Three books that inspired change, sparked ideas and empowered me...

These are mine. What would be your three and why?

-Sex & Love & Rock & Roll by Tony Walsh

This book sang to me! Where I previously hadn’t been a big reader, especially not of poetry, this just stood out to me on the bookshelf. I didn’t pick this book out, it picked me. That sounds quite frankly ridiculous, but it fuelled a fire in me which I didn’t even know existed. Poetry for me, is where writing comes to meet music in the soul. Sex & Love & Rock & Roll inspired me to combine my passion for creative thinking, music and story telling with my life experiences. I have since written a large number of poems. One of which, I turned into a short film, and has won two awards to date.

-The Chimp Paradox by Dr. Steve Peters

At a time when my battle with depression had reached its head, I had found myself confused and without meaning in life. Nothing is scarier than not knowing where you are going. What many may find strange, is that from the outside, the perception would have been that I was on a fantastic career path. During that period, I’d moved to a Premier League club for the first time, played for England in the Under 21’s European Championships, played for Team GB in the Olympics and moved to a Premier League club for the second time. What on earth would I have to be depressed or anxious about!? That’s the thing about depression. Big or small, young or old, rich or poor, if it wants you it’s taking you.

I’d spoken to therapists, psychologists and mentors, yet I still found myself questioning so many things not just about the world, but about myself. It was only when I read The Chimp Paradox that I started to understand certain behaviour patterns in both myself and others. Dr. Steve Peters broke down things that we would perceive are small and meaningless, yet often had the potential to snowball into catastrophe within us. One example that stood out to me was his explanation of a person running late for work. This is how I interpreted it:

We’re sat in our car in traffic, running late, and furious that nobody is moving out of our way. In this situation we get angry, anxious and nervous with a pit in our stomach. As the journey goes on and we arrive late at work, we are embarrassed and guilt-ridden. With our anger and frustration still prevalent, it shows in our body language and tone of voice, so in conversation we can be quite uncomfortable to be around. All of a sudden, people may tend to react negatively towards us, and in turn we react even more negatively towards them. A breakdown in relationship has now snowballed from what was a very minor incident that we could have just accepted and brushed off at the time.

Realising things like that re-shaped the way I thought about the world. Two key things I took from the book were that everyone has their own story. So, when your boss is shouting at you for presumably no reason, understand that they could be going through a terrible situation which has become the cause of their anger. Also, to remember that you can only control what is in your control; your emotions, your choices and your life.

-TED Talks by Chris Anderson

This is so well written, perfectly laid out and incredibly thought-provoking, that after only reading 100 pages of it, it had inspired and sparked so many things in me, that I don’t believe I’d have been able to get from 100 books. It is remarkable! A how-to on public speaking gave me the thought process, tools and confidence to write and openly share my ideas. This is the first time I’ve written something like this and hopefully not the last. There are so many interesting things I’ve experienced in life that I will continue to share via writing, and once I feel that I have the ability, through public speaking too.

We all have ideas and thoughts which we feel could make a difference, even to just one person, yet sometimes we keep them locked inside of our notes, or worse our minds. We fear disapproval or that it won’t get the traction we believe it deserves. The worst outcome that we can possibly have is that nobody will see or hear it. Even then, how is that any different to it staying in your mind where nobody is seeing or hearing it either? 

But then, what about those who are responding negatively towards it? Well, a negative thought is still a thought, which means your idea sparked something in that person, which is all we aim to do. So what’s the worst that can really happen? 

Why not create without boundaries and share without limits...