Vanessa Hudgens credits self-help book for her better life

Actress Vanessa Hudgens has turned her life around after reading author Don Miguel Ruiz's self-help bible The Four Agreements.

A longtime fan of meditation, the High School Musical star insists the book, which offers readers "a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform our lives to a new experience of freedom, true happiness, and love", has helped her take on a new healthy outlook, which is benefiting her personally and professionally.

"I read The Four Agreements, which set me off into a more enlightened way of life," Vanessa tells WENN. "I eat clean because it makes me feel better and gives me more energy. I work out every day because it gives me even more energy.

"Just being grateful; I think that's the number one thing that we can all do for ourselves. Change our perspective and focus on the gratitude and how lucky we are to have life be lived even if it's not ideal."

And the actress admits Ruiz's book has forced her to get serious about meditation, especially when she doesn't have time to take a break.

"My personal life gets completely put on pause (when I'm working) and there's laundry everywhere and a lot to catch up on," she explains, "so I meditate on the weekends. I do it wherever I feel, like on a couch or outside."

Always on the look-out for things to simplify life, Vanessa admits she can't wait to get hold of a car that drives itself.

"I've always had the dream since I was a little girl that we would have cars that drove themselves," she adds. "To get in, punch in your destination and it just takes you there and you arrive. Hopefully I'll be able to see that in my lifetime. We're getting really close."