Have you ever had that slightly desperate feeling while at dinner with friends (or in line at the grocery store or coffee shop or wherever) where you start to think you might not have the funds to cover what you’re doing?

I can remember sitting with friends in a gorgeous locale and not being able to concentrate on anything anyone was saying or enjoy the view at all because all I could think about was getting to the bathroom to check to see if I had enough money in my account to cover my part.

IT IS THE WORST.

And it’s pretty much how I spent the first part of my life. Always checking my account, always moving things around, budgeting and rebudgeting, in the hopes that I missed something.

It gradually dawned on me that not everyone lives like this and some people even buy their friends lattes without checking their bank balance first (WHAT?!?). I decided I wanted to be one of those folks and I was going to change it no matter what it took (lattes for everyone!).

So, I did what I always do when I want to make changes and I started reading.

What these books have made me see is I had a TERRIBLE MONEY MINDSET. That basically all my thoughts and feelings around money were rooted in lack and there’s a pretty good chance that’s where I was going to stay unless I did some serious work.

Which I’ve been doing. Am I healed? No. Am I on the road? Oh, hell yeah.

So, if you’re ready to start thinking differently about money, here are a few of my best recommendations.

Five Books to Jumpstart Changing Your Wealth Mindset

You are a Badass at Making Money

by Jen Sincero

I have to lead with my all-time favorite “You are a Badass at Making Money.” It is so good I’ve read it at least five times.

Jen is hilarious and vulnerable about what a mess she was with money, which made me feel instantly understood. She’s also a whiz at breaking down difficult concepts and making them feel manageable and doable. This is one of the few self-help books where I’ve completed every exercise and it’s because they actually work.

I can’t recommend this book enough. It has literally CHANGED MY LIFE forever, not to be too dramatic, but also to be totally dramatic because it’s that good.

 

A Happy Pocket Full of Money

by David Cameron Gikandi

Allyson Byrd recommended this book and because I do what Allyson tells me (you should too) I bought it immediately and have been sending it to everyone I know.

Full disclosure: this book probably isn’t for everyone. It gets into quantum physics and energy and all sorts of things that are often seen as woo-woo, but it has completely changed my outlook. Some weird and wonderful things have happened since I embraced this book and I plan on reading a little every day for the foreseeable future.

The style is very repetitive, but I feel like David Cameron Gikandi knows what he’s doing and by the end of the second chapter I was in the rhythm and now I can’t start my day without checking in with it. The best way I can describe it is, it keeps you focused on possibility in a world that can feel overwhelming. 

I’d say start with Bad Ass as she introduces some of the concepts and then move to this for a fuller fleshing out.

The Big Leap

by Gay Hendricks

And we have another one that I read on a near daily basis! (Here’s the thing: if you want to change your mindset you’ve got to put in the work, right?)

I love this book because it’s so accessible and easy to get through, while being totally life-altering.

Hendricks believes most of us have an Upper Limit Problem, where once we once we hit a certain level of success, we’ll sabotage ourselves back to our comfort zone (overspending at Zara, anyone?). Just being aware of this has helped me recognize when something actually feels “wrong” and when I’m just keeping myself safe.

The other eye-opener is his work around your “Genius Zone,” which is basically that sweet spot where you’re doing what you do best, naturally and with ease. I’m working to spend more time there and to let go of the things I CAN do, but others can do better.

Secrets of a Millionaire Mind

by T. Harv Eker

I love Harv. He’s this very brash, tell-it-like-it-is guy, who talks about meditation in the same breath as he obliterates your excuses.

This is a great book for quick motivation. The first part focuses on where all your mental money madness comes from (sorry Mom and Dad) while the second breaks down how millionaires do things differently than the rest of us.

A lot of the ideas are obvious once he says them (rich people constantly learn while other folks think they know it all or rich people see opportunities while everyone else sees obstacles), but they’re the kind of things I need to be constantly reminded of and maybe you do too.

I Will Teach You to be Rich

by Ramit Sethi

A lot of the books on the list that solely focus on mindset so I wanted to leave you with you with one that focuses on the tangible side of money, as well.

Sethi is a big advocate of changing your wealth mindset to living a “rich life”, whatever that looks like for you, and his focus is on taking action. He outlines the best way to do things like getting better rates on your credit cards (and includes scripts), where to put your money, and how to ask for a raise. All the grown-up things around money that you probably never learned how to do.

I’d also highly recommend signing up for his newsletter, which is chock-full every week of motivating tips.

So, whaddya think? Any of them look good that you might want to commit to? And have you read any life-changing money mindset books? I’d love to know so I can keep expanding the list!

Top photo by my gal Milou and Olin Photography.

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