Self-help books aren't all made equal. Some can help you get launched on your career path, whilst others provide you with a push once you're on your way. It's always good to get professional help - for example, many students buy research papers online to help with their studies. Help and advice from experts can help put us on the right path. Here are six personal development books that we recommend. Some are well-known, others less well-known but we hope they provide a valuable reading list:
Despite claims of "quick and simple" solutions, the truth is that personal growth is neither quick nor easy. Success is usually a combination of hard work, courage, and self-discipline - there is no quick-fix or effortless route to the top. Steve Pavlina's book outlines seven factors it takes to grow as a human being - knowledge, love, strength, unity, authority, bravery, and intellect - and provides realistic, practical techniques for improving your wellness, friendships, work-life, finances, and more.
This book by Jeffrey Shaw, the host of the extremely popular The Self Employed Life podcast, provides a fascinating guide for anyone who is self-employed. Being self-employed entails more than just working for yourself, it's pouring your whole heart and soul into your business. Jeffrey Shaw outlines strategies for organising your life and business in a way that brings long-lasting success. He provides proven methods for creating order out of chaos. Even if all you want to do is work out how to start using TikTok in your marketing strategy, this book will give you the organisational skills to make this happen. If you work for yourself, this could be the book for you.
Thibaut Meurisse's book claims to deliver “the 5 most powerful personal development tips that the successful people you admire use every day. The author is a personal development expert and someone who has read over 100 self-help books. He shares a distillation of what he has learned to help you succeed and lead a happy and fulfilling life.
In 1956, Earl Nightingale was about to go on a business trip but wanted to leave a message for his sales force. He got up in the middle of the night inspired to write a message that he recorded the next morning. That message became one of the most important and famous motivational recordings ever made. Earl spent nearly his whole life researching the Essence of Success and the book provides an excellent course on the philosophies that underpin a good, creative and successful life. It's a wide-ranging book - you can read about how to improve your public speaking skills, attitude towards work, or how to be good at goal-setting amongst many other topics. There is also an audio version of this book if you prefer.
Dale Carnegie's famous book offers practical strategies for dealing with anxiety about work, money, family, and relationships. You may, for example, have a worry related to your work such as “why does my website not appear higher up on Google search results? Tools such as the Google Search Console may help provide technical answers but the most important thing is to learn how to not worry about it. Worry doesn't solve the problem but it does take away your peace of mind. Amongst other things, this book shows you how to eliminate “fifty percent of your business worries, something we might all be grateful for. The book also provides personal tips from those who have conquered worry.
Stephen Covey's incredibly successful book provides a holistic, integrated approach for solving personal and professional problems. When it was first published in 1990 it was a groundbreaker and it continues to be a business bestseller. This isn't a quick-tips-start-tomorrow kind of book. The concepts are sometimes complicated, and you'll want to study this book, not skim it. This is a manual for performing better in whatever you do - whether it's playing football or writing newsletters - the principles outlined here can be applied anywhere.
There are many, many self-help books out there and we have only highlighted a very small selection in this article but we hope that this brief summary has provided some useful pointers.
by Anna Johnson | 27 Sep 23