The 26 Best Self-Help Books to Buy in 2024 That Actually Work
Improve your happiness, find motivation or get in touch with your spirituality.
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A lot of us are currently taking stock of our lives and trying to figure out how we can be the best versions of ourselves, especially in the midst of what experts are calling the Great Resignation. Experts at the Pew Research Center found that low pay, few opportunities for advancement and feeling under-appreciated or disrespected at work led a 20-year record number of employees to leave their jobs in 2021. But we know that career changes are far from the only things our society is looking to reimagine these days. Maybe you're trying to decide whether to move, if you want to bring kids into the world, figure out how to be more productive, get over an emotional stumble or recover from a breakup. Good thing is: There's a self-help book for that.
Because the best self-help books are the ones that really work, we crowdsourced favorites from GH staff, asked Goodreads to recommend the self-improvement books that most resonate with its readers and included some favs from Seira Wilson, Senior Editor at Amazon Books. Whatever in your life needs a little reimagining right now, we're confident one of these great self-help books will help.
Inspired by the advice Admiral William H. McRaven gave in a graduation speech that went viral, this book reminds you that sometimes little things can have a big impact. This is one you'll want to reread whenever you need a boost.
Recommended by: Amazon, GH staff
There are some times when you just can't muster a positive attitude. For those times, there is blogger Mark Manson, who doesn't sugarcoat the truth or tell you to turn lemons into lemonade. Instead, he uses research-backed methods for finding better, more productive ways to endure the hard parts of life.
Recommended by: Goodreads, GH staff
Getting a handle on your stuff is one thing, but what about shedding your life of your worries? Francine Jay, author of The Joy of Less, talks about dumping the burden of more than just objects, going minimalist with respect to purchases, yes, but also stress and emotional baggage.
Recommended by: Amazon
Sometimes you don't need a mind-changing philosophy — you just need a fast pep talk. If that's the case, Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda is in your corner. The book's origins are from Twitter: He started and ended each day with little bite-size affirmation. (Example: "Do NOT get stuck in the comments section of life today"). He offers new, easy-to-read insights in this thoughtful book.
Recommended by: Amazon
TJ Kostecky is the head soccer coach at Bard College, and in this book he tells readers how to apply what he's learned on the field to other areas of life. This includes changing your perspective so you can "see the whole field," or making sure you "make the players around you better. His Vision Training, as he calls it, has been used by elite athletes like Carli Lloyd, Julie Foudy and Claudio Reyna.
Recommended by: GH staff
If you're feeling bad about a lack of natural genius or familial advantages, researcher Angela Duckworth gives you reason to buck up. She's found that what she calls "grit," a combination of passion and perseverance, is more important than anything innate. She visits with high achievers, from Spelling Bee champions to CEOs, and shows how grit helped them get where they are.
Recommended by: Goodreads and Amazon
In our multitasking, Twitter-scrolling world, we've lost the art of sitting down and really concentrating. Georgetown professor Cal Newport, Ph.D., outlines the benefit of really tuning out all distractions, and gives four rules to help re-wire yourself so you can deeply focus again. (Check now: How many browser tabs do you have open? Yep, we thought s0).
Recommended by: Goodreads, GH staff
Most of us know Shonda Rhimes as the creator of hit shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder. But even if you're not in the TV biz, you can still get inspiration from her memoir, which chronicles a year where she vowed to say "yes!" to everything that scared her. Reading what Rhimes was able to accomplish will inspire you to attempt something you've been terrified to do, too.
Recommended by: Goodreads
By now, you've no doubt heard of Marie Kondo and her super viral method of purging unnecessary items from your life and organizing what remains. When you're ready to have your house be the cleanest its ever been, her book will take you through all the types of stuff you've accumulated and tell you how to get a handle on it once and for all.
Recommended by: Goodreads
RELATED: What Is the KonMari Method? Here's How to Declutter the Marie Kondo Way
Everybody has moments when the jitters get the best of us. Harvard Business School professor and social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows readers how to get the best of those stressful situations without doing a lot of life-changing and soul-searching. Instead, she delves into research about how things like body language, posture and other mind-body techniques can banish the butterflies from our stomachs.
Recommended by: Amazon
Nutritionist Michael Greger, M.D., delves into the 15 leading causes of death in this country, and then prescribes foods to eat and avoid if you're at risk for those conditions. He also includes a checklist of 12 items we should all eat every day if we want to live forever. (And who doesn't?)
Recommended by: Goodreads
Jen Sincero, life coach and author of You Are a Badass, wants to help women eliminate the obstacles that keep them from getting rich. And she should know: She admits she was once a poor freelance writer until she decided she wanted to make more money. "If my broke ass can do it," she writes, "you can do it, too, no matter how rickety or hopeless you may feel right now."
Recommended by: Goodreads
Hal Elrod is a published author, speaker, ultra-marathoner, podcast host and cancer survivor, so you know he's got more than a few achievements under his belt. Elrod swears he has the key to making mornings — and, therefore, lives — happier and more productive. But most outrageous of all: He says it only takes six minutes a day. In his book, he offers a blueprint to his morning ritual — including what to do if you like to snooze.
Recommended by: Goodreads
If Marie Kondo's method doesn't work with your lifestyle, Gretchen Rubin has her own path to decluttering and organizing — including the helpful hint, "Everything looks better on a tray." Instead of telling you to nix everything, she offers easy solutions to common problems. Quick tip: Headphones always tangled? Get a headphone hanger.
Recommended by: Amazon
You've probably heard of the cozy Danish philosophy of hygge, but what exactly is it, apart from being cozy? Meik Wiking demystifies it all, showing how light, food and drink and togetherness can make for a happier home, even if your life is a little chaotic.
Recommended by: Goodreads
RELATED: 11 Ways to Make Your Life More Hygge
Lilly Singh, actress, comedian and creator of her Superwoman show on YouTube, offers her advice on success and shares what she learned on her way to internet superstardom. Her tips are both conventional ("say what you mean") and unconventional ("be the dumbest person in the room" — aka, learn from those who are smart than you).
Recommended by: Goodreads
Brené Brown, Ph.D., LMSW, the social scientist best known for the On Being Project (and the super popular podcast of the same name), trains her sensitive eye on our increasingly polarized world. From there, she examines what she calls "true belonging," and maps how to get there from lonely places "out in the wilderness."
Recommended by: Goodreads
Or, if you can't relate to the very creative way of Pixar's business management, Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio offers a very different perspective on leadership. He offers a five-step process to getting what you want out of life, which involves systemizing everything to run like a machine — which can then be fine-tuned.
Recommended by: Amazon
Elizabeth Gilbert is best known for writing Eat, Pray, Love, but you don't have to go on a globe-spanning, pasta-devouring trip to derive insights from her life. In this book, she delves into her own creative process and explains how enchantment, permission, persistence, trust and divinity can help people create, whether it's writing a book or making art.
Recommended by: Goodreads, GH staff
Tim Ferriss, famed productivity expert and author of The 4-Hour Work Week, has access to some pretty high-powered individuals for his podcast. In this book, he distills the insights from their hours-long interviews, tests their methods and advice at home and gives you actionable tips for how to incorporate their wisdom into your own life.
Recommended by: Goodreads
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