Day 3348 – Dream Big, Think Small – A Book That Surprisingly Changed Everything – Read A New Book Month Day 10

Posted on September 10, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I’ve talked about Dream Big, Think Small: Living an Extraordinary Life One Day at a Time* by Jeff Manion before, but it bears repeating during read a new book month, because this one completely changed my life and mindset about small steps.

Before I read this book, I stressed about how much work I was doing on this blog and really, all areas of my life. I felt like what I was working on just wasn’t making a difference in my life. But this book taught me that even little, bitty, baby steps added up to a lot over time. Just the act of showing up and writing for five minutes each day adds up to two and a half hours of writing in a month. Just the act of showing up for this blog every day and writing a few hundred words adds up to about half a million over the lifetime of the blog. I was floored by that one right there. This idea of just reading a few pages every day in a few books adds up to full books read.

If you’re feeling like you’re not making headway on things and find that you’re beating yourself up, this really is the book for you. I point to this book as a huge life-shifting book, and often. What’s funny, is I found it completely randomly. It wasn’t in the new books section, it wasn’t recommended by someone else. I was killing time in the library, and walking the stacks, and found it that way. I don’t do this type of library search often, but I’m so glad I found this book. I read it last year, but it is still helping me to not negate the small stuff I do every day.

Dream Big, Think Small: Living an Extraordinary Life One Day at a Time*

As a reminder, the links to the book on Amazon are affiliate links. As a reminder, an affiliate link is one that if you click and purchase the book (or something else) I’ll receive a small percentage at no additional cost to you. I ruthlessly only share products, services, books, etc, that I have personally used and only recommend what I think is useful and valuable. I’ve marked all affiliate links in this post with this little guy –> *

This photo is a picture of how I track the “small stuff” in my life. I’ve since modified this to include quite a bit more, but the idea is the same, little bits, every day.

Check out all of my 2018 Read A New Book Month recommendations.

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Day 3347 – Sober Mercies – A Book About An Alcoholic Christian – Read A New Book Month Day 9

Posted on September 9, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

After I got sober, I tried to read a few memoirs by alcoholics. I found myself a little depressed and just not encouraged by what I read. While being an alcoholic and the journey to sobriety isn’t exactly a super happy one, there was just something missing from each book I tried. That all changed when I read Sober Mercies: How Love Caught Up with a Christian Drunk* by Heather Kopp. I found encouragement and a journey similar to mine. It was one of the best books I’ve read about drinking and really encouraged me to keep working on my own book about my sobriety journey. If you think you’re a Christian alcoholic or a non-Christian alcoholic or are just curious what it’s like to be a Christian alcoholic, this is the book for you.

Sober Mercies: How Love Caught Up with a Christian Drunk*

Check out all of my 2018 Read A New Book Month recommendations.

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Day 3346 – Kid President’s Guide to Being Awesome – The Definitive Guide To Awesomeness – Read A New Book Month Day 8

Posted on September 8, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I’ve followed Kid President for a long time. When I’m feeling blue, I watch his pep talk (see below). I bought a poster of the pep talk. He is someone I look up to and aspire to be.

When I heard about Kid President’s Guide to Being Awesome* years back, I thought, dude, I HAVE to read that. But time got away from me until I saw it in the library a few weeks back. I just finished reading it this week and I have to say, it was a really fun and inspiring read. It was neat to hear stories of folks who are striving to be awesome. It made me laugh. And it reminded me how much fun it is to have fun in life. If you’re looking for a little more fun or need to learn how to be awesome or how mail corndogs, this is the book for you.

Kid President’s Guide to Being Awesome*

Check out all of my 2018 Read A New Book Month recommendations.

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Day 3344 – A Book That Has Changed My Money Mindset And My Life – You Are a Badass at Making Money – Read A New Book Month Day 7

Posted on September 7, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I’ve read You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth* by Jen Sincero three times as of the writing of this post. I listened to the audiobook each time and I have to say, Jen is a fantastic audiobook reader. To hear the author explain her work is really, really helpful. It doesn’t hurt that she’s absolutely hysterical.

This book helped me to look at money and myself differently. It showed me that SO many more things are possible in my life and that they are within my grasp. This book helped to push me to try my hand at a new blog and caused me to see the value in purchasing a course bundle (which I might add has already made me money).

If you have struggles with how you view money, whether it’s “rich people are gross” or “I can’t afford it” this book will help you to see things in a different light, and begin to look at yourself differently. I have already seen changes in myself, Bret (who has read it twice), and a good friend who is on her second read. This book also reminds me that just one suggestion can change multiple lives. Never negate the power of your words.

You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth* by Jen Sincero

Check out all of my 2018 Read A New Book Month recommendations.

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Day 3344 – A Devotional For Every Day Of The Year – Streams In The Desert – Read A New Book Month Day 6

Posted on September 6, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I’ve read Streams in the Desert* by L. B. Cowman several times and I always get something good out of it. It’s like most year devotionals in the format (focus on a verse/passage, talk about the verse) but what I find different than others I’ve read is that it is very real. It doesn’t give a fluffy, this Christian life stuff is easy and great, type of advice. It’s a devotional that touches on when what we want is delayed (or never achieved), or we’re weighed down with sadness and regret. Here’s a great snapshot from June 4:

The verse referenced for the day – “All that night the LORD drove the sea back. (Exodus 14:21)”

“There may be a great work occurring in your life when things seems their darkest. You may see no evidence yet, but God is at work. God was just as much at work ‘all that night’ as He was the next day, when the Israelites finally saw the evidence. The next day simply revealed what God had done during the night.”

In all areas of my life, I’m all about getting to the meat and potatoes advice, the things that work on the root, and cutting out all the fluffy (when fluffy isn’t needed, of course, a look through my blog posts reveals I’m definitely fluffy in a lot of ways). If you’re looking for a devotional that meets you in the dark times, this is the one for you. My copies are both falling apart and have underlines and stars all over the place, a quick flip through shows pretty much on every page. These are well-loved books.