4 Must-Read Books for Life Transformation!

Friends,

There are four books I’ve read so far that were KEEPERS for me. They directly impacted my life, health, productivity, happiness, and mindset in a big way. So much so that I HAD to create this episode for you to share! I hope these books impact your life as much as they have mine. My Christian Entrepreneurs, this one is a MUST.

Enjoy. Subscribe. Share.

I pray this blesses you!

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:

(00:00):
Hey, what’s up girl! So I did a poll on Instagram a little bit ago and asked you guys what you wanted to hear more from me.

(00:08):
The four books that were seriously life altering recently that I’ve read or how I sold out my mastermind group in a week with no sales page. It was heavily weighted in the books, which I thought was super interesting, but that’s really exciting because that’s kind of what I wanted to talk about.

(00:30):
So here we are, this episode is going to be really fun. We’re going to go through the four books that I read in January of this year, that really were mind, body, spirit. As much as that phrase is used, these books were truly mind, body, and spirit all in one, and took me on this journey of kind of self discovery and also doing an inventory of my surroundings.

(00:57):
I mean, inside my mindset what I was fueling my body with, and I just think they were so amazing and every human should read these books. So let’s do this.

(02:00):
So if you guys are friends with me on Instagram and if you’re not, let’s fix that. Go head over to Instagram right now. I’m @StefanieGass. Let’s be friends. I’m kind of a weirdy paired with Jesus freak and mom, but also a successful entrepreneur all rolled into one.

(02:26):
So if that’s you and I’m your jam, let’s go be friends over on the IG. Now I talked a lot about how I was not going to fall into the Marie Kondo trap. That’s right. The first book is “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo. I was like, I will never read that book because ain’t nobody have time for no tiding up, no cleaning. I’m already a tidy person. That’s not going to benefit me whatsoever.

(02:54):
Well, let me tell you something. I was craving actual pages and was tired of listening to audio books and wanted a break from podcasts and we had two weeks off in December and I’m like, I need some paper. My goal is to read at least one book every two weeks for the year 2020.

(03:16):
So I found this cool website called thriftbooks.com. Not sponsored by them. Just think they’re amazing. So use ThriftBooks because books are super cheap on there. I got six books. I think it was $26.

(03:32):
Well, that was the first book that I grabbed I have no idea. Actually, I do. I love how divine intervention works. Yes. Even on your book choices, if you let it. So that was the first book that I’m like sure I’ll read this one. I truly was just reading it for something to read.

(03:50):
If you would’ve asked me, had zero intention of going through the process of like purging my entire house and drawers and closet. It just seemed completely crazy to me that people would actually do that.

(04:06):
Well after reading that book, I put it down. That was really cute. All those people and all their free time to tidy up, fold their shirts, super cute. Then some thing weird happened every time I’d open a drawer or a closet, I’m like, oh, but this really isn’t bringing me joy.

(04:30):
Before I know it knew it, I had dumped out the drawer, thrown away 50% of the contents that were no longer serving me and put it away in a fashion that made sense.

(04:40):
Well, about a week into doing this in randomist places like drawers and a closet or whatever. I’m like, okay, fine, Marie Kondo, you got me. Let’s go. I started fully minimizing my house. It was nuts and I didn’t do it fully like she does in the book, highly recommend the book. Go over, read it, be like me. I’ll never do this and then read it and then do it like the rest of the world.

(05:06):
But over the course of about 30 days, I got rid of, I want to say 20 bags went to charity and 20 bags went in the trash can because there’s so much just clutter and stuff that we’re keeping that we just keep for no reason, because it’s sentimental.

(05:28):
We think yet we haven’t looked at it in what a decade, because maybe we’ll wear that one day, but we haven’t worn it in five years. Maybe I’ll pick up that book again that I read in eighth grade, but I should just really get rid of it.

(05:44):
So it was like this push for me to just clean out all the old stuff. I did it and it was liberating. Oh my gosh, like decluttering, your house was almost like decluttering my mind and my heart and my soul all at once. I love that I can open a closet now and just see things I actually want to wear that actually fit my body.

(06:07):
I got rid of stuff that had tags on it, because I thought maybe one day I’ll wear it. No, you won’t just get rid of it. So that was the first book and it was this kind of domino effect of my physical surroundings started to impact what was I housing in my mind? What was I housing in my body? What was I fueling my body with?

(06:30):
It was almost this cascade of minimizing things that needed to be let go of, and it, my house just feels fresh. It’s easy to keep up with. I went through the boys’ toys. Almost everything in this house has been cleaned out. Now, granted, I would definitely not say I’m a minimalist. I would say we have a 40% less stuff. Maybe 30% less stuff in the house. But even that it feels great. It’s a good start.

(06:59):
I can see myself going through that process every couple of years, highly recommended. All right.

(07:05):
The second book that I then transitioned into, and again, I didn’t plan this. It’s so weird was “Battlefield of the Mind” by Joyce Meyer. She is a Christian author has some incredible books for some reason, I hadn’t picked this one up yet.

(07:23):
So really what this book did for me, this was a super fast read. If of all these four books, you only grab one, please “Battlefield of the Mind” by Joyce Meyer. It’s enlightening, because this book paints this picture, that Satan, he wants to defeat God’s people with a deliberate and clever plan of what deceit and lies that he’s planting inside of our thoughts and all of us.

(07:53):
Oh my gosh. As moms, women, friends, and human beings, we are constantly battling spiritual warfare. When we’re down and when we’re doubting, that’s when I think, you know, Satan comes in and he plants these doubts and he isolates us and he makes us think that we’re not good enough and that we can’t.

(08:15):
These are the tactics that he’s using almost like a game of chess against God’s people. So this book not only brings to light that a lot of these limiting beliefs that we’re having about ourselves or these thoughts, they’re not ours. It gives you tangible implementation to change and shift your mindset.

(08:36):
Yet, you guys, I feel like I have a very healthy, positive mindset set. I’m very focused on finding the good in situations. I feel like I have a lot of control and restraint over the thoughts that I allow myself to have. But let me tell you what I felt like a new woman after this book.

(08:57):
So first was my physical surroundings. Crazy! Second was my mind. It was totally cleared out. So that was the second book. Now the third book was “Present Over Perfect”. I have no idea in brutal honesty, how to say her name by Shauna Niequist. Sorry for those of you like, oh my gosh. I can’t believe you don’t know how to say her name. That’s okay.

(09:25):
There’s only one of them. It’s like a bestseller. You can’t miss it. Okay. This book was all about this woman who was going through life and searching for worth and validation and success.

(09:39):
Gosh, the rat race that we’re all in while raising small kiddos and kind of her discovery of what was truly important and giving herself permission to let go of worldly, unrealistic standards of who you should be and who everyone says that you should be.

(10:00):
You just doing all the things because you think you have to, it’s like this huge, big fat, golden ticket permission slip to be present. Then she explains what being present actually means, which I think is so needed in today’s world. We all think we’re present because we put our phone down for 10 minutes. Y’all it’s not enough.

(10:24):
We have got to get self control over our lives. We have to get rid of social media and detox at least once a week. Okay. I’m very serious about that. If you have small children, you guys, your actions are more important than your words.

(10:40):
When’s the last time you put your phone down? I know I’m speaking to myself here too. This is not to mom shame or shame anyone, even if you’re not a mom, I mean your spouse deserves you too.

(10:50):
We have to start by setting the example. So I have to hide my phone from myself. My hand is up. I am totally guilty of not being present over perfect. So I hide my phone. I detox and delete the apps on the weekends. It’s a constant struggle.

(11:10):
If you feel me, you feel me, okay. This is not just you. But that book gave me permission to just breathe, to let what actually matters rise to the top and to let what doesn’t matter, like posting on Instagram stories 10 times a day, to let it go.

(11:28):
So I loved that book and it was really kind of soul food for me. Okay. Now the last book that I want to bring up, so this is going to be like the four books to transforming your mind, body, spirit, and house, which is so cool. Resetting who you are for this new year is “Intuitive Eating”. So crazy.

(11:51):
So this was body for me. What’s so interesting is I feel like I’m a healthy person. I work out three, four times a week. I don’t go crazy, but I feel healthy, but I’ve always struggled with food. Now I know how to lose weight. I lost 60 pounds after all my kids, but I never felt at peace with food.

(12:15):
It was constantly this battle of I didn’t eat healthy enough. Or now I ate too many carbs and food had labels. This is a bad food. Oh no, I can’t eat cake. I’ll have this yogurt instead. Constantly feeling like I couldn’t partake in certain things, but then I would binge eat the thing because I never let myself have pizza.

(12:39):
We’d have a cheat day and there’s a problem in and of itself is calling something a cheat day. I’d eat like six pieces of pizza because if it’s a bad food, I think I have to like force it. The next day I’m getting back into my healthy eating.

(12:55):
So there was constantly this whirlwind going on in my brain, this battle with food and I was like, so over it. Let me tell you what, in my 34 years of life, I’ve had tried everything and it’s not like I have body issues. It’s just like this societal thing of oh I’ve got to lose the last five or 10 pounds.

(13:13):
But do you? So I think what this book did for me was it really taught me that each human is created differently and we all have different standards. God created for us what he wants our health baseline to be. People are just by nature, bigger boned. They carry weight in different places.

(13:40):
What was so freeing about “Intuitive Eating” by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. I am not good at knowing how to pronounce these names. Sorry ladies. Again, “Intuitive Eating”. But this book is about making peace with food and freeing yourself from chronic dieting.

(14:07):
It gives you permission to just be the natural weight that you’re meant to be. There were these concepts in this book. If no food is bad and you can have it any day you want, you don’t need to gorge it or feel guilty about it. You just eat some of it and you pay attention to your body cues. On a scale of one to 10, how full are you?

(14:30):
When you’re full, you stop eating and you save it because you can have it again tomorrow. I was like, oh my gosh, this is such a novel concept. So example, I am obsessed with Nutella. That hazelnut spread. I love it on pretzels. It’s like a forbidden food. I love hazelnut chocolate. Oh, it’s a forbidden food. I can never have it if only I could have Nutella.

(14:56):
So right after this book, I went and bought the big jar of Nutella. Okay, let’s test this theory. So when I sat down, I had already eaten dinner and I had a salad because it sounded good. It’s about also paying attention to what do you actually want to eat? Then eating it.

(15:14):
If I actually wanted to have a hamburger, just eat a hamburger because the concept is, if you don’t just eat what you actually want. So for example, if I wanted a hamburger and I said, oh, I can’t eat that though. So I’m just going to make some ground Turkey and pretend it’s hamburger. It doesn’t scratch the itch.

(15:31):
It’s like telling a kid, don’t press the red button and they go press the red button. So then you go, that didn’t really solve my craving. So now I’m going to go have like a piece of cheese and then I’m going to have a yogurt and you keep eating all the healthy things, trying to just scratch the itch that you wanted an actual hamburger with actual bread on each side of it.

(15:51):
So you actually consume more calories than if you just say the hamburger until you are full. The beauty is normally you’re full by three quarters of the way through the hamburger. Then you just have to know it’s okay to put it down, to save it for tomorrow. You don’t have to eat the whole thing.

(16:12):
Really asking yourself how full am I? So have the salad. I’m like, okay, on the scale of one to 10, I’m probably at a five. So I’m going to have Nutella. I was so pumped. I’m like, oh my gosh, I get to eat it. This is crazy.

(16:25):
So I got my little spoon and my little pretzels and every time I took a bite, I really focus like how does this taste, how does feel? Have I had enough? I was like, haven’t had enough. So I kept eating some more Nutella.

(16:37):
I probably had like a tablespoon and a half on like eight or nine pretzels. Then it started to lose its luster. It was like, okay, now this tastes a bit too sweet. I’m already a six or seven on the full scale. I don’t want to eat anymore because I’m going to feel sick full. I’m going to put it away.

(16:56):
If I want some more later, I can have more and I put it away and my brain exploded. That was the moment you guys. I was like, I don’t ever want to diet again. I just want to be able to do that and have this peace with food. So it took some practice.

(17:12):
I’ll let you know. I’ve been doing it for probably three weeks now. It was definitely kind of a relearning about yourself and food and what you want to eat after being taught for so long that there’s certain foods you can’t have, but it’s been such a beautiful process to know that you’re free and you can eat what you truly want to eat.

(17:36):
I haven’t gained a pound. I’ve stayed right where I’m at, which I was really at a healthy weight for my body type anyway. So it was really nice to also give myself permission to just be here and stop trying to lose the elusive five pounds that I don’t know whoever said I had to lose in the first place.

(17:54):
So it just feels good. Hey, I’m here. I’m beautiful where I’m at. I love my body. I also love Nutella. Now I get to eat it. For those of you that are super skeptical. So was I. Read the book, take it with a grain of salt. This can be for you or it can’t be for you. But I felt like I had to share it because it was just very liberating for me.

(18:20):
As a human that struggled with like figuring out how to eat for 30 something years, I figure some of you are feeling the same way. So the four books go read it. Revamp your body, mind, spirit, and physical surroundings are in no particular order, except for “Battlefield of the Mind”. Number one book, please get ASAP “Battlefield of the Mind”. Secondly, “The Life Changing Magic of Tiding Up”. Third, “Present Over Perfect”.

(18:49):
Four, is “Intuitive Eating”. I am reading some more incredible books. So if you guys like this episode, I am super happy to share with you once a quarter a book update. So let me know, come into my DMs, shoot me a voice text. Nobody got time to write. Let me know if you liked this episode and I will do them for you once a quarter with book updates.

(19:12):
All right, sis. So I’m going to leave you with a little prayer, but before I do, I wanted to let you know that you can gain access to my Podcast Pro University membership group for free. Right now, when you grab Podcast Pro University and launch your podcast, that membership group is not going to be free forever, but it is a bonus when you get into our course right now.

(19:38):
There are over a hundred women that are launching podcasts, working together, doing podcast reviews together, interview swaps. I mean it’s like magic. I go live in there at least once or twice a month answer questions. It’s such an incredible community of emerging female Christian entrepreneur podcasters. You have to be there.

(19:59):
Okay? So if you want to be part of this amazing community and you want to launch your podcast this year and you want to do it successfully and you want to grow an organic funnel where leads come in, they trust you. They want to buy what you got going on. They want to hire you. I mean, I’m telling you podcasting can completely transform your business.

(20:21):
It’s a long play in the long game and it will I promise you if you’re consistent with it, if you are putting service over sales, it ends up making you more money than you ever thought possible. It helps expand your audience. It helps them have trust in who you are because they’re learning from you on a constant basis.

(20:40):
So, sorry, didn’t mean to talk about that for that long, I did want to let you know that the membership community will not be free forever, but for right now, it is included. So if you want to snag this offer, go to podcastprouniversity.com and meet us there.

(20:56):
Praying over you, sis, that you find happiness today. Look around you. Find something to smile about. Count your blessings. Thank God for the miracles that he’s gifted you for the blessing that you have in your life, your kids, your significant others, your friends, the food we have, the warm showers, the coffee, oh the coffee, wearing PJs all day, and whatever else lights you up that we’re grateful.

(21:20):
That we sit in that gratitude for a minute and we tell God how much we appreciate him and just know that you are blessed. My friend, you are so blessed in so many ways. I love you lifting up, sending you a virtual hug, and I’ll see you soon. As always love and light, Stef.