5 great books, 5 life lessons

First, a few of my fave reading and book quotes

“Let’s be reasonable and add an eighth day to the week that is devoted exclusively to reading.” – Lena Dunham

”We read to know we are not alone.” – C.S. Lewis

“Read a lot. Expect something big, something exalting or deepening from a book. No book is worth reading that isn’t worth re-reading.” – Susan Sontag

“Have books ‘happened’ to you? Unless your answer to that question is ‘yes,’ I’m unsure how to talk to you.” – Haruki Murakami

And one I had the privilege of listening to it being quoted live is;

‘Books are a crystallization of a man’s best thoughts…’ Jumoke Adenowo

Welcome to my world of books, and with this blog, I share 5 lessons from 5 books that have ‘happened’ to me in recent times.

Hey Saints,

It’s Book club day hehe

Like one of the quotes above, I also think we need a day devoted exclusively to reading. If there are two things I wish I could take a retreat or vacation solely for, it would be praying and reading.

I have a genuine desire, even taste in my mouth, to read, and I usually feel off when I skip reading on any given day.

I love to read, and in addition to this blog, I have a YouTube video will help you become a Pro at reading, retaining, and recalling books.

Reader ZERO to Reader HERO; 5 hot tips

So, here, I share one lesson each, from five books I have encountered in the past 4 months that have just incredibly impacted my life, in no particular order. It was hard picking just one for each book, but I didn’t want this post to go on longer than it needed to.

Good thing is you can buy these books and get the full juice from it. I share where I get most of my books in the YouTube video too.

And every book I reference here, I wholly endorse. Please read and let us be ‘happened to’ together

Ready, Set, READ…

Winning the War in your Mind by Craig Groeschel

WOW

I have read this book thrice now, and I am just blown away by the amount of work, both to research and then to simplify for us all, Craig has put into this book

I love how he marries his experience with scientific facts and then the truth of God’s word.

If I can keep it real, I got my deliverance in Chapter 1 and 2.

I practiced all he asked us to and I couldn’t believe all the lies I had been believing!!!

This book is PHENOMENAL and I fully recommend if you are fighting any mind battles, big or small (hello all of us).

It knocks out the enemy clean!!!

Because our weapon is the WORD OF GOD!!!

My fave quote here which he keeps repeating has to be

A lie believed as true will affect your life as though it were true!!!

Whattttt!!!!!

Imagine that, Saints

Even though it is a lie, it can affect me like the truth.

Which is why I must take lying thoughts captive in the name of JESUS!!!

Again, I highly recommend this book.

2. So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport

Again, another book I must have read 4 times, and I am currently reading it again right now.

Cal is one of my fave writers, including his blog and newsletters.

This book of his is one of my faves, right there with Digital Minimalism

The entire premise of this book is that the ‘Find and follow your Passion’ hypothesis is both a lie and dangerous, so instead, we should focus on giving our best (which he calls the craftsman’s mindset aka Work hard) at any place we find ourselves, and watch passion grow, of course with the exception of factors like a toxic work environment or a dead end career path.

One of my many fave lines would be

You should not just envy the craftsman’s mindset, you should emulate it. In other words, I am suggesting that you put aside the question of whether your job is your true passion and instead turn your focus into becoming so good they can’t ignore you. That is, regardless of what you do for a living, approach your work as a true performer.

Soooooo good.

Especially with our generation today that jumps from job to job because of a lack of ‘passion’

A really good book. I recommend to every career and business person

3. Divine Disruption by Dr Tony Evans, Chrystal Evans Hurst, Priscilla Shirer, Anthony Evans & Jonathan Evans

This Book just made me cry cry cry cry cry

The stories

The faith

The deaths back to back

The disappointments

The dashed hopes

Oh, the Evans family and legacy is BLESSED

I thank God for this family, honestly!!!

I may not exactly be able to quote but I want to share my strongest lesson from the book, and this came from the Patriarch ,himself, Dr. Tony Evans.

God’s sovereignty is both conditional and unconditional
Where it is conditional. It really depends on your prayers for it to happen, or not. Our prayers and actions here can move the hand of God. That thing coming to pass is conditional upon my praying and believing for it.
When his sovereign will is UNCONDITIONAL, girl, no matter how much we pray, have faith and believe, nothing changes it. God has pre-determined it and He has left us out of the process and end-result
So why should I pray and have faith then, when His will is unconditional???
Well, because we NEVER know if that situation I am believing for is under conditional or not, so I must pray about everything!!!

Soooooo good!!!

And this from a man who lost his wife, dad, two siblings, and niece all within a few months, and yet didn’t lose His faith

My goodness!!!

Please read this book, abeg.

4. A Minute to Think by Juliet Funt

Anyone who knows me personally knows I am obsessed with the wisdom in this book. As I have looked to embrace a life with margin, Juliet has been my mentor and Coach, and I love how she makes me simplify my life while still being hugely productive because I have cut out all the unnecessary things especially when it comes to work. Think meetings, emails, over information, perfectionism, etx

Such a SUPER BOOK

Let me share her 5 simplification questions viz-a-viz what she calls the thieves of time , which I have been adopting to simplify my BEST life.

Is there anything I can let go off? (Thief: Overdrive aka Type A )
Where is good enough, good enough? (Thief: Perfectionism)
What do I truly need to know?(Thief; Over information)
What deserves my attention? (Thief: Over activity)

I really love them and as we make these questions a regular part of our work life, we can embrace a more reductive, simple, yet highly effective and productive life

I tried it.

It works!!!!

Oh number 5 is hard as I have just one more slot and many more books.

So I decided to take it away from books into a webinar that is no longer available online (at least at the time I am writing this)

At least, you can buy these books, but this webinar was time sensitive and that is Marie Forleo’s Time Genius webinar titled Three genius steps to achieve more with less stress.

Just so you know, Marie lives what she teaches and that is why I love her. She has truly helped me bring JOY into my work no matter what.

I am not just building my life, I am enjoying the process while building my BEST LIFE.

I will just share the big idea or summary of that whole webinar AND my own personal quote I did with it.

Marie: ‘When I decide and commit to the Number one thing that matters, and organize my life around getting it done, it is possible to bring a big project to life without enormous stress levels, overwhelm or burnout.’

So succinct and so true

I went back and created my own life mantra, (well, one of mine)

Mine is longer because, well, I am Eziaha hehe and I call it my E’Code

Once I have clarity and conviction that I, Eziaha, have been chosen for a specific task, then I eliminate all distractions from myself, other people, and technology, so that I can concentrate on that task

Then I reorganize my time and life, promoting and demoting activities as need be, to create margin for execution and completion.

The result? Success and Joy, without Stress, Burnout and overwhelm

Hehe, told you mine was long and while Marie gave me the skeleton, I got more flesh from Juliet’s book above and another book that ought to have made the cut, Procrastinate on Purpose by Rory Vaden.

Ok, there you have it

5 great books, 5 life lessons

This blog post is part of a series I have going on with all three of my blogs, and if you need more from my books on Fitness, and then on Parenting, check out these below.

5 parenting books, 5 mommy lessons

Healthy living? 5 lessons from 5 books

Then the video accompanying this series which provides 5 tips to get you reading, retaining and recalling what you read like a pro.