money can buy better healthcare but not better HEALTH.

HEALTH IS NOT FOR SALE! 

  • MONEY CANNOT BUY TIME

Money can allow us to have more time freedom (which is very important) but we cannot buy more time in our day and certainly not any more time in our lifetime.

When time is spent, it’s gone – no amount of money can buy it back.  

TIME IS NOT FOR SALE

  • MONEY CANNOT BUY ENERGY

Money cannot optimise or give us more energy. 

We don’t have infinite energy in our day, our energy levels will fluctuate depending on how we live our lives. 

We may get a temporary buzz of energy from buying material things and consuming high energy stuff but this is short-lived energy spikes. 

ENERGY IS NOT FOR SALE.

How important is the CURRENCY OF MONEY to you?

How much HEALTH, TIME & ENERGY do you trade for this money?

Are you happy with the balance?

If you are looking for some excellent books on finance I highly recommend the following,

How To Be Good With Money by Eoin McGee

This is a super book that would financially benefit everyone if it was taught in school. Eoin is all about getting the financial basics right then building on them to work towards and achieve financial freedom. Eoin explains all elements of personal finance in an easy to understand, no jargon way which makes this book such an enjoyable read.

Eoin is a super guy to follow on Instagram and he does a Q&A every week which is really helpful. Eoin also runs his own financial consultancy Prosperous, where you can take advantage of those who know best in the financial world to improve your finances.

Money – Master the Game by Tony Robbins 

This book goes into finance in great depth. Finance is not my favourite subject and so I skipped a few chapters as I didn’t enjoy or understand them. Listening to this on audible made this easy to do. As well as chapters I didn’t understand there were chapters that I loved and listened to over and over again. 

Chapter 8 is one of the chapters I loved. It is all about financial freedom and it is worth buying this book for this chapter alone. Tony walks through the simple steps of financial freedom and explains really well how it’s not as difficult to achieve as you may think.

This is an excellent book for those who want to dive a bit deeper into finance and financial freedom.

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill 

Think and Grow Rich is a literary masterpiece first published in 1937. It’s as much a book about success and manifestation as it is about money. Napoleon Hill’s storytelling is unique and captivating and his 13 step formula for success is easy to understand – implementation takes a bit more work!

This is the type of book that you can read over and over again as you go deeper and deeper into the wisdom shared by Napoleon Hill.

A must read for anyone serious about financial freedom!

Mindset by Carol Dwecke

I truly believe that having a growth mindset is the first step to reaching financial goals. 

While this book isn’t solely about finance it does go a long way to explaining the necessity of a growth mindset in terms of financial success. This book teaches the difference and the inevitable consequences of having a growth mindset or a fixed mindset in all elements of life including business, parenting, school and relationships. 

An absolute brilliant book that I highly recommend no matter what your interests are.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Rober T. Kiyosaki

I found many similarities between this book and Mindset in terms of the importance of a growth and abundance mindset when it comes to finance. 

This is a very easy read as the lessons it teaches are told through a brilliant story. The financial teachings are easy to understand and jargon free which is how I like to learn about finance.

A super read no matter what your level of personal financial knowledge is. 

Download your FREE EBOOK The A-Z of Effective Change below and you are all signed up to my weekly newsletter where I share thoughts and resources on all things effective change 😊

Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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My Favourite Books

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Books I Love

Reading is one of my favourite things to do. Nothing makes me happier than sitting down with a great book and immersing myself in it’s world of wisdom and wonder.

My areas of interest are psychology, spirituality, personal development, Lean, business, marketing and entrepreneurship. I have read many wonderful books that each in their own unique way have changed my life for the better. 

Below is a list of books I love, maybe you’ve read some of these or maybe you’ll put them on your to read list. Either way I’m sure they will transform your life in a positive way just as they have done for me

I start this list with my Top 5 books of all time. These are books that I read over and over again and with every reading I find new wisdom, new learnings and a new view on the world. 

My Top 5 Books 

The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Power of Now is my favourite book of all time and has been since I first read it over 10 years ago. 

The first time I read this book I didn’t really understand it, however what I did understand was that there was a very powerful message in the book. Each subsequent reading has brought a deeper understanding of the simple principle that Eckhart teaches – there is only the Now, there never was and never will be anything other than the Now.

Eckhart explains the past is gone, the future isn’t here yet and so all we have is this present moment. This is where we should focus our mind & our efforts –  in this the present moment. 

I listen to the audio version of The Power of Now every 3 months and it keeps me focused on the Now. Without a doubt, this is the best and most powerful book I have ever read or listened to.

If you haven’t read this book I suggest you buy it, read it, study it, give it the time it deserves and live the teachings, it will transform your life. 

 

The 7 Spiritual Laws Of Success by Deepak Chopra

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a most beautiful book by one of the world’s leading spiritual teachers Deepak Chopra. 

If you want success in your life then buy, read and implement the teachings of this beautiful book.

This is a short book at just 118 pages. It is easy to read and understand yet the simplistic and powerful teachings will take a lifetime to implement. 

These are the 7 Spiritual Laws of Success outlined in Deepak’s book,

  1. The Law of Pure Potentiality: Take time to be silent, to just BE – silently witness the intelligence within every living thing, practice non-judgment. 
  1. The Law of Giving: Keep wealth circulating by giving and receiving care, affection, appreciation and love. 
  1. The Law of Karma: Every action generates a force of energy that returns to us in like kind. Choosing actions that bring happiness and success to others ensures the flow of happiness and success to you. 
  1. The Law of Least Effort: Accept people, situations, and events as they occur. Take responsibility for your situation and for all events seen as problems, relinquish the need to defend your point of view. 
  1. The Law of Intention and Desire: Inherent in every intention and desire is the mechanics for its fulfillment. Make a list of desires, trust that when things don’t seem to go your way, there is a reason. 
  1. The Law of Detachment: Allow yourself and others the freedom to be who they are. Do not force solutions – allow solutions to spontaneously emerge, uncertainty is essential, and your path to freedom. 
  2. The Law of Dharma/Purpose: Everyone has a purpose in life, a unique gift or special talent to give to others. When we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exultation of our own spirit, which is the ultimate goal.

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Man’s Search for Meaning is a classic and one of the best and most impactful books ever written. 

Viktor Frankl was a holocaust survivor who lost everything in Auschwitz during World War II. As awful and inhumane as his conditions were, the message from Viktor’s book isn’t one of fear and loss. 

Viktor’s message is one of hope and resilience and the ability to find meaning in life, no matter the circumstances. 

Viktor, through his personal story and strength of character teaches us that no matter what the situation is, no matter how hard things get, no matter what is taken away for us in this physical world we still have, in Frankl’s own words 

the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way’

This book reminds us that things can always be worse and no matter what we lose, we never lose the ability to choose how we feel about and react to our circumstances.

Is there any greater meaning in life than to choose one’s own attitude and one’s own way? 

This book is only 154 pages long but on every reading it will bring deeper wisdom and a more profound connection to meaning in our lives. 

Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin

 

 

 

 

 

 

To say I adore this book is a huge understatement. It is, by far, the best, most profound, most exciting, most down to earth book I have ever read on leadership. If you want to learn about the real meaning of leadership and become a better leader read this book.

Jocko starts this incredible book by explaining that this is not an individual’s glorified war story but it is indeed ‘all about the team’. 

The focus on teamwork is evident from the beginning of this book, throughout every chapter right up to the last word. Jocko explains as ‘Seals they operate as a team of high calibre, multi-talented individuals who have been through perhaps the toughest military training and the most rigorous screening process anywhere. In the Seal program, it is all about the team, the sum is far greater than the parts’. Jocko goes on to say ‘we call ourselves team guys’.

We are given a glimpse into the fine characters of these great leaders Jocko Willink and Leif Babin as they explain that they wrote the book to capture and pass on the leadership lessons they had learned on the battlefield and through their work with civilian business’s so that such crucial lessons may not be forgotten or need to be relearned or rewritten. 

Jocko and Leif wrote this book for leaders everywhere so they may use the principles they share to lead and win.

Even with all of their accomplishments, experience and knowledge, Jocko and Leif remain extremely humble which is hugely admirable. This humility is evident as they explain they ‘continue to learn and grow as leaders every day and that they pass on these leadership lessons not from a pedestal or a position of superiority but from a humble place where the scars of their failings still show’.

What I loved most about this book is the fact that the leadership lessons shared through their incredible experiences are so simple. With all the complications, complexities and dangers of war, the lessons shared are ones we can all learn from and apply.

The leadership basics of solid, clear and consistent communication, keeping everything simple, effective teamwork, planning, planning and more planning, prioritisation, accountability and courage are woven into all of the fascinating true-life stories that Jocko and Leif tell. All told with the one over arching principle in mind that, 

The single most important factor on the battlefield or in business is leadership.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough and if you’re a fan of audiobooks it’s narrated by the authors which is always a treat!

Here is my book review on this brilliant book – Extreme Ownership.

 

The Shift – From Ambition to Meaning by Dr Wayne Dyer (RIP)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr Wayne Dyer RIP is one of my favourite authors and spiritual teachers. Wayne has written 34 books, each of them jam packed with heaps of wisdom, guidance and deep truth but this book is one of his greatest works. 

The Shift is about moving from being led by your ego to being guided by your soul,

  • From doing to being
  • From striving to thriving
  • From problems to possibilities
  • From attachment to freedom
  • FROM AMBITION TO MEANING 

This is a short book at 149 pages but like all of Dr Wayne Dyer’s brilliant books, the wisdom on each page can last a lifetime! 

If what you are doing isn’t working for you and you want more meaning in your life, I highly recommend From Ambition to Meaning. 

Wayne Dyer explains his wonderful book in the following words,

‘As we contemplate leaving the morning of our life, where ego has played a commanding role, and entering the afternoon (and evening), where meaning and purpose replace ambition and struggle, we may encounter unexpected occurrences that accompany this new direction.

It’s almost a universal law that we’ll experience a fall of some kind. Yet these falls or low points provide the energy we need to move away from ego and into a life of meaning and purpose.

The Shift doesn’t mean that we lose our drive and ambition; it signifies that we become ambitious about something new. We make a commitment to living a life based on experiencing meaning and feeling purposeful, rather than never-ending demands and false promises that are the trademark of the ego’s agenda’ Dr Wayne Dyer

My Favourite Books on Finance

If you are looking for some excellent books on finance I highly recommend the following,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How To Be Good With Money by Eoin McGee

This is a super book that would financially benefit everyone if it was taught in school. Eoin is all about getting the financial basics right then building on them to work towards and achieve financial freedom. Eoin explains all elements of personal finance in an easy to understand, no jargon way which makes this book such an enjoyable read.

Eoin is a super guy to follow on Instagram and he does a Q&A every week which is really helpful. Eoin also runs his own financial consultancy Prosperous, where you can take advantage of those who know best in the financial world to improve your finances.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Money – Master the Game by Tony Robbins 

This book goes into finance in great depth. Finance is not my favourite subject and so I skipped a few chapters as I didn’t enjoy or understand them. Listening to this on audible made this easy to do. As well as chapters I didn’t understand there were chapters that I loved and listened to over and over again. 

Chapter 8 is one of the chapters I loved. It is all about financial freedom and it is worth buying this book for this chapter alone. Tony walks through the simple steps of financial freedom and explains really well how it’s not as difficult to achieve as you may think.

This is an excellent book for those who want to dive a bit deeper into finance and financial freedom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill 

Think and Grow Rich is a literary masterpiece first published in 1937. It’s as much a book about success and manifestation as it is about money. Napoleon Hill’s storytelling is unique and captivating and his 13 step formula for success is easy to understand – implementation takes a bit more work!

This is the type of book that you can read over and over again as you go deeper and deeper into the wisdom shared by Napoleon Hill.

A must read for anyone serious about financial freedom!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mindset by Carol Dwecke

I truly believe that having a growth mindset is the first step to reaching financial goals. 

While this book isn’t solely about finance it does go a long way to explaining the necessity of a growth mindset in terms of financial success. This book teaches the difference and the inevitable consequences of having a growth mindset or a fixed mindset in all elements of life including business, parenting, school and relationships. 

An absolute brilliant book that I highly recommend no matter what your interests are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Rober T. Kiyosaki

I found many similarities between this book and Mindset in terms of the importance of a growth and abundance mindset when it comes to finance. 

This is a very easy read as the lessons it teaches are told through a brilliant story. The financial teachings are easy to understand and jargon free which is how I like to learn about finance.

A super read no matter what your level of personal financial knowledge is. 

 

More of my favourite books to follow…….

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Thanks for reading,

Siobhain

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