Recommended Reading – Page 5 – Empowering Your Mind

Book Review – Grow Rich While You Sleep

October 8, 2015 Linda-Ann Stewart

Grow Rich While you Sleep
by Ben Sweetland

This book is a classic. Although the title suggests that the book’s subject is only about getting rich while sleeping, the author covers a lot more territory than that. The beginning of the book does explain how to utilize the subconscious while going to sleep and sleeping. And if those were the only chapters read, it would be well worth it. He details various affirmations to use as one is going to sleep, to help program the subconscious. He explains exactly what to do and how to do it to contact the creative mind to get it to work on what it is you want.

But that’s only a small amount of information contained in this jewel. In very simple language, with lots of examples, the author explains how the creative mind works, and how we are “a mind with a body.” He gives an exercise to practice to become more positive, along with other exercises to improve one’s success consciousness. Along with affirmations, he gives specific directions on how to go about conditioning the mind for abundance.

Although this book was written almost forty years ago, and some of the details in the examples are outdated (such as what a good salary is), the basic information is timeless and extremely beneficial.

The book is out-of-print, but is available in Kindle format. You can download a Kindle Reading App for your PC, Mac and other devices.

Book Review-“The Progress Principle”

April 15, 2015 Linda-Ann Stewart

The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work
by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer

Are you connected to your work and do you enjoy going to work each day? The answer to these questions and the purpose for asking them is described in the book “The Progress Principle” by Amabile and Kramer.

They describe the emotional and psychological benefits relating to work performance in terms of an “inner work life.” According to the authors,, “Inner work life is the constant stream of emotions, perceptions and motivations that people experience as they react to and make sense of events in their work day.”

Amabile and Kramer researched the daily activities and inner work lives of employees at several companies and found that when employees have positive behaviors and attitudes, they reflect attitudes consistent with the leadership in the company.

Research shows that people who are more engaged in their work are more likely to be creative and productive and feel happier about their work. This occurs when the employees feel valued, think highly of their co-workers, respect their managers and the organization as a whole.

People who are complimented and encouraged in their work, respond in a positive manner. The positive attitudes impact how employees serve customers and interact with their coworkers. This benefits the entire organization and the bottom line.

Reviewed by Bonnie Mattick, MA Ed., MBA

Bonnie Mattick, MAEd., MBA, speaker, consultant and facilitator improves the bottom line by eliminating costly turnover and increasing employee retention. Using pre-hiring strategies, she helps companies create a collaborative environment with enthusiastic employees who keep customers for life. She helps corporate organizations and associations engage their staff and improve their bottom line. Email her at Bonnie@BonnieMattick.com and visit her website, Unforgettable Outcomes.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Book Review- “Stop Walking In Circles”

December 18, 2013 Linda-Ann Stewart

Stop Walking In Circles
by Les Taylor

As the New Year approaches, many people are gearing up to make New Year’s Resolutions. Unfortunately, most of these resolutions will be broken within a few weeks because they haven’t been broken down into a series of achievable steps.

That’s where this book can help. Although it’s aimed at business, these ideas can be adjusted for any type of goal. Studies show that if a person doesn’t focus on a point on the horizon when they’re lost, they’ll simply walk in circles.

Les compares this to individuals, organizations and businesses that don’t have a plan in place to take them in the direction they want to go. Without goals or a map to show the next point on their path, they’ll just stay in their rut and never make any progress.

To remedy this issue, Les gives specific directions on how to set up and achieve goals through his simple performance plan. He’s formulated a blueprint to follow to create a vision of what you want, with the areas you need to address. Success doesn’t come from creating goals. Success comes from achieving them. This book gives all the elements to allow you to be closer to success than 95% of people.

I’ve followed his instructions and have set up a performance plan for myself. It’s made it easier for me to focus on the activities that I need to do to move my business forward and it keeps me organized.

If you create New Year’s Resolutions, this book is especially good for them. By creating a plan based on this book’s instructions, then working that plan, your resolutions will be significantly likelier to become a reality.

~ Linda-Ann Stewart

Book Review – Tapestry of Healing

October 16, 2013 Linda-Ann Stewart

“Tapestry of Healing: Where Reiki and Medicine Intertwine”
by Jeri Mills, M.D.

This is a wonderful exploration of a physician’s discovery of Reiki. It’s her personal story of her life and how she began using this ancient healing technique in her practice. She’s not only a physician, but a veterinarian, and used Reiki on her human patients and animals.

She describes her journey as she learns this healing art and then what happens as she begins to share it with her patients and colleagues. Some were more open to it than others.

The last half of the book is all about energy medicine, Reiki and how to use it. She explains some of the pitfalls and when you should let things be. This aligns with my own experience as a hypnotherapist. You can’t heal everyone.

For the Reiki practitioner, there are a lot of tips about how to use the energy from her own experiences. And for those who aren’t practitioners, she explains what energy healing is and how it’s used.

This book is for the person new to the idea of Reiki, as well as for practitioners of the ancient art. It contains valuable insights to guide any healer. It was a joy to read and I value its addition to my library.

Book Review-An Easy Guide to Meditation

September 26, 2012 Linda-Ann Stewart

An Easy Guide to Meditation [Kindle Edition]
Roy Eugene Davis

Many recent studies have shown that meditation changes the brain in beneficial ways, and improves your quality of life. With that in mind, I was delighted to find this gem of a booklet free on Amazon. The author studied under Paramahansa Yogananda and is the founder of Center for Spiritual Awareness.

This booklet starts out by discussing the purpose of meditation, and then explains simple steps to begin to access the meditative state. Succinctly, clearly, this booklet describes how to get into meditation, how to avoid the pitfalls, and what to do when you’re there. It condenses the knowledge you’d find in a much longer book.

I own an old physical copy of an earlier version this booklet as well as a couple of this author’s books (which are unfortunately out of print) and treasure them all. This is a Kindle edition, and you can download a Kindle app for all kinds of devices or or read it in the cloud.

Book Review – Magic and Mystery In Tibet

August 18, 2012 Linda-Ann Stewart

Magic and Mystery In Tibet
by Alexandra David-Neel

I read this book many years ago, and was intrigued. It tells the story of a French woman who was a Buddhist, and who traveled and lived in Tibet for several years in the early part of the last century. She encountered many monks, lamas, yogis and shamans during her stay, witnessed “psychic” phenomena and was told about many more. She had the opportunity to ask eminent mystics about their opinions on death and reincarnation.

Drawing on what she learned, Mrs. David-Neel explains many details about Tibetan Buddhism that western civilization hasn’t had exposure to before. In addition to various spiritual trainings, she describes some of the exercises of the hermits who increase their body temperature to the point that they melt the snow around them.

The reader will enjoy a first hand look at the way the Tibetans and holy men lived almost a hundred years ago. I recommend this book highly for anyone interested in Tibet, Tibetan Buddhism or the other spiritual practices of that land.

Book Review – The Sermon On The Mount

July 29, 2012 Linda-Ann Stewart

The Sermon On The Mount: The Key to Success in Life
by Emmet Fox

This author’s books made a huge impact on me when I began to seriously study metaphysics almost thirty years ago. This book was one of those that really affected me and my understanding of mental principles. It takes a metaphysical perspective on one of Jesus’ most well known messages. Mr. Fox states that Jesus’ message was to teach mental states, not theology.

Cautioning against taking Jesus’ message literally, the author explains how Jesus taught through parables. The Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, and the Lord’s Prayer are directions on how to think rightly, how to manifest, and how to achieve a greater spiritual understanding. He dissects each phrase to explain it more thoroughly from a metaphysical perspective.

Many of the phrases that have been twisted or that many find confusing are very practically explained and now make sense. Karma is discussed, as are many metaphysical laws. This book’s original subtitle was “A general introduction to Scientific Christianity in the form of a spiritual key to Matthew V, VI and VII.” For anyone raised with the orthodox view of Jesus’ message, the information in this book is revolutionary and a revelation.

Book Review-You Can Have It All

July 2, 2012 Linda-Ann Stewart

You Can Have It All:
A Simple Guide to a Joyful and Abundant Life
by Arnold M. Patent

This book explains Universal principles in a very basic and understandable way. Although I’d deeply been immersed in metaphysics for years, it wasn’t until I read the chapter on “Details,” that I finally grasped how it’s not up to me to figure out how things need to happen. It’s the Universe’s job to determine that. This concept was explained in just the right way for me to finally get it. When I did, it seemed that all I’d learned about this idea fell into place.

This is just one of the fundamental principles of metaphysics that the author explains. There are some exercises to help define your purpose, discovering what you love, acceptance of feelings, and more. While it’s written to explain the principles very simply, at the same time it goes very deeply into mental laws. This is a book to take your time to read, absorbing each chapter before going onto the next.

Book Review – Open Your Mind To Receive

May 21, 2012 Linda-Ann Stewart

Open Your Mind To Receive
By Catherine Ponder

This is one of my favorite books by this author. It’s a small tome, but packed with great ideas. The whole premise is stated in the title. Most of us have closed ideas of the amount of good we can accept.

This book instructs the reader to open their mind to accept more of the goodness of the Universe. Though Ms. Ponder mainly addresses the issue of abundance or prosperity, these ideas can be used for other challenges as well.

It was in this book that she introduced me to the concept of of releasing a person as a way of forgiving them, since she states that the word “forgive” means to “give up.” This has helped me to let go of people that I haven’t been quite able to forgive.

She also addresses the idea of accepting “nothing but the best.” Most of us have settled for something less, so this concept is one that we need to envision for ourselves.

As is usual in her books, this one is filled with great affirmations and examples. It’s a wonderful, easy, interesting read, and I recommend it highly.

Book Review – From Sabotage to Success

April 28, 2012 Linda-Ann Stewart

Reach Your True Potential: How to Overcome Self-Defeating Behavior (previously “From Sabotage to Success: How to Overcome Self-Defeating Behavior and Reach Your True Potential”)

By Sheri O. Zampelli

The author of this book was once a drug-addict, and knows about self-sabotage inside and out. After getting clean, she discovered how affirmations can change a person’s beliefs, thereby changing their reality. This book is an intense and complete look at self-sabotage and ways we can change it so that we can achieve our dreams.

Each chapter ends with activities to help create the life the reader wants, and most chapters include exercises that help to uncover or examine the self-defeating ideas and behaviors that have held the reader back.

Ms. Zampelli explores the different attitudes that undermine success. She also gives comprehensive explanation of why we sabotage ourselves, along with the attitudes and behaviors that hold us back.

The author is a great believer in affirmations (as am I), and gives directions on how to write your own, along with pages of affirmations for different issues.

The thing that sets this book apart is all the exercises, activities, and techniques the reader can use to overcome sabotage and create the life they want. This isn’t just a book of abstract, motivational inspiration, but a book of practical, “do it” knowledge that anyone can use to improve their life.

Empowering Your Mind

Mindset, Motivation and Empowerment

Browsed by
Category: Recommended Reading