25 Books, Courses and Podcasts to Inspire Personal Growth This Summer

One of my goals this summer, besides soaking up all the Vitamin D I can, is to focus on self-improvement. There are a ton courses I’ve been meaning to complete focused on social media and blogging. And of course there is a stack of unread, personal growth books I keep saying I’m going to read.

As I embrace the [slightly] slower pace of summer, it’s the perfect time for me to focus on growth and self-improvement.

Looking for some inspiration? Below are a mix of my favorite self-impovement resources (* denotes on my to-do list for this summer!)

25 Resources to Inspire Personal Growth This Summer

Books:

* How to Be Everything: A Guide for Those Who (Still) Don’t Now What They Want To Be When They Grow Up by Emilie Wapnick.

I’m currently in the middle of this book and HOLY MOLY am I OBSESSED. My career trajectory does not fit into one simple, cute, sentence. And people find that… odd.

This book makes me feel like I’m not such a weirdo (always comforting!) and has inspired me to keep exploring this weird, non-traditional, career path.

⚡️

* White Hot Truth: Clarity for Keeping It Real on your Spiritual Path from One Seeker to Another by Danielle Laporte.

Maybe it’s ironic to mention a book about curing your self-help book addiction on a list of self-help books?

I’m not the most spiritual person. I straight up think crystals are glorified good luck charms and nothing more. As a yoga teacher I don’t Om because it doesn’t feel authentic. But this book still caught my eye… after all I am a self-help junkie, as this list proves.

⚡️

#GIRLBOSS by Sophie Amoruso.

Okay, okay, you’ve all heard of this book. And maybe weird to read now knowing Sophie’s business has since crashed and burned. This book was the first of it’s kind in many ways, the precursor for a slew of books focused on female entrepreneurs. And that’s pretty freaking rad.

Despite the downfall of Sophie’s company, it’s an inspiring read for aspiring #girlboss-es.

And no, I haven’t watched the show on Netflix yet. It’s also on my summer to-do list.

⚡️

Do Cool Shit: Quit Your Day Job, Start Your Own Business and Live Happily Ever After by Miki Agrawal.

And another female entrepreneur who has fallen on hard-times… but still wrote a book worth reading. Miki is the creator of Thinx and one of my favorite restaurants, Wild. She’s brash, unapologetic and undeniably good at getting shit done.

⚡️

The Hustle Economy: Transforming Your Creativity Into a Career by Jason Oberholtzer and Jessica Hagy.

I chatted about this book of essays by creative entrepreneurs as a part of my favorite things from April.

⚡️

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Everyone and their freaking mother would NOT stop talking about Big Magic. But with good reason. That ish is POWERFUL. I chat more about my love for this book here.

⚡️

* Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans.

This book is all about teaching you to think like a designer as a way to find your life path. I’m SUPER intrigued by this book, based on a popular class at Stanford.

⚡️

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.

Yup. I couldn’t NOT mention KonMari! Not very business focused, but I’m convinced this book did in fact change my life.

⚡️

* Rising Strong: How the Ability to Reset Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead.

Everywhere I turn people be singing the praises of Brene Brown. I can’t speak about this book personally but from what I gather it’s all about rising strong (heh) after failure. Which come on, we ALL experience failure.

⚡️

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 by Gretchen Rubin.

Oh, this book.

I hold this book near and dear to my heart. I read this book during the summer I started dating my now boyfriend. It changed my view on life and I swear it did in fact make me happier.

It’s cheesy to say a book is the reason Jeremy and I started dating. I won’t pretend it is. But reading this book changed my perspective of what happiness is and in turn helped me to be a happier person. And I firmly believe being genuinely happy is a sexy, attractive quality. And a quality Jeremy saw in me that summer.

⚡️

* You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero.

I’ve heard SO much great praise for this book (and the companion book, below). I like to think I’m already making baby steps towards being a badass. Slowly but surely. And hey, it doesn’t hurt to be even more of a badass.

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

This book came out at the perfect time ‘cuz my god do I have money anxiety. I’m excited to add this to the summer reading list and can’t wait to report back on my thoughts.

⚡️

The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck: How to Stop Spending Time You Don’t Have with People You Don’t Like Doing Things You Don’t Want to Do by Sarah Knight.

Sarah Knight, you are my spirit animal. Man, oh man do I wish I wrote this book. Check out my full review of the book [and why I’m OBSESSED] here.

⚡️

* I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time by Laura Vanderkam.

My favorite podcast [Starstruck Radio, listed below!] frequently mentioned this book. The whole can you have it all discussion is a popular one among females. Even for people like me who don’t plan on having kids [yup, I said it]. A frazzled life is one I know well. And was my life until two weeks ago. So I’m curious to read up on what others are doing in order to achieve that [unattainable] goal of doing it all.

⚡️

* The Big Life: Embrace the Mess, Work Your Side Hustle, Find a Monumental Relationship, and Become the Badass Babe You Were Meant to Be by Ann Shoket.

This was the book I wanted as a birthday present this year. I adore Ann Shoket, former editor of Seventeen Magazine. Her new book is geared towards millennial ladies looking to do awesome things.

⚡️

In the Company of Women: Inspiration and Advice from over 100 Makers, Artists, and Entrepreneurs by Grace Bonney.

This book has a permanent spot on my coffee table. It’s filled with interviews from inspiring, successful, hustling, ladies. I’ll flip open to a random page and read whatever interview is there. It’s the perfect pick me up when you have those moments of self-doubt.

Online Courses:

* Pinfinite Growth.

On of my goals for 2017 was to up my Pinterest game. Because I’ll be honest, I don’t get Pinterest. But I want to and know it’s a HUGE source of traffic for many bloggers. So it’s time to become a Pinterest nerd thanks to the popular course by Melyssa Griffin.

⚡️

* SEO for Solopreneurs.

My internet friend, Danielle, created an SEO course I’ve been dying to take. She’s an SEO whiz and I’m totally in awe of the business she has created and her knowledge for this stuff. I’m excited to implement what I learn both on le blog and professionally.

⚡️

Instagram with Intent.

If you’re just getting the hang of instagram, I found this course to be super helpful in cracking the IG code.

I love that even though I completed this course 2+ years ago, I still get access to the updated version of this course. Super helpful in the ever changing world of social media.

⚡️

Photoshop for Bloggers

I cannot recommend this course enough if you’re interested in learning Photoshop. I legit knew nothing when I took this course. I’m now comfortable doing [basic] graphic design on PS. It’s been a super valuable skill for work and blogging.

 

Podcasts

Being Boss.

Whenever I’m feeling meh or need a creativity boost, I turn to Being Boss. I’ll put on my headphones, tune into a new episode and take a long ass walk. Without fail it always leaves me inspired and bursting with new ideas.

⚡️

Goal Digger.

I only recently started listening to Goal Digger, but damn is it gooooood. Jenna Kutcher is a force to be RECKONED with. Her podcast is chock full of inspiration and nuggets of wisdom as far as the in’s and out’s of creating a brand.

⚡️

The Marie Forleo Podcast.

I hate videos — I prefer to read blog posts or listen to podcasts while I’m on the go. Marie Forleo’s podcast is the audio version of her weekly TV show. The episodes are short and sweet, and always informative.

⚡️

You University.

This personal branding focused podcast can be overwhelming at times. It’s the kind of podcast that you need to pause and take notes because you don’t want to forget the juicy takeaways.

I’ve found I like some episodes more than others, depending on the topic. Still worth jumping around to find the episodes that interest you.

⚡️

Starrstruck Radio.

I miss this podcast SO much. While I was training for the NYC marathon, this podcast was my JAM. It’s hosted by blogger, artist and yoga teacher Mary Catherine and her lawyer husband Ben.

It’s a bit more lifestyle-y than the other podcasts I mentioned, but still makes ya think about life and little things you can change about your daily routine.

Your turn: Hit me up with your favorite books, courses and podcasts for personal growth. And let me know what’s on your to-do list for Summer of Self Improvement too!