Of My 50+ Self-Help Reads, Only These 5 Have *Actually* Changed My Life
Actual goldmines proving to yield lifelong returns — in terms of joy, productivity, success, wisdom, and (spiritual) growth
100,000+ self-help books exist today — and 15000+ new ones join the fray every year.
How in the world do we navigate this ocean?
Success gurus’ recommendations? Goodreads reviews? Celebrity reading lists? “More For You” algorithmic picks? Serendipity? Book-bloggers’ list(icle)s?
I leveraged them all to pick the 50-odd self-help books I’ve read so far.
But even among them, only 5 tangibly altered my life — rewiring my beliefs, world/self-view, and values. Over time (and re-reads), this has led to greater joy, freedom, and all-around success.
I’m not claiming this solely off my (bad) memory. Instead, I’ve…
- Sifted through my Goodreads “Read” list, their Self-Help lists, and my older book listicles.
- Surveyed my Kindle and bookshelves — to recall any I’ve missed (updating) on Goodreads.
Screenshot and photo by author
- Reflected on my life/self’s pivotal changes — and probed if any (self-help) books helped bring it about.
I’m not saying these 5 books will change your life — or are the best self-help books for you.
All I’m saying is — these are hyper-filtered self-help gems:
- Theoretically, pre-choosing — via reviews, recommendations, and my intuition (honed over reading 500+ books).
- Experientially, post-reading — via real-life changes in my own self and reality.
Life-changing or not, they will give you a huge positive ROI — in terms of success, joy, wisdom, wealth, and freedom.
With no further ado, let’s dive right in.