Books Recommended by Catherine Plano

The one that really resonates with me and still to this day is The Power of NOW from Eckhart Tolle ​because as an entrepreneur we get so caught up in the future that we fail to be 'present'. The reality of it all when you really think about it - the present is all we have that is real, it requires no effort, nor time. I practice this daily, if I feel uncomfortable then I know I am trying too hard and not being present but when I am being present it is easier to think about what I have to do right now, because now is all that matters.

Talks about what are those little things that we can do on a daily basis that have a high impact. Jeff talks about the importance of 'how' we do what we do. In other words, we can have this big audacious goal, dive into it and then leave it. So... the how is important because it’s those little daily things that build up to your end goal, it’s just that most individuals don't keep our ideas alive!!! If you think about a plant, first you have to plant the seed (idea), then you have to cultivate your idea (put daily energy into it) for it to then finally harvest.

Was mind blowing, it really helped me put into perspective, that there are cycles and rhythms, and I now call them initiations, when you are faced with fear we are never too sure of our potential unless we know how to fail, what did we learn from it and what are we going to do differently the next time. There is a lesson in everything we experience, as long as we slow down enough to reflect. The other thing in the hero's journey is that even when you say 'yes' to a project, it really doesn't mean that you are going to succeed at it, but if you go into a project with an open mind and embrace that you are here to learn, the journey itself is rewarding, not always the outcome and when we really look at our failures, they weren't real failures after all, but a stepping stone onto something greater. ​

It’s amazing! She goes into the different archetypes that live in that deeper part of our mind, we can have one or a couple and there was one that I really resonated with the Artist/Creative archetype and it really brings light to who you are. Caroline goes through your life journey, your unique challenges and lessons, which were to overcome the fear of not being original and to not diminish or ignore my talent but instead develop my unique gift. Can I develop my talent and express myself, or will fear of failure or humiliation hold me back? That was a profound shift for me, I could really relate to that in sssoooo many ways. She goes into our shadow aspect of self, our behaviours and patterns... and this was fear of being unacknowledged for my artistic gifts or resentful if I chose not to develop my inner Artist/Creative.

Every morning I get up at 5am to meditate for half an hour - I like to listen to binaural beats to allow my brain to go into Theta because when you go into a deep meditation, your brain releases the good feel hormones like serotonin, dopamine and endorphins that make you feel happy. I started meditating a very long time ago, over 20 years ago through my studies in Metaphysics. I also invested many years of my life studying and practicing Buddhism where I invested a lot of time in Ashrams where we practiced meditation daily. Gosh... I could go on about meditation. I wrote a whole section in my book - Getting to the Heart of the Matter. A meditation book that I would recommend is - Meditation for Beginners by Jack Kornfield.

A moment when something read in a book helped: The book from Dr. Bruce Lipton The Biology of Belief where he talks about how we SEE the world around us is a reflection of what is going on in our inner world​ (our mind)​. What we perceive or interpret as reality we project into our environment. The gold nugget here is… if you want to change your environment – change the way you see it, ​then ​change the meaning you give it and ​therefore you will change your behaviours and get the result that you are after.