Welcome to this month’s Aspire Magazine Top 10 Inspirational Books list! You’ll discover inspirational and empowering books, written by women and for women, each dedicated to sharing a universal message of love, hope and self-empowerment. Through their wisdom-filled books, these visionary female authors are illuminating the path for women on the journey of healing and self-discovery. Add these transformational books to your inspired living resource library.
The Awakened Woman: A Guide for Remembering & Igniting Your Sacred Dreams by Dr. Tererai Trent
Before Tererai Trent landed on Oprah’s stage as her “favorite guest of all time,” she was a woman with a forgotten dream. As a young girl in a cattle-herding village in Zimbabwe, she dreamed of receiving an education but instead was married young and by eighteen, without a high school graduation, she was already a mother of three. Tererai encountered a visiting American woman who assured her that anything was possible, reawakening her sacred dream. Tererai planted her dreams deep in the earth and prayed they would grow. They did, and now not only has she earned her PhD but she has also built schools for girls in Zimbabwe, with funding from Oprah. The Awakened Woman: A Guide for Remembering & Igniting Your Sacred Dreams is her accessible, intimate, and evocative guide that teaches nine essential lessons to encourage all women to reexamine their dreams and uncover the power hidden within them—power that can recreate our world for the better.
The High 5 Habit: Take Control of Your Life with One Simple Habit by Mel Robbins
Don't let the title fool you. This isn't a book about high fiving everyone else in your life. You're already doing that. Cheering for your favorite teams. Celebrating your friends. Supporting the people you love as they go after what they want in life.
Imagine if you gave that same love and encouragement to yourself. Or even better, you made it a daily habit.
You'd be unstoppable.
In this book, Mel teaches you how to start high fiving the most important person in your life, the one who is staring back at you in the mirror: YOURSELF.
Boundary Boss: The Essential Guide to Talk True, Be Seen, and (Finally) Live Free by Terri Cole
Break Free From Over-Functioning, Over-Delivering, People-Pleasing, and Ignoring Your Own Needs So You Can Finally Live the Life You Deserve! Most of us were never taught how to effectively express our preferences, desires or deal-breakers. Instead, we hide our feelings behind passive-aggressive behavior, deny our own truths, or push our emotions down until we get depressed or so frustrated that we explode, potentially destroying hard-won trust and relationships. In Boundary Boss, psychotherapist Terri Cole reveals a specific set of skills that can help you stop abandoning yourself for the sake of others (without guilt or drama) and get empowered to consciously take control of every aspect of your emotional, spiritual, physical, personal, and professional life. Since becoming a Boundary Boss is a process, Cole also offers actionable strategies, scripts, and techniques that can be used in the moment, whenever you need them.
A Year of Mystical Thinking: Make Life Feel Magical Again by Emma Howarth
A witty and life-affirming account of a spiritual seeker’s year-long quest for enlightenment. 'What if you could find inner peace right where you are? No one-way ticket to paradise required...' After a terrible year, feeling burned out and broken, Emma Howarth decided to go on a year-long mystical adventure - from the comfort of her own home. The result was a year that changed everything. A year that turned frantic chaos into life in the slow lane. A year of magic and moonlight and pink sky sunrises. A year fragranced with incense and burning herbs (that sometimes smelled suspiciously illegal). A Year of Mystical Thinking is Emma's witty and life-affirming account of the year that transformed her world. Each month she introduces a new spiritual practice, with practical, actionable tips - from how to create the perfect vision board to living by the phases of the moon. Join Emma on her journey as she connects with spirit guides in February, obsesses over astrology in August and learns about reiki in November.
From Triggered to Tranquil: How Self-Compassion and Mindful Presence Can Transform Relationship Conflicts and Heal Childhood Wounds by Susan Campbell, PhD
At home, at work, or even out shopping, we’ve all experienced a moment when we’ve gone from feeling just fine to feeling out of control. Something inside us shifts. We instantly feel hurt, angry, shut down, or frozen. In these moments, we’ve been triggered, according to therapist and bestselling author Susan Campbell. In From Triggered to Tranquil, she offers a no-blame approach to conflicts and misunderstandings, empowering us to explore triggers and trauma responses and use these as portals to growth and self-compassion.
100 Days to Calm: A Journal for Finding Everyday Tranquility by Amy Leigh Mercree
Keep calm . . . and find your tranquility with this interactive journal featuring 100 daily prompts and simple exercises. Find a little more calm each day as you de-stress, breathe deeply, and center yourself with this beautifully designed journal of 100 exercises. When daily life brings anxiety, these prompts, along with inspiring quotes, invite you to take time for yourself and enjoy a moment of daily serenity. Each exercise takes just 5–10 minutes to complete, and the book includes space to jot down any reflections.
The Mother of All Dilemmas: Dreams of Motherhood and the Internship that Changed Everything by Kathleen Guthrie Woods
“You really should have kids.” Hurtling toward 40—still single and longing for children—Kathleen considers becoming a solo parent. But can she do it all on her own? Does she really want to? If only I could try it out, she thinks. Wouldn’t an internship help? And then….
Open, thoughtful, and sometimes hilarious, Kathleen shares her lessons from caring for her 15-month-old nephew. She then unpacks the societal baggage that led her to believe a woman’s only value is as a mother. Empowered by her experience, research, and introspection, she celebrates women’s different paths and ultimately chooses her own.
Manifesting: The Practical, Simple Guide to Creating the Life You Want by Kris Ferraro
Are you frustrated by the fact that your life doesn’t look the way you imagined? Whether it’s too little money, a struggling relationship, or a dead-end job, it can seem as if nothing works out the way you hoped it would. Manifesting: The Practical, Simple Guide to Creating the Life You Want is the solution. Too often we walk through life in a state of lack, choosing to focus our attention on our deficiencies and allowing our minds, bodies, and spirits to swirl with discontent and negativity. But when our focus and attention is sunk in darkness, that becomes all we experience in our lives. Manifesting offers a transformative new approach. By focusing on what you wish to have or achieve, instead of despairing over what you are missing, you will find that you can manifest those very things in your life. Author Kris Ferraro is a practitioner and teacher in the areas of healing, growth, and metaphysics who has used manifesting in her own life and practice for years. In Manifesting, she guides readers to envision and create the lives they’ve always dreamed of with real, actionable steps, exercises, and wisdom.
By a Thread, Resilience Strategies for the Partially Unraveled by Nicolette Blanco
Have you ever pulled on a thread only to have a hem come completely unraveled? Life can be like that, sometimes. One thing after another seemingly falls apart. Then you heed your gut, and the shift hits the fan. What you reconstruct looks different, yet somehow feels completely right.
By a Thread offers useful strategies—large and small—for overcoming hardship when everything feels like it’s too much. From deep breathing to grieving, you’ll be inspired to do more than simply “hang on,” and leverage the ideas included in the book to develop your own strategies. It’s a truth that we all face adversity at some point in our lives; it’s how we respond to and recover from it that makes all the difference.
You’re Absolutely Worth It: Release Self-Doubt, Embrace Confidence, and Own Your Yes by Velera Wilson
You’re an ambitious woman with dreams and goals, but the internal chatter that makes you wonder Am I enough? Can I really ask for that? Do I have what it takes? may be keeping you from your best life. Velera Wilson knows this all too well. For almost two decades, she’s led marketing strategy for global brands, but self-doubt started at an early age. Traumatic childhood experiences and unfavorable situations left Velera struggling to understand her worth and impacted her career and relationships. She had to breakthrough limiting beliefs to recognize her value and confidently command it in her life. In You’re Absolutely Worth It, Velera unpacks the process of shifting past self-doubt to own your greatness and relentlessly pursue often-unspoken desires. Filled with deeply personal stories, fiery inspiration and practical advice, she takes you on a courageous journey of self-discovery and eye-opening revelations to help you
