Today’s article is something a bit different. Most of our posts include a recommendation of sorts. We love learning from other self-development experts, and we love sharing our findings with you!
So today, we want to recommend 5 apps, 5 books, and 5 life hacks that you can use to achieve greater fulfillment and positive change, wherever you are right now. To avoid overwhelm, we suggest choosing one of these at a time and dedicating yourself to it for a specific amount of time, like 30 days.
Enjoy!
5 Apps to improve your day-to-day wellbeing
Note: all the apps we recommend are free to use 🙂
- Perspective is a journaling app that will capture your thoughts, mood and emotions. Use this to:
- Increase self-awareness
- Improve mental health
- Understand how you’re spending your time
- 30/30 is a time management app that lets you spend 30 minutes on a task, before giving you a 30-minute break. Use this to:
- Stop procrastinating
- Dedicate a set amount of time to a particular project
- Give your work day more structure
- Headspace is a relaxation app containing numerous guided meditations. Use this to:
- Manage anxiety
- Find moments of Stillness
- Wind down before bed
- Elevate is a brain-training app to improve your literacy and numeracy through games. Use this to:
- Sharpen your vocabulary
- Improve mental math skills for personal finance or at work
- Strengthen your long-term memory
- Moment is a time management app that tracks how much time you spend on your phone each day. Use this to:
- Set limits on screen time
- Manage the time your kids spend on their phones
- Improve your awareness of how you’re spending your time
5 Books to support your growth as a person
- Angela Duckworth’s Grit is a book about persevering when times get tough. Use this to:
- Develop greater energy and passion for the things you love
- Discover your inner power if you judge yourself to be “untalented”
- Take an important project right to the finish line
- David Schwartz’ The Magic of Thinking BIG is the playbook that Arnold Schwarzenegger and others have used to set ambitious goals and achieve them. Use this to:
- Think more positively
- Remove your own excuses from your path
- Become more of a doer
- Og Mandino’s The Greatest Salesman in the World is a parable about a young man who learns the secrets of success from a wealthy merchant who is on his deathbed. Use this to:
- Treat difficult customers with love
- Master your emotions when you face challenging sales periods
- Keep taking action towards self-betterment
- Glennon Doyle’s Untamed is a memoir of a Christian blogger who found authentic love in another woman when she least expected it. Use this to:
- Find self-empowerment
- Be who you are, warts and all, instead of striving to be something you think you ought to be
- Stop people-pleasing
- Richard Davidson’s Altered Traits offers a scientific take on the research behind meditation, written in collaboration with science journalist Daniel Goleman. Use this to:
- Develop the motivation to start meditating
- Stop multitasking
- Get your brain out of its default anxious state
5 Life Hacks for a clearer mind
- Turn off all the notifications on your phone from news apps, or delete the news apps altogether! Use this to:
- Stop getting distracted by world events you can’t control
- Feel less anxious
- Free up more time and energy for the parts of your life that matter most
- At the end of every day, jot down what went well and what you learned. Use this to:
- Improve your self-awareness
- Hold yourself accountable to grow each day
- Feel more gratitude
- Sign up for a class that teaches you something new, whether it’s a guitar lesson, a second language, a coaching certificate, or something completely out there! Use this to:
- Stimulate your brain
- Make yourself a more valuable employee or business person
- Discover a new passion
- Make a conscious effort to go for a 30-minute walk during the morning or on your lunch break (it could be in the forest!). Use this to:
- Get your heart rate up and your blood pumping
- Energize yourself for the day
- Lose a few pounds
- Instead of grabbing your lunch on the go, sit down and savor your meal. Use this to:
- Enjoy a moment of Stillness amidst the rush of the work day
- Improve your digestion
- Appreciate your food more
And that’s a wrap!
Which of these did you like the most? Do you already use one of them?
Let us know in the comments below!
