7 Self-improvement Books That will Improve your Life

The habit of reading self-improvement books monthly leads to a major improvement in life and well-being. With all my schedules, I still manage to complete 1-2 books per month.

Self-improvement books are filled with great lessons and tips that will nurture you throughout the year.

It’s important for those who want to stay happy and positive, and those who are working on their goals.

Life comes with its negativity, but it’s not your responsibility to fully control the things you can and accept the things you can’t.

Self-improvement books keep you out of people’s drama and negativity, sharpen your focus, give you better solutions for your problems, and fill you with positivity.

The 7 Self-improvement books everyone should read:

1. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

The main goal of this book is the opposite of not caring about anything. Its main goal is to know what to care about.

In our current time, there are a lot of things people care about.

The first part of the book gives a clear explanation of the central theme of this book.

The world we live in has different values of being rich, happy, and satisfied.

To be happy, rich, and content to most people means having a fancy car, a big mansion, and a beautiful spouse.

But where do all these things end? When you get all these things, there’s always going to be something better. Most people lost value in owning what they own.

We spend time looking for the perfect spouse and miss out on the depth of connection that grows in a relationship over time.

Making money is okay as long as it’s the by-product, not the main priority in life.

These cultural values and definitions of success and happiness may not be what fits you. It’s important to know which goals deserve your attention.

Do whatever you want in life and try everything, but know that the pleasure you get from chasing new experiences will be less than the pleasure you gain from deeply experiencing something.

You can watch the book review by Mark Manson (the author) himself here.

2. Atomic Habits

At some point, we all feel like floating through life and not getting to the place we want to reach in life.

We acknowledge the bad habits we have and list them down while choosing the good habits we want.

You promise yourself you are going to achieve all the goals you set this year.

Then return to your bad habits after the first week. This scenario usually happens at the beginning of the new year.

This masterpiece by James Clear explains in detail how to break free from bad habits and build the healthy habits you want.

I recommend this book to all my readers. This book has significantly improved my productivity.

Even if you aren’t working on big goals or want to achieve great things. There will always be bad habits that you need to break from.

3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Most of the books written on success over the century focused on personality ethics.

Things like public image, social interaction, and positive attitude.

Steven Covey in this book focused on character ethics (Integrity and Courage) which became one of his most successful books loved by millions of readers.

Personality ethics can be faked and can get you what you want in the short run.

People can give a fake public image and act like they are positive. But you can’t fake anything related to character ethics.

The habits:

• Be Proactive
• Begin With the End in Mind
• Put First Things First
• Think Win-Win
• Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
• Synergize
• Sharpen the Saw

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to live effectively and achieve greater success in life. Especially leaders, entrepreneurs, and business owners.

4. 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do

Amy Morin, the author of the book, is a trained psychiatrist who had a tragic life event at the age of 23.

At the age of 23, she was with her mother laughing, and enjoying the moment. But after 24 hours; her mother suddenly died. Three years later, her husband died.

She was in a dark place. But as a trained psychiatrist, she had to stop herself from falling into the hole of depression.

She went on and wrote the 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do.

Mentally strong people don’t:

• Waste Time Feeling Sorry for Themselves
• Give Away Their Power
• Shy Away from Change
• Waste Energy on Things They Can’t Control
• Worry About Pleasing Everyone
• Fear Taking Calculated Risks
• Make the Same Mistakes Over and Over
• Dwell on the Past
• Resent Other People’s Success
• Give Up After the First Failure
• Fear Alone Time
• Feel the World Owes Them Anything
• Expect Immediate Results

I recommend this book to everyone who wants to become mentally strong. It goes with the subtle art of not giving a f*uk.

Especially for people who please others and can’t stand up for themselves.

5. Emotional Intelligence

Daniel Goleman expands the view of intelligence when it comes to success and explains why it can matter more than IQ.

We usually see people with great IQs who aren’t successful in their lives and question what went wrong. This is because EQ contributes to success in life.

The ability to be aware of yourself, control your emotions, and manage your relationship with others, makes up EQ.

A person who’s great in these areas has a high EQ and can go further in life than a person with a high IQ.

The 5 domains of Emotional Intelligence are:

• Self-Awareness: Know your Emotions
• Managing Emotions: Be in control of your response
• Self-motivation
• Empathy
• Relationship Management

I recommend this book to all people who think their IQ will get them far in life. People with high IQs usually act cold, which makes their relationships with others difficult.

Most of them can’t bounce back from life’s setbacks because they are used to winning at school.

6. The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene is one of my favorite books. This book explains in detail the laws of power and how to use them.

I’m not going to list all the 48 laws, but this book digs deeply into the world of power and how you can use the things you can influence to your advantage.

Here’s a great animated summary of the book.

7. Rich Dad Poor Dad

Rich Dad Poor Dad is my favorite book on financial literacy and building wealth through building assets and owning a business.

I recommend this book to anyone ambitious, who wants to become financially independent and build wealth for generations.

Instead of working all your life for money, buying fancy cars and a big mansion trying to look rich, and being in deadly debts.

Robert Kiyosaki explained the importance of assets that will pay for the lifestyle you want.

For example, if you want to buy a car worth $50k. Spend the money you have investing in assets that will generate $50k per month.

In the short run, it will look like you are losing, and the person who bought the car is winning.

But after some months, the asset you invested in, will cover the expenses of the car for a lifetime.

The book also highlights the importance of investing in yourself.

Your biggest asset is your mind. To constantly train your mind to see the solutions. Instead of telling yourself ‘I can’t‘, ask yourself how can I do it.

By constantly telling yourself ‘I can’t’, you put your brain to sleep.