Online Business Secrets for Women

Online Business Secrets for Women is a well-written and thorough guide for anyone wanting to start their own business. She discusses everything from finances and anxiety to finding your niche and everything in between. As someone kick-starting a freelance business, this book is a valuable asset to my planning process as I shift to working from home.

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She starts by confronting the lies that everyone tells themselves when they lack the confidence to start something. This is my biggest hurdle, so having her address that first was nice. It made the rest of the book seem achievable.

The second chapter is about finding your why (which is cliche and overused, but whatever). Covid brought business home and accessible, so she encourages readers to use its momentum for their own projects. The writer was forced into her personal business pivot due to Covid layoffs; now, she is encouraging others to take the leap before they potentially end up in her position of desperation. So many people forced into home businesses or remote working are finding themselves happier and more fulfilled than in pre-Covid positions, even four years later.

An online business is perfect for introverts because all interactions are through online written communication. I know this is big for me. I’d prefer written communication when establishing a business interaction, but as a writer, that isn’t terribly surprising. But whether you’re an introvert or just nervous about something new online, written communications are a great way to kick-start your new endeavor.

Some other key things she talks about are:
*Financial changes are scary when it comes to changing jobs, and there are many things to consider. She dedicates an entire chapter to this.
*Working on your time management is key for a work-from-home/life balance.
*The most important thing is to figure out your asset skills to determine which are both marketable and will feed your soul using them daily. When you own your skills, everything else falls into place.

I have to say that for a book about starting your own business, Online Business Secrets for Women is a great and comprehensive guide. And I love that it is completely geared toward women since almost all other business books are geared toward men.

Wintering

I have wanted to read Wintering by Katherine May since it was published, but I just got to it this summer. I am glad that I waited because this was a read perfectly timed for my soul.

I am an affiliate member with Amazon and  bookshop.org, so any purchases through the links in this post will give a commission back to me. Check out the About page for more information on that and how I get my hands on these fantastic books.

I couldn’t binge-read it because I repeatedly found myself having moments of feeling down or somber after reading a chapter. I think it was because I could relate to what she was saying. But going through it slowly also gave me time to reflect on what I had read and how that fits into my life.

I am also grateful that I didn’t read it while in my own wintering season because I think that I would have related too much, and I would not have been as fed by her words. By reading it at an “off-season” time, it helped me to recognize my preparations when I see a wintering season coming or the things that I do to get through to the other side of a season.

Thanks to this book, I feel like I finally have a word for the not-quite-depressed stage when it is more that I am overwhelmed or so mentally and emotionally drained that it’s challenging to feel and function like normal. Wintering isn’t about working through depression; it is a definition of those times when you aren’t depressed but you’re definitely feeling down for an extended period of time. Wintering is about learning how to get from a feeling of blah to a feeling of understanding where you are currently with your mental health.

No matter where you are in your mental health journey, or if you don’t feel you have a need to work on your mental health, Wintering is a valuable read because we all have times when we are going through this season, and everyone can use a little help to get through it.

Liquids Till Lunch

I haven’t read a self-help book in years. Maybe it’s because I feel like I’m in the midst of a massive identity crisis, but lately, I have felt drawn to them. My most recent self-help read was Liquids Till Lunch, by MaryRuth Ghiyam. 

Liquids Till Lunch is a new approach to the self-help idea that has a strong health and wellness focus. The author is a health educator and nutritional consultant so everything that she recommends is backed by scientific research showing that these can and will promote better health and wellness. Ghiyam talks of 12 micro-tasks to do each day (if possible, if not then as often as possible) that work together and, over time, help you to feel healthier in all aspects of your personal wellness. And micro they are as most of these tasks are incredibly small but can make a larger impact in the long term. And some of them can even be combined, like doing 15 minutes of stretching outside where you’ll also get 15 minutes of sun exposure. 

Some of the micro-steps include:
Getting 15 minutes of sun
Drinking enough water, ideally half of your body weight in ounces
Getting a full 7-8 hours of sleep
Stressing less
Stretching for 15 minutes a day
Exercising for 30 minutes a day
Chewing your food for as long as possible before swallowing it
Partial fasting by only consuming liquids until lunch

I have begun implementing these concepts to the best of my abilities and I am able to see a difference in my mental wellness, and I know that eventually, I will see it in my physical wellness too. 

If you’re looking for a motivator to help you to make some changes in your life that aren’t massive and overwhelming, then pick up a copy of Liquids Till Lunch and start making tiny changes.

I am an affiliate member with bookshop.org, so any purchases through the links in this post will give a commission back to me. Check out the about page for more information on that and how I get my hands on these fantastic books.

My diversity challenge

I turned 38 in December, and with my birthday came a new reading goal. I am going to try to read as many countries as possible by my 40th birthday!

So what do I mean when I say I want to read as many countries as possible? It means that I will intentionally seek out books set in places that I don’t usually read about. I do read a lot of books set in other countries, but I know that I tend to go to the same countries repeatedly, and that needs to change.

I know that there will be times when I don’t mix things up as much as I’d like to (every book I’ve read since making this goal has part of the story in England or New York City), but the key is to seek out something new within the old habits. As a historical fiction junkie, it is easy to come across stories set in multiple locations. And since I know that I will continue to read books set within the United States, I am tracking the states as well. It would be cool to knock out all 50 states during this time too.

One key element to this self-imposed challenge is that every book has to be one that I have not read before. There are so many stories out there about the world, and I want to encounter them instead of going off a list of things I have already read.

How am I going to do this? I start by reading what I love to read: biographies and novels. I may not find a novel set in some countries, but I am certain that I could find a biography or memoir to read about someone from there. And I know that there might be some places I can’t find anything at all outside of an atlas or encyclopedia, and that will be a challenge in itself.

I pride myself on being a learner and being open to learning about other cultures, but if I am not deliberate, I am staying ignorant of the beautiful mix that makes up our world. I don’t expect this to be an easy challenge, but I expect great personal results from it. I hope to have become a more compassionate, better educated, and more understanding person through this challenge. I expect to be humbled and surprised. Maybe I’ll discover a new favorite author or a new to me subject that I can become obsessed with.

If you want to keep up with which books and countries I am reading, you can find them on the Recent Reads shelf on my bookshop site. And as always, I am open to recommendations and suggestions, so if you’ve got a favorite, let me know.

I am an affiliate member with bookshop.org, so any purchases through the links in this post will give a commission back to me.

I’m Back!

I am back. After months of basically nothing, I am back.

First, I want to talk about my break from writing. If you have followed along for a while, you might recall that I am (slowly) working on my degree. This past fall, I took classes that left me feeling broken. Total honesty, it got to the point where just opening my laptop made me cry, so writing here was not going to happen. And, sadly, reading was not much better. I didn’t read much of anything that filled my soul during the last few months. I walked away from most books because I couldn’t connect in a way that made me want to finish them. I can only think of one that I finished this fall and enjoyed.

While wallowing and trying to heal my broken soul, I did a lot of thinking. I thought about writing and whether I would ever want to again (I was really broken). I thought about reading. And I thought about what I needed to change in my bookish habits so that I was once again leading a fulfilling reading and writing life. The first step was determining what was causing me to feel stressed and distressed because those habits needed to be thrown out. Thankfully there are only two of those, so it should be easy to get rid of them. But then I had to figure out what would feed my book nerd soul, what would make me love this again. Luckily that proved pretty easy as well.

So, what is going away?
1-Tracking the number of books I read each year. I have been doing this for over 15 years, and it always proves more stressful than motivating.
2-Keeping my blog posts to a strict schedule. I love sharing my thoughts, but right now, two posts every week is not manageable. Maybe it will be again, but I will only write and post about books that I cannot get out of my head until then.

And what will be feeding my soul?
1-Only writing when I am inspired and motivated. I am the only one that requires my posts, and I need to only write about what feels good to write.
2-I have been trying to diversify my reading and have come up with an attainable and fun way to do that. I have given myself a diversity reading challenge to work on over the next few years.
3-I will be planning my reading again. Having a pre-determined next read is helpful so that I don’t get overwhelmed trying to choose a new book.

I hope this will be what I need to begin feeling more like myself. And when I feel better, I write better, which means that you get something enjoyable to read here.

Love People Use Things

Relationships are at the root of everything in our lives. Spouses, co-workers, subscription services, favorite coffee mugs, they are all relationships. When you begin to get rid of the relationships with physical items in your life it is clear that your other relationships need to be evaluated as well.

Many of us have spent the last year and a half evaluating many of the relationships in our lives. We spent our time sheltering-in-place cleaning out garages and closets or readjusting our budgets. Some of us found new jobs because the unfulfilling one let us go, or we saw the Covid lockdown as the jumping platform to make a job shift. We watched the news, scrolled social media, and realized our family and friends may not be on the same page as us when it comes to things like race, immigration, or basic human rights. Ok, we may have known that already, but 2020 seemed to give permission to some people to just get ugly about it. 

The book Love People Use Things, from The Minimalists, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, talks about all of these things and more.

Typically when people hear the word “minimalism” they immediately think of removing the physical items in their life. And they aren’t wrong, removing the clutter is a key part of minimalistic lifestyles. But the reality is that we have all sorts of non-visible clutter in our lives as well, and that clutter is just as bad as the physical stuff.

The timing for this book is perfect. Since we have already, whether intentionally or subconsciously, spent the last 16 months evaluating the concepts in this book. Now you’ve got some guidance to help sort through all of your thoughts and observations. They end each chapter with a section to get you digging deeper into your feelings about the topic you had just read about, and those sections definitely get you thinking.

And as the world opens back up to a new normal, take the leap to form your own new normal as well. What relationships need to be purged so that your post-Covid quarantine life is lived with intention, purpose, and genuine joy? If you aren’t sure, then read this book and allow them to help you figure that out. 

I am an affiliate member with bookshop.org, so any purchases through the links in this post will give a commission back to me. I was also given an advanced copy of the book from Celadon publishing for my reading and review.

Writing Life Stories

I try throughout each year to read a few books to help build my professional skills. The first one that I have read this year is Writing Life Stories by Bill Roorbach. As the title suggests, it is a book about writing memoirs. I found it to be an excellent guide for digging into your personal history and finding the stories that need to be told.

I enjoy reading memoirs, so this was a fun insight into the crafting of them. And essentially, all blogging is writing a life story of some kind. By reading this one, you get a peek into who I am as a person and what I enjoy with my reading life.

Roorbach has many writing exercises in the book, but it is about writing, so they should be expected. He has also put in many other exercises such as drawing a map, writing a letter, reading, or hanging out at the library. Some of the writing exercises would also be therapeutic for those that have struggles in their past (rough relationships, dislikes for a place or thing that cannot be explained, anxiety, and mental health issues). Some of the writing exercises are similar to verbal activities that I have done in the past with my therapist.

Everyone has a story to tell. Many of us just don’t know how to tell it. And just because someone reads a book on memoir writing does not mean that you have to write one. It is a guide to help tell your story, to dig into the details. The story you tell may be chatting with your grandchildren or reminiscing with old friends at a reunion, but the details you remember and make a note of are what make the storytelling memorable.

If you want to put your story down on paper, you absolutely need to read this book. He will make you think of ways to connect your story that you may have never thought of.

 I am an affiliate member with bookshop.org, so any purchases through the links in this post will give a commission back to me.

A Moment for Me

New Year, New Me. How many times do we either make this resolution ourselves or hear someone around us make this plan. Since we just finished all of the New Year’s festivities and resolution setting, I feel this is the perfect time to talk about a new book coming out tomorrow. I don’t typically review books here before they’ve been released, but considering the content and the recent resolution setting, I felt this one needed to be put out early.

Hitting shelves tomorrow is a book called A Moment for Me: 52 Simple Mindfulness Practices to Slow Down, Relieve Stress, and Nourish the Spirit. This is not a devotional book or a book filled with self-encouraging quotes that I know are popular for this time of year. This is a mental and emotional health guide to keep you grounded throughout the year. Throughout the practices, you work on bettering your understanding of yourself and why you behave in the ways that you do. It is a help for changing your behaviors so that you can be more thoughtful and caring towards yourself. 

 I am an affiliate member with bookshop.org, so any purchases through the links in this post will give a commission back to me.

What I love about this book is the versatility of how to read and use it. It can be used weekly with one focus for each week during the year. It can be used daily in which you would repeat throughout the year, starting at the beginning roughly every six weeks. Or it can be used by topic if you feel a need to focus on something specific. It is formatted for weekly use, but that is by no means a requirement if you need to use it in another way. The topics are easy to navigate to find just what you need to get the most out of your mindfulness practice.

There are 12 themes in the book, and within each theme, there are four core concepts. Again, it is formatted for weekly use, which means a theme for every month and a core concept each week. Within the core concepts are practice suggestions and reflections to help focus on your needs of each concept. 

I am so grateful to have come across this book and have been given the opportunity to read through it before making my big personal goals and plans for the upcoming year. I read through the entire book in one sitting because I was so excited about the concepts that I was reading. I have not decided yet how I will be using this book myself throughout the upcoming year, but I will be using it.

I hope that you find this guide to mindfulness as something useful in 2021. As we all come out of 2020, it seems that collectively, we as people are ready to continue to focus on self-care and care of others in ways that we haven’t done before.

Diverse Education

I consider myself to be a reasonably well-educated person I read a variety of authors and genres; I watch documentaries and listen to historical-based podcasts. But being a white, 36-year-old woman in the United States in 2020 has shown me that I am nowhere near as well educated as I should be. 

This year, in this country, has been a never-ending barrage of discrimination towards minorities. These high levels of discrimination should not exist in 2020, and yet they do.

I have always been a person to see others as people, not their race, religion, or sexual orientation. Those things are not relevant to me about who they are as a person, they are just a small part of what makes them who they are. But I also say this as someone who grew up in a predominantly white suburb of Denver in the 1990s, which means I am probably not as anti-discriminatory as I think I am. 

Actually, if you look at what I tend to read, that discrimination I do hold is bright and glaring. That needs to change, and there is no better time for that then now. How is that change going to happen? By intentionally diversifying what I read.

I am making a deliberate change in my reading choices to include more authors and characters coming from discriminated groups (people of color, LGBTQ, poverty-stricken, religion, etc.). I will try to be more aware of the lack of diversity in what I read. I will begin deliberately adding biographies of those that are Mexican, Muslim, African-American, LGBTQ, Asian-Americans, and other groups that are discriminated against. I will be more conscious of choosing stories set in places that I don’t typically read about: poverty-stricken areas, countries south of the equator, etc. 

I know that this is not much in the grand scheme of things. However, I can only change myself. I can encourage others to do the same, but I only have control over my habits. I am one person, but if I can make myself a better advocate and friend to those of color, the non-protestants, the queer community, then I can help to make their lives a little better. By expanding my reading, I learn, and I educate myself, and that right now is what I know that I can do to help the current problem in our country.

I am actively searching for recommendations of what to read, a podcast to listen to, a documentary to watch. So if you have something you love that is an excellent resource let me know, and I’ll add it to my list.

Book Brain

I have been reading a lot of heavy things lately. Some of it has been hitting me in the personal corners of my being. Others are weighty in the story idea or content.

There has been a regular mix of fiction and non-fiction. Created places and real stories. Escape, growth, deceit, and development. 

Some of these I have chosen for myself. Others were given as advanced copies to review. Others are assigned reading for a professional development training course that I am taking. 

My brain has been overstimulated as I sift through all of the stories and information. I am working to collect my thoughts so that I can share them semi-elegantly, or at least in a way that doesn’t sound like I am rambling. 

If you follow my tracking on Goodreads, it won’t be difficult to evaluate why my thoughts are a jumble. As I work through my thoughts, though, I realize that this is all a sign that I am reading good books as they are making me think and making me feel. And isn’t that a large part of what reading is about, to not only discover new things but to discover ourselves as well.