17 Self-Improvement Books You Can’t Afford To Miss (For A Positive Life)
Last Update on May 12, 2022 : Published on May 12, 2022
Self-improvement books are a source of inspiration and motivation if chosen carefully. Yes, you can find many self-development books around but the best ones have the power to do wonderful things that were never thought before.
There is no right age to begin working on your personal growth. Books are a man’s best friend, who better to take advice from! The summer has begun and if you are looking for books to read for self-improvement, we have a big list of best self-improvement books for you to choose from.
What does self-improvement, personal growth, self-development, etc. mean to you? In my understanding all these terms function of just on concept, i.e. upgrading and polishing your own self.
Although no information can beat the information we receive from our human library (parents, grandparents, elders, friends, family, etc.), self-improvement books help us understand a different perspective of looking at our process of self-development.
Anyway, without taking any more time, let’s quickly look at the list of best personal growth books to read for self-improvement…
Best Self Improvement Books to Read in 2022:
1. Know Your Worth
Author: Anna Mathur
Anna Mathur is a psychotherapist who through her book ‘Know Your Worth: How to Build Your Self-Esteem, Grow in Confidence and Worry Less about What People Think’ urges people to understand that self-esteem, self-worth, and self-confidence are very important of a person to see success in life.
In the book you will find some tips and techniques to build certain habits that boost your self-esteem and also make you happier in life by learning to be a better version of yourself.
2. The Rules Of Thinking
Author: Richard Templar
Richard Templar in his book ‘the Rules Of Thinking’ talks about the importance of knowing how to think. We are what we think and once we develop a growth promoting thought process, there’s no looking back.
In this book the rules actually guide and help you with making better decisions, eliminating procrastination, discontinuing dwelling on your mistakes and much more. It is one of the best-selling personal development books.
3. Set Boundaries, Find Peace
Author: Nedra Glover Tawwab
We all know how important it is to know how to set personal boundaries. It’s very important for our personal growth and Tawwab talks about the same in the book ‘Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself’
The book offers you a toolkit which you can use to practice setting boundaries for yourself and people around you. It will help you learn how to speak for yourself, establish boundaries, freely express your feelings, etc.
4. The Comfort Book
Author: Matt Haig
The comfort book is all about learning to accept your traumatic experiences and learning to turn your bad days into better days. It focuses on making its readers understand the importance of self-care and also helps you build new perspectives about the world.
The book basically focuses on the importance of comfort, for the mind and well as the body. According to the author self-development begins with knowing what’s best for you.
5. The High 5 Habit
Author: Mel Robbins
Robbins, in the book ‘The High 5 Habit: Take Control of Your Life With One Small Habit’ gives the readers a powerful tool to learn how to gain your confidence back and take control of your life again through positive self-talk.
In the book, the author has also provided the reader with inspirational examples from her own life and stories of other people who experience personal growth through the methods she explains in her book.
6. Manifest: 7 Steps to Living Your Best Life
Author: Roxie Nafousi
Manifesting your desires is one of the best ways to tell yourself and the universe about what you really want. Roxie Nafausi is famously known as the ‘Queen of manifestation’, she is a self-development coach and this book can act as a guide for you to manifest a better life and personal growth and self-improvement.
Roxie has put her heart and soul into the book and it almost feels like she is directly talking to you when you read the book. All the 7 steps are explained properly and she has also mentioned her own experiences and prompts that she uses.
7. Life Is In The Transitions: Mastering Change at Any Age
Author: Bruce Feiler
Bruce Feiler in his book talks about how our lives meant to have ups and downs, we live a dynamic life where each day brings a new challenge for us. For many years Feiler studied various people who faced difficult and worse transitions in their lives and how they coped with it.
He has included a lot of lessons he learnt from examining other people’s transition, including his own. The main aim of writing this book was to encourage and motivate people to find opportunities for growth and development in testing times.
8. Fooled By Randomness
Why Choose this Book: Perceive luck and randomness as a growth catalyst
Author: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Mostly, all of us believe in hard work, strategy, and skills to enjoy the taste of success but this book may give you a different perspective. It tells you that something unpredictable and random can also cause incredible changes in life and gives you a reason why you lose from achieving despite having everything in your lap. We are all fooled by randomness and yet we forget to acknowledge this fact.
9. The Power Of Now
Why Choose this Book: Understand how to live fully in the present
Author: Eckhart Tolle
Considered as one of the best self-help books of all the time, this book takes you on a journey of finding yourself while embracing personal growth and spirituality. The author explains the reason for suffering in your own mind and only if you understand the ‘power of now’, you can enjoy a pain-free experience by destroying the notions.
10. Eat That Frog
Why Choose this Book: Find ways to stop procrastinating
Author: Brian Tracy
Starting with an old saying ‘If the first thing you have to do is eat a live frog, you have a satisfaction that you are done with the worst thing of all day’ and it is kind of true. When you finish your toughest task, a sense of satisfaction conjoins with a positive impact on life. This personal development book teaches you time management, decision making, discipline, and determination at the same time. Be ready for positive self-growth!
11. The One Thing
Why Choose this Book: You want LESS or MORE? ONE thing has it all.
Author: Gary Keller
Momentum is one thing that keeps your game going and the focus must be one thing at a time. If you line up your goals in the right order and focus on them one by one, everything seems possible. How to get through the clutter of life, forget about the stress, revive your energy or even stay on the track of your goals? All of your answer lies in one single self-improvement book.
12. The Paleo Manifesto
Why Choose this Book: Unlocking health secrets of our ancestors
Author: John Durant
The reason why Paleo Manifesto is considered to be the best self-improvement book today is because it pushes all the readers to approach a revolutionary idea of health. The author has discussed the health secrets of our ancestors during the Paleolithic period and beyond and explains how each one of us can develop personal habitat around the concept.
13. An Astronaut’s Guide To Life On Earth
Why Choose this Book: The biography which teaches the importance of living in a moment
Author: Chris Hadfield
The author has compiled his memories of space where he could successfully make impossible a reality, and is an inspiration for every single being on earth. ‘Prepare for the worst and enjoy the present’ is the mantra for growing yourself beautifully. His extraordinary style of tasting life not only motivates Science lovers but everyone who imagines grass is always greener on the other side.
14. Failing Forward
Why Choose this Book: Change your perception towards your own failures
Author: John C. Maxwell
Those who perceive failure as a stepping stone are the ones who grow beyond it. John Maxwell explains the major difference between those who dream of success and those who actually achieve it and it results in utilizing failure for your own benefit. Thanks to this self-improvement book for unwrapping the potential behind a successful person.
15. Man’s Search For Meaning
Why Choose this Book: Finding meaning and positivity in most gruesome conditions
Author: Viktor E. Frankl
Producer of Logotherapy, Viktor Frankl speaks about his horror at Nazi camps where his revolutionary psychotherapy helped him as well as other people around to survive the horrifying scenes. It explains the reason for primary motivational force in our life which serves as meaning to live even when you lose every single loveable thing.
16. Tiny Beautiful Things
Why Choose this Book: Everything life throws on your way is beautiful
Author: Cheryl Strayed
If your life is showing tantrums or it is blessing you with flowers, it’s your duty to cherish every single moment and attribute. The story of courage, humor, passion, insight and honesty is well-represented through this self-help book of all the time.
17. The 48 Laws Of Power
Why Choose this Book: Explore history is power in 48 rules
Author: Robert Greene
Synthesizing the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Carl von, and some other famous strategists, this self-improvement book gives you open strategies about how the world works. It is ruthless, amoral, cruel and what not but accepting the truth is the only superpower. The mind-blowing lessons are worth taking and making your life stronger than ever.
That’s All Folks!
That’s all for today, we have come to the end of the list of best self-development books for you to read this summer. We are living in a busy world running the rat race with no focus on ourselves. These books will help you not only understand the importance of personal growth and self-development but also guide you through the process.
I hope you found this blog helpful. Pick up anyone or as many as you like, self-development books and you’ll be pleased to meet the new, polished, self-aware version of yourself by the end of summer.
Thanks for reading.
Take care and believe in yourself.
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About The Author
Kirti Bhati
I am an English literature (major) and psychology (minor) graduate from St. Bede’s College, Shimla. Postgraduate in Clinical psychology from IIS University, Jaipur. She has published a Research paper on Music therapy in the military population and Workplace stress in a national seminar conducted by Fortis hospital (gurugram) and international seminar conducted by St. Bede’s College, Shimla, Respectively. Authored a dissertation work on ‘effect of social media addiction on the mental and physical well-being in adolescents’ Currently working at calm sage as a writer.
I read first in the list 1. Fooled By Randomness. This is best self improvement book. Keep it up CalmSage. Thank for sharing the list.
I have read about Viktor Frankl theory in psychology and is truly great. But little did I know about this book. Thank you for the information.
Thank you for sharing this list of self-improvement books. I was looking for such reads from quite a while but was unable to decide from where to start. Now I know that Thanks once again.