Reading something inspirational is one of my favorite things to do to get my energy flowing in a healthy direction. It can be a memoir, spiritual, academic, or self-help book. It can also be an article, research study, daily reader, blog post, or even an inspiring social media post. What matters is that it gets me excited and inspires me to want to act. That act can be a meditation or going for a walk. It can be giving my time to a project or cause. The point is if it’s taking me into a healthier place within or inspiring me to contribute to the world, my energy is flowing in taking the next best step for me.

Reading something inspirational acts as a catalyst of change in a positive direction. I used to think that I had to commit to a whole book, but just 5 to 10 minutes of daily inspirational reading makes a huge impact on my day. If I’m honest with myself, I can always squeeze that in. It’s just about making it a priority, and I usually do.

I’m going to say this as a reminder to myself and anybody reading…

Shaming myself into doing something that is “good” for me is NOT healthy, so if I don’t do something I would say is healthy on any particular day, it’s important for me to be compassionate with myself. Sometimes I need to make unhealthy choices in order to figure out what that feels like, and why I don’t want to do that. Other times, it helps me see where I really am in that moment. Either way, there is no reason to shame ourselves into making healthier decisions. In the long run, that works against us.

Reading inspirational messages helps me to change the self-talk that keeps me stuck in unhealthy thought and belief patterns. One of the reasons I love memoirs so much is I get to see what others are overcoming on their journeys and what they chose to do with it. My academic mind gets stimulated with all the new brain research. Just writing this piece, I’m getting excited to start reading! I’m about to dive into Let Go Now by Karen Casey in preparation of our upcoming conversation on Seeds of Wisdom.

With Love and Gratitude,

Rachael Wolff, author of Letters from a Better Me and host of the From A Loving Place with Author Rachael Wolff podcast