In the past year I have revolutionized my way of thinking and turned my life around in ways I never would never have thought imaginable. As I write this I am looking out over a deep blue swimming pool surrounded by tropical foliage and a fragrant frangipani tree blooming with delicate white flowers. The sun is a bright yellow paint drop on a perfect blue canvas, the people working on their laptops around me all wear shorts and sandals and an expression of blissful content.

If you had told me 3 years ago that I would be doing location independent work on a tropical island I would never have thought it possible. There were many factors in play which ended in my decision to move here to Bali. However I truly believe that a vital key to success and manifesting positive changes in to our life lies not only in our actions, but the way in which we choose to perceive and react to the word around us.

We hold the power to change our universe based on our thoughts and the condition of our conscious mind and if we open ourselves up to receiving universal gifts,  it is 100% possible to manifest good things in to our life. Do you want to change your thought patterns so that you can become the best possible version of yourself, attracting positivity and abundance in to your life? Here is a list of books which had a phenomenal impact on my thoughts and emotional response to situations. I believe that if I hadn’t adopted the mindsets and techniques detailed in these books that I wouldn’t be sitting where I am today. I hope you give one of them a try!

1| The Secret, Rhonda Byrne

Since putting it down I have recommended this book to countless of my friends and family and credit it with being one of the biggest game changers in my life. Byrne teaches us how to use ‘The Secret’ to manifest health, wealth, happiness and abundance in to our lives using the universal law of attraction.  She writes that we can shape and create anything that we want by attracting it into our lives with positive thinking. By controlling the frequency of our thoughts, anything, in any aspect of life, is achievable. I can personally attest to the power of this book’s ethos; a matter of months after reading it a cheque from my bank landed in my post box containing a surprise cash refund which I eventually used to buy my one-way ticket to Bali.

2| Heal Your Life- Louise L. Hay

Louise L. Hay is a best-selling author, motivational speaker and one of the first founders of the self- help movement. In her book ‘Heal Your Life’, Hay offers an arsenal of tools we can employ to silence the negative gatekeeper in our mind and to take control of our thought process. This is basically a psychological handbook with spiritual undertones and contains many powerful exercises in training our thought processes. Hay believes that dis-ease of the body begins with negativity in the mind; basically handing over the power to us to mentally overcome whatever ailment we have in our lives.

3| The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle

This book is the perfect manual for anyone who has ever wondered what ‘living in the now’ means. This spiritual guidebook teaches us that the only thing getting in the way of us living a life of fulfillment and happiness are our own negative thoughts and emotions. Prior to writing this book Tolle spent two years sitting on park benches practicing ‘living in the now’; his suggestion is that we all possess the power to focus only on this present moment, as if it is all we really have. As a person who battles with anxiety disorder, I found endless solace and comfort in Tolle’s approach to worry extremely helpful as he taught me to view my anxiety as a useless emotion. The most powerful message I took away from this book is that we are not our thoughts; we are aware of our thoughts and can therefore exercise control over them- a powerful mantra that I refer back to often.

4| The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, Robin Sharma

Motivational speaker Robin Sharma’s book ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari’ provides a step by step approach to achieving a life of joy, abundance and elevating the quality of your life to the next level. Written in fable form, the book details how a garden, a lighthouse, a sumo wrestler, a stopwatch, roses and a winding path of diamonds are symbols of timeless principles and virtues by which to live your life. This book taught me that we can become masters of our mind by learning to control and cultivate our thoughts, focusing them on positivity and our desired outcomes at all times.