The new year is here, and I’m sure you have set some goals for yourself. I prefer goals to resolutions because their measurability and adjustability make them easier. If you feel you are falling behind, you can always make adjustments and move forward. Resolutions sound concrete and stuck in stone to me, which explains why so many people fail at them.
Research says that most people quit their resolutions by January 19th, coined "quitters day." I don’t want that to be you. I want you to keep going with gusto and achieve all your goals this year. One of the best ways I’ve found to combat quitting goals is to read a book related to that goal. Books help us gain more information and learn new ways of doing things to make our lives easier. Goals are no different.
Here is a list of books to help you with some common goals this year:
1. Finish by Jon Acuff- This book is all about finishing goals. Most people get stuck not at starting but at finishing what they began. What is the reason for this? Perfectionism. If we aren’t doing things “perfectly” to reach our goals, we don’t want to do them at all. This book will teach you how to do things differently and finish that goal.
2. All It Takes Is A Goal by Jon Acuff- This book is Jon’s most recent about reaching your full potential and crushing your goals. In it, he explains the three zones of performance, how to stoke your passions, and why focusing on your best moments is important. A glorious future is within your reach.
3. Do Over by Jon Acuff- This book teaches that you already have what you need to create your own "do over" and find a career that you love. The four cornerstones that you already have are relationships, skills, character, and hustle. These are things we all cultivate from our very first jobs, and Jon teaches how to look at these things in a fresh, inspiring way and how to apply them to searching for your next job. This book will help you get unstuck and move toward the fulfilling career you dream of.
4. Soundtracks by Jon Acuff- Do you struggle with overthinking? Many people do and feel like they are helpless to change it. Some people may think it’s a personality trait, but that’s not true. It’s actually fear. This form of fear steals our creativity, time, goals, and self-worth. It’s a sabotaging way to think and is an epidemic in our society.
This book will change your habit of overthinking from a problem into an asset. You will learn how to break the negative soundtracks that play on repeat in your mind, how to replace those with new thoughts, and how to keep those new thoughts running automatically in your brain.
5. Breaking Orbit by Jonathan Green- Do you want to write a book this year? Congratulations! This is a goal many people have but don’t achieve. I think this is because there is so much overwhelming information on the internet. When I published my first book of poetry in 2015, I had to figure it all out on my own. I wish I had known about Breaking Orbit sooner, as I made many mistakes.
This book will walk you through writing and publishing a book from start to finish, taking all the overwhelm out of the process. I gifted this book to a former co-worker who wanted to write a book because I feel it’s the perfect blueprint. If you run into an issue, Jonathan Green is only an email away. I have corresponded with him various times and he is always wonderful and answers my questions. This book is fantastic for new authors, and the author is also a wonderful teacher.
6. The Miracle Morning for Writers by Hal Elrod, Steve Scott, Honoree Corder, and S.J. Scott- When the original book, The Miracle Morning, came out, it made a big splash. Since then, there have been many variations written for real estate agents, salespeople, parents and families, etc.
If you are looking to start a writing business or are writing a book, The Miracle Morning for Writers is for you. This book will teach you things like why changing your morning routine will help you reach your goals, how to find time to write when you have a job, how to overcome limiting beliefs, a ten-step process for publishing books, and more.
I will read this book again this year.
Fervent by Priscilla Shirer- I read this book every year because I love it so much. I originally bought it to learn how to pray for someone in my life because I knew simple prayers would not work. I needed to learn how to pray seriously, specifically, and strategically.
The enemy seeks to kill and destroy people, and the prayer strategies in this book are your chance to fight back. Each chapter focuses on a certain area where the enemy will target you, but it provides ways to write and pray prayers to combat that. For example, the enemy seeks to destroy your passion and dim your interest in anything related to prayer or spiritual things.
If you have seen the movie War Room, that movie inspired this book. This book teaches how to pray against the enemy specifically and strategically.
8. Prayer Worrier by Jennifer Waddle- If you struggle with worry and it feels like it’s your constant companion, this is a brilliant book to help you get your worrying under control. This 8-week devotional will help you break the chains of worry and lead you into God’s strength and peace, turning every worry into a powerful prayer. I read this book last year and found it to be extremely helpful. It’s now on my list to read every year.
9. The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey- This classic personal finance book, written by finance guru Dave Ramsey, is a good starting point for getting your finances in order. You will learn how to make a budget, pay off debt, break bad habits, and learn about money myths. This book, combined with his Financial Peace University class, helped my husband and me get out of debt.
10. How to Save Money by Luka Benson- I picked this book up last year on a book promotion site and loved it. The author covers all kinds of ways to save money from personal essentials to going out to eat to traveling the world. I found so many great tips in this book and the sections on healthcare and negotiating were very interesting. If you are looking to save money in almost every area of your life, I highly recommend this book.
There are all kinds of books you can read to help you complete your chosen goal. I hope the books above help you move forward with confidence.
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