If you only read one book this year, The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan is it!  Whether you are a busy working mom, an entrepreneur, or just someone who struggles with finding focus.  The authors pose this question: “What’s the One Thing you can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”  Fun story: After falling in love with this book, my husband and I took a trip to Austin, TX to visit our son and had a chance to meet with Jay Papasan (super awesome guy) and discuss the ideas in his book.

If you read this book and follow what author Gary Chapman says, your relationships (with your spouse, parents, kids, friends, co-workers, etc.) will flourish!  I also wrote a post about the 5 love languages here.  Check it out and let me know what your love language is.

Author Gretchen Rubin has studied habits and happiness extensively and has a real knack for sharing tons of examples that the reader can relate to.  In this book she gives lots of great ideas for the reader to engage in new good habits and get rid of bad ones.  When this book arrived in my mailbox, I couldn’t put it down.  I love to underline and write in my books and this book is all marked up.  Get this book and decide to just start one or two new healthy habits and your life will change for the better, guaranteed!
P.S.  Gretchen and her sister Elizabeth have a great podcast called Happier with Gretchen Rubin.  They publish one episode per week that runs about 30-40 minutes.  I listen while getting ready in the morning.  So fun!

I’m finding that pretty much anything Gretchen Rubin does, I love!  Her books are great and she also hosts one of my favorite podcasts, Happier by Gretchen Rubin.  The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean my Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun, is a great read and gets you thinking about focusing on the things that are really important in life.  There’s a reason millions have purchased this book.

The title pretty much sums it up!  What?? You don’t want to transform your life before 8AM?  The author of this book, Hal Elrod, has an amazing story (he was found dead after a car accident, but lived to write this book!) of life transformation.  Try out his morning strategies and see your own life transformed.  I’ve been up at 4:30am almost every morning for over a year and my life has changed for the better in so many ways!

I just bought my copy today (Feb. 1, 2016) and am going to come back and give a full review after I read, but I don’t hesitate to recommend Pat’s book, because everything he does is stellar!  He calls himself the Crash Test Dummy of Online Marketing and the lessons that he’s learned and shared with his audience are serious game-changers.
Update: Feb. 20th:  Holy moly!  This book is a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!  It’s a book that requires thinking and action, so I’m taking it nice and slow to get the best results.  I’ll report back when finished.

Jon Acuff is a very funny man.  Seriously, he is hilarious!  This book is inspirational, funny, and has lots of actionable insight.  He talks about the 2 paths in life:  average and awesome.  If you read this book, you will come away wanting to 1. Be Jon’s bff, and 2. Be AWESOME!

Kate’s book is super helpful if you are an entrepreneur or have an online presence.  She has a great podcast too!

I love Flexcover Journals.  I love them because they feel special:  they have a nice faux leather that feels nice to touch, they look nice, and have Scripture and/or inspirational quotes in many of them.  All this for under $10!

I remember my mom purchasing a couple coloring books for herself back in the 80s (well before the time of popularity they are experiencing now).  These were no ordinary coloring books…they had the most beautiful images, intricate design, and once colored were frame-worthy masterpieces.  If you are looking for a fun gift for yourself or someone else, get one.  Amazon has some nice options here.  You can also pick one up at your local bookstore, drug store, or stationary store.