I’m sure that I’m not alone in saying that I am in full resolutions mode right now. New Year, New Goals and all that business. However part of that is touching on a handful of books that I read in 2019 (and 2018) that helped make some of my past goals really stick. Yes, I’m talking about self-help books!
A little known fact about me, I’m a closet self-help junkie. I love reading self-improvement books to get me geared up and excited about new goals that I have. Even if I don’t have new projects or goals, I’ll read these types of books when I’m stuck in a rut or not feeling creative to help me get out of any sort of funk. These four that I’m going to touch on today have made a real and lasting impact in my life and I’m a total fan.
If you love self-help books or motivational books, you’ll probably have heard of these books but if not, I hope that you’ll find one that really speaks to you. While sometimes these self-improvement books can seem a little woo-woo, these four are all excellent and can help you if given the chance.
So without further adieu here are four fantastic self-help books if you want to make real change.
Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results
This is the most helpful self-help book I’ve ever read. Why? Because it’s actionable. The author James Clear literally spells out how to adopt new better habits and how to break bad ones. Like: Step 1 (step 1.1, step 1.2, step 1.3, etc), Step 2 (step 2.1, step 2.2…), and so on. Plus he gives examples throughout the entire book of common habits and how to go about breaking or adopting them. Things like watching too much tv, mindlessly scrolling on social media, working out regularly, eating healthy, and much much more.
I will say that I found Atomic Habits to be very useful in part because I already believed in his method. His whole concept is right there in the title “tiny changes, remarkable results”. Basically that you should try to get 1% better everyday and over time those will small changes will have large and lasting effects.
My favorite takeaway from Atomic Habits is this: “forget about goals and focus on your system instead. You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems”. His point that winners and losers both have the same goal, to be the winner, really struck a chord with me. I took the last few weeks of the year to work on this and made some systems that will steadily work me towards my goals rather than focusing solely on the goals themselves.
James Clear has been featured on a ton of podcasts recently so if you want a short and sweet version of his book, go listen to one of those.
The Compound Effect
The Compound Effect is very similar to Atomic Habits in that the author Darren Hardy advocates for small changes that, over time, lead to big results. It’s that same 1% change/aggregation of marginal gains idea. Lots of positive small habits compound into large change and success.
Compared to Atomic Habits, The Compound Effect is a much shorter read but I personally found it to be slightly less instructive as far as step-by-step how-tos. It’s also different in tone. The Compound Effect reads like tough love. I listened to the audiobook and that might be part of where I’m getting that.
Darren Hardy also has a daily podcast called DarrenDaily On-Demand
You are a Badass
You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero is probably one of the most talked-about self-help books for my generation. I regularly hear about it on social media, generally from women in my cohort and for a good reason. Sincero is very much like an older sister doling out advice. It’s very positive and uplifting and very much geared towards women.
Her whole concept is along the lines of the power of positive thinking and manifesting things that you want to happen. She’s pretty good at giving you actionable steps to follow. Not quite to James Clear’s level but it’s enough to get her point across. I’m not going to lie, I thought the whole idea of manifestation was kinda hokey until I really gave her method a try and low and behold, things started happening.
I’ve read this book, gifted it to friends, and listened to the audiobook multiple times. Each time I revisit the principles she talks about, I’m always surprised at how well it works. You Are a Badass is probably one of my most read/listened to books because I keep coming back to it over and over again.
High-Performance Habits
High Performance Habits has a similar message to You Are a Badass but with a much different tone. If you really don’t like the older sister vibe of Jen Sincero, this might be more your style. It’s a lot of the same type of lessons (visualization/seek clarity, practice gratitude, increase productivity, generate energy, etc) but geared to a professional audience. Take all the more hippy-woo-woo side out of self-improvement and put it in a suit, and you’ve got HighPerformance Habits.
High Performance Habits is also available in audiobook form on his podcast, season 8 I think. I also recently learned that it was one of the top three leadership books of 2017.
So there you have four fantastic self-improvement books that you can pick up to keep your resolutions going. I hope one of them speaks to you and you can enjoy some motivational reading.
Until next time,
Ana Luiza
