With so much life to cram into so little time, it can be easy to neglect our personal development--which inevitably means we stop growing. For some, just being is enough. For others, staying still is uncomfortable.

Pre-kids, most of us spent years learning and developing, whether it was school, college, uni, climbing the ranks in the working world, but chances are we have never stopped growing. When we become parents so many of us put everything into being the best mum or dad possible that we completely forget about ourselves. 

I'm sharing my top ten books (in no particular order) that will help you to improve your life, which in turn, will enable you to be the best parent you can be.

The Goddess Revolution by Mel Wells

This book is designed to help women get out of the diet-binge cycle and instead learn to love their bodies and all of their flaws. Mel is an advocate for self-love and is helping women all over the world to overcome low self-esteem and confidence issues. As role models to our children, we must show them that we love ourselves in order for them to learn how to love themselves; if we are insecure about our bodies, our children will learn to look for their own imperfections. 

The Universe Has Your Back by Gabrielle Bernstein

Have you ever felt like life is throwing challenge after challenge your way and you just cannot understand why the hell you keep getting handed so much crap? Gabby explains that the Universe presents us with lessons in which we need to learn in order to grow, and if we don't learn and adapt then the lessons will continue to reappear in different forms. This book really helps to have a more positive outlook on life and be more accepting of all that is.

The Chimp Paradox by Prof. Steve Peters

This book is an incredible introduction to mind management. Professor Steve Peters does an excellent job of explaining the science behind how the brain works and how we can make it work for us. He discusses how to recognize when our 'chimp' is about to take over and how we can calm our chimp down with our logical brain. As a parent, this is an amazing tool to have to understand what makes us tick. He's also done a children's version to help our kiddies understand their emotions.

Miracle Morning for Parents & Families by Hal Elrod

Finding the time to do anything as a parent is hard work, we're always so damn tired. In this book, Hal explains how getting up earlier can help us to be less tired and more productive and has some great suggestions as to how to achieve great things in the first hour of the day. There are many different versions of this book and the one re-written for parents has some creative ideas for getting the children involved!

The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman

Relationships are hard work and nothing challenges a couple like having children together. In this book, Gary Chapman explains the 5 different Love Languages: words of affirmation, physical touch, receiving gifts, acts of service, and quality time. As you work through the book you'll learn how to recognize who speaks what languages and how you can speak their language. If you've ever felt unloved in your relationship then this may help you to see that your partner is just speaking a different love language to you and it's up to you to recognize that he does love you, that he's just not meeting your expectations of how to show love. Gary has also written a version about children's Love Languages!

Unmedicated by Madisyn Taylor

Whether you've ever suffered from any mental health problems or not, Madisyn offers 4 pillars of natural wellness to help improve your mental wellbeing and take responsibility for your mental health. These simple steps may help us to teach our children to look after their mental health too.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Remember when you were younger and you used to do things because you enjoyed it? Whether you danced, sang, wrote, or made things, you likely stopped as an adult if it wasn't something you made a career out of. Elizabeth will help to spark your creativeness. This book is the reason I started writing again! I write because I enjoy it--not to make money from it.

The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy

Did you know it takes 30 days to make something a habit? Every morning you brush your teeth without even thinking about it because it's a habit. Darren explains how small daily actions compounded together make for big success. Many of us will try to change our lives by making dramatic changes that we cannot sustain, whereas taking small, easy to maintain, steps at a time compounds together to create the big success story.

Happy by Derren Brown

Derren Brown is best known as a British magician, but he's also an incredibly intelligent man who has put a lot of time and research into this book all about being happy. It's almost an anti-self help book which in a way defeats the object of all of my other suggestions. Instead of the usual positive, motivational style, Derren has stuck to history and science to produce an informative book about what is happy and why we even want it.

The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary by Catherine Gray

Have you ever found yourself chasing happy? "I'll be happy when I've got a partner." You meet your love and then, "I'll be happy when I've got a promotion." You get the job and then, "I'll be happy when I own my house." We just keep moving the damn goal post! Catherine explains beautifully how amazing it is to just love your life exactly as it is and appreciate what we have. 

Reading personal development books, or listening to them as an audiobook, really helps me to stay on track and keep achieving my goals whilst also loving my life right now and being in the moment. Ultimately, if a child sees their parent reading a book, they're going to want to do the same!