Self-Improvement Books – Human beings are complicated that if we had owners manuals to troubleshoot things in our lives, the manual would be a 15 part series.
There would be chapters on how to deal with your knees as we get older, and chapters on how to deal with bad breath. Sure some books deal with these certain conditions, but they may be only under 100 pages each.
But when it comes to self-improvement for ourselves, these manuals are more complicated than stereo instructions.
Why? Because each path towards self-improvement is different from person to person.
I know that when I started making a change in my life a few years ago, I had no clue where to start to improve myself.
Do I focus on improving my relationships or do I focus on my career path? Each problem has its challenges, and there are ways to deal with these problems I had separately.
But the thing that all of my problems had in common was, I had to step outside my comfort zone to overcome them.
Like I mentioned above, self-improvement comes in different forms, and not all self-improvement books are made equal.
So, if you are looking at improving yourself through inspiration from a book, here some of the best ones that I recommend to read no matter where you are in life.
15 Amazing Self-Improvement Books To Change Your Life
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
In this generation-defining self-improvement guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be positive all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.
For decades we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. “F*ck positivity,” Mark Manson says. “Let’s be honest, shit is f*cked, and we have to live with it.”
In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is – a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected modern society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.
Manson makes the argument, backed by both academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade but on learning to stomach lemons better.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
The seven habits have become famous and are integrated into everyday thinking by millions and millions of people. Why? Because they work!
With Sean Covey’s added takeaways on how the habits can be used in our modern age, the wisdom of the seven habits will be refreshed for a new generation of leaders.
They include:
- Habit one: Be proactive
- Habit two: Begin with the end in mind
- Habit three: Put first things first
- Habit four: Think win/win
- Habit five: Seek first to understand, then to be understood
- Habit six: Synergize
- Habit seven: Sharpen the saw
This beloved classic presents a principle-centered approach for solving both personal and professional problems.
With penetrating insights and practical anecdotes, Stephen R. Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity – principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.
Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
It’s time to stop procrastinating and get more of the important things done! After all, successful people don’t try to do everything. They focus on their most important tasks and get those done. They eat their frogs.
There’s an old saying that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you’re done with the worst thing you’ll have to do all day.
For Tracy, eating a frog is a metaphor for tackling your most challenging task—but also the one that can have the greatest positive impact on your life.
Eat That Frog! shows you how to organize each day so you can zero in on these critical tasks and accomplish them efficiently and effectively.
The core of what is vital to effective time management is decision, discipline, and determination.
And in this fully revised and updated edition, Tracy adds two new chapters.
The first explains how you can use technology to remind yourself of what is most important and protect yourself from what is least important.
The second offers advice for maintaining focus in our era of constant distractions, electronic and otherwise.
This life-changing book will ensure that you get more of your important tasks done today.
The Magic of Thinking Big
Millions of readers have acquired the secrets of success through The Magic of Thinking Big.
Achieve everything you always wanted: financial security, power and influence, the ideal job, satisfying relationships, and rewarding, happy life.
Set your goals high…then exceed them!
Millions of people throughout the world have improved their lives using The Magic of Thinking Big. Dr. David J. Schwartz, long regarded as one of the foremost experts on motivation, will help you sell better, manage better, earn more money, and—most important of all—find greater happiness and peace of mind.
The Magic of Thinking Big gives you useful methods, not empty promises.
Believe you can succeed and you will:
- Cure yourself of the fear of failure
- Think and dream creatively
- You are what you think you are
- Make your attitudes your allies
- Learn how to think positively
- Turn defeat into victory
- Use goals to help you grow
- Think like a leader
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
Every day we experience the uncertainty, risks, and emotional exposure that define what it means to be vulnerable or to dare greatly.
Based on twelve years of pioneering research, Brené Brown PhD, LMSW, dispels the cultural myth that vulnerability is weakness and argues that it is, in truth, our most accurate measure of courage.
Brown explains how vulnerability is both the core of difficult emotions like fear, grief, and disappointment, and the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, empathy, innovation, and creativity.
She writes: “When we shut ourselves off from vulnerability, we distance ourselves from the experiences that bring purpose and meaning to our lives.”
Daring Greatly is not about winning or losing. It’s about courage.
In a world where “never enough” dominates and feeling afraid has become second nature, vulnerability is subversive. Uncomfortable. It’s even a little dangerous at times.
And, without question, putting ourselves out there means there’s a far greater risk of getting criticized or feeling hurt.
But when we step back and examine our lives, we will find that nothing is as uncomfortable, dangerous, and hurtful as standing on the outside of our lives looking in and wondering what it would be like if we dared to step into the arena—whether it’s a new relationship, an important meeting, the creative process, or a difficult family conversation.
Daring Greatly is a practice and a powerful new vision for letting ourselves be seen.
Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life
A timeless self-improvement business classic, Who Moved My Cheese? uses a simple parable to reveal profound truths about dealing with change so that you can enjoy less stress and more success in your work and your life.
- It would be all so easy if you had a map to the Maze.
- If the same old routines worked.
- If they’d just stop moving “The Cheese.”
But things keep changing…
Most people are fearful of change, both personal and professional, because they don’t have any control over how or when it happens to them.
Exploring a simple way to take the fear and anxiety out of managing the future, Who Moved My Cheese? can help you discover how to anticipate, acknowledge, and accept the change to have a positive impact on your job, your relationships, and every aspect of your life.
How to Win Friends & Influence People
- You can go after the job you want—and get it!
- You can take the job you have—and improve it!
- You can take any situation—and make it work for you!
Dale Carnegie’s rock-solid, time-tested advice has carried countless people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives.
One of the most groundbreaking and timeless bestsellers of all time, How to Win Friends & Influence People will teach you:
- Six ways to make people like you
- Twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking
- Nine ways to change people without arousing resentment
- And much more!
Achieve your maximum potential—a must-read for the twenty-first century for those looking for self-improvement.
Think and Grow Rich
Think and Grow Rich has been called the “Granddaddy of All Motivational Literature.”
It was the first book to boldly ask, “What makes a winner?” The man who asked and listened for the answer, Napoleon Hill, is now counted in the top ranks of the world’s winners himself.
The most famous of all teachers of success spent “a fortune and the better part of a lifetime of effort” to produce the “Law of Success” philosophy that forms the basis of his books and that is so powerfully summarized in this one.
In the original Think and Grow Rich, published in 1937, Hill draws on stories of Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and other millionaires of his generation to illustrate his principles.
In the updated version, Arthur R. Pell, Ph.D., a nationally known author, lecturer, and consultant in human resources management and an expert in applying Hill’s thought, deftly interweaves anecdotes of how contemporary millionaires and billionaires, such as Bill Gates, Mary Kay Ash, Dave Thomas, and Sir John Templeton, achieved their wealth.
Outmoded or arcane terminology and examples are faithfully refreshed to prevent any stumbling blocks to a new generation of readers. A must-have self-improvement book for any bookshelf.
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
It’s no wonder that The Power of Now has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and has been translated into over 30 foreign languages.
Much more than simple principles and platitudes, the book takes readers on an inspiring spiritual journey to find their true and deepest self and reach the ultimate in personal growth and spirituality: the discovery of truth and light.
In the first chapter, Tolle introduces readers to enlightenment and its natural enemy, the mind.
He awakens readers to their role as a creator of pain and shows them how to have a pain-free identity by living fully in the present.
The journey is thrilling, and along the way, the author shows how to connect to the indestructible essence of our Being, “the eternal, ever-present One Life beyond the myriad forms of life that are subject to birth and death.”
Featuring a new preface by the author, this self-improvement paperback shows that only after regaining awareness of Being, liberated from Mind and intensely in the Now, is there Enlightenment.
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan–there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times.
Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, or earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, The 4-Hour Workweek is the blueprint.
This step-by-step self-improvement guide to luxury lifestyle design teaches:
- How Tim went from $40,000 per year and 80 hours per week to $40,000 per month and 4 hours per week
- How to outsource your life to overseas virtual assistants for $5 per hour and do whatever you want
- How blue-chip escape artists travel the world without quitting their jobs
- How to eliminate 50% of your work in 48 hours using the principles of a forgotten Italian economist
- How to trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and frequent “mini-retirements”
The new expanded edition of Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek includes:
- More than 50 practical tips and case studies from readers (including families) who have doubled income, overcome common sticking points, and reinvented themselves using the original book as a starting point
- Real-world templates you can copy for eliminating e-mail, negotiating with bosses and clients, or getting a private chef for less than $8 a meal
- How Lifestyle Design principles can be suited to unpredictable economic times
- The latest tools and tricks, as well as high-tech shortcuts, for living like a diplomat or millionaire without being either
The 48 Laws of Power
Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this multi-million-copy New York Times bestseller is the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control – from the author of The Laws of Human Nature.
In the self-improvement book that People magazine proclaimed “beguiling” and “fascinating,” Robert Greene and Joost Elffers have distilled three thousand years of the history of power into 48 essential laws by drawing from the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, and Carl Von Clausewitz and also from the lives of figures ranging from Henry Kissinger to P.T. Barnum.
Some laws teach the need for prudence (“Law 1: Never Outshine the Master”), others teach the value of confidence (“Law 28: Enter Action with Boldness”), and many recommend absolute self-preservation (“Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally”).
Every law, though, has one thing in common: an interest in total domination. In a bold and arresting two-color package, The 48 Laws of Power is ideal whether your aim is conquest, self-defense, or simply to understand the rules of the game.
Tony Robbins Collection 3 Books Set (Awaken The Giant Within, Unlimited Power, Money Master the Game)
I know the goal of this post is to list off 15 Self-improvement that has changed my life, but I was just going to mention “Awaken The Giant Within”, but if you can get this book at a 3 pack, do it!
Awaken The Giant Within
Are you in charge of your life? Or are you being swept away by things that are seemingly out of your control?
In AWAKEN THE GIANT WITHIN, Anthony Robbins, the bestselling author of UNLIMITED POWER, shows the reader how to take immediate control of their mental, emotional, physical, and financial destiny.
Unlimited Power
‘Tony Robbins’ coaching has made a remarkable difference in my life both on and off the court. He’s helped me to discover what I’m really made of, and I’ve taken my tennis game – and my life – to a whole new level!’ Serena Williams, 22-time Grand Slam tennis champion and Olympic gold medalist.
Money Master the Game
Robbins has a brilliant way of using metaphor and story to illustrate even the most complex financial concepts – making them simple and actionable.
With expert advice on our most important financial decisions, Robbins dispels the myths that often rob people of their financial dreams.
Related Article: 15 Best Books With Cringeworthy Titles On Amazon
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living: Time-Tested Methods for Conquering Worry
Through Dale Carnegie’s seven-million-copy best seller (recently revised) millions of people have been helped to overcome the worry habit.
Dale Carnegie offers a set of practical self-improvement formulas you can put to work today, formulas that will last a lifetime!
Discover how to:
- Eliminate 50 percent of business worries immediately
- Reduce financial worries
- Turn criticism to your advantage
- Avoid fatigue and keep looking young
- Add one hour a day to your waking life
Find yourself and be yourself – remember, there is no one on earth like you!
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living deals with fundamental emotions and ideas. It is fascinating to listen to and easy to apply. Let it change and improve you.
The Gifts of Imperfection
For more than a decade, Brené Brown has found a special place in our hearts as a gifted mapmaker and a fellow traveler.
She is both a social scientist and a kitchen-table friend whom you can always count on, to tell the truth, make you laugh, and, on occasion, cry with you.
And what’s now become a movement all started with The Gifts of Imperfection, which has sold more than two million copies in 35 different languages across the globe.
What transforms this self-improvement book from words to effective daily practices are the 10 guideposts to wholehearted living.
The guideposts not only help us understand the practices that will allow us to change our lives and families, they also walk us through the unattainable and sabotaging expectations that get in the way.
Brené writes, “This book is an invitation to join a wholehearted revolution. A small, quiet, grassroots movement that starts with each of us saying, ‘My story matters because I matter.’ Revolution might sound a little dramatic, but in this world, choosing authenticity and worthiness is an absolute act of resistance.”
The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results
YOU WANT LESS. You want fewer distractions and less on your plate.
The daily barrage of e-mails, texts, tweets, messages, and meetings distract you and stress you out. The simultaneous demands of work and family are taking a toll.
And what’s the cost? Second-rate work, missed deadlines, smaller paychecks, fewer promotions–and lots of stress. AND YOU WANT MORE.
You want more productivity from your work. More income for a better lifestyle. You want more satisfaction from life, and more time for yourself, your family, and your friends. NOW YOU CAN HAVE BOTH–LESS AND MORE.
In The ONE Thing, you’ll learn to ‘cut through the clutter‘ achieve better results in less time ‘build momentum toward your goal’ dial down the stress ‘overcome that overwhelmed feeling’ revive your energy ‘stay on track’ master what matters to you The ONE Thing delivers extraordinary results in every area of your life–work, personal, family, and spiritual.
WHAT’S YOUR ONE THING?
Summary
Now that you’ve got a list of 15 amazing self-improvement books that can change your life, which book are you starting with?
I hope that you find the right book that speaks to you, like all of these above. I have to warn you though, it won’t happen overnight, but with each new day, you will become the person you want to be.
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