"Whether it’s updating your morning routine, trying new workouts, or attending weekly therapy, we’re all just trying to be our best selves. We want to be healthier, happier, more successful in our careers, have better relationships, and make more money (is that too much to ask?). But while we’re working on manifesting our best selves every day, actually becoming them can feel out of reach. Maybe you know what you’re after in the new year (e.g., feeling good, buying your first home, getting a promotion), but you’re not exactly sure how to get there. Instead of rinsing and repeating the same habits over and over again and not getting anywhere, why not learn more from the pros—be it a self-development expert or another badass who achieved the same goals you want to reach? We’ve rounded up 20 self-improvement books that will inspire you to make positive changes toward your future, even better you, and give you insight on how to attain them.
Self-care—from bubble baths to juice cleanses to spa treatments—has become the all-encompassing answer for essentially all of women’s problems, but fixing your troubles isn’t as simple as buying a new journal or signing up for a meditation class (if only). In this book, board-certified psychiatrist Dr. Pooja Lakshmin breaks down what a real practice of caring for yourself could—and does—look like. Using case studies from her practice, clinical research, and a no-BS approach that she’s become known for, Lakshmin provides a step-by-step program for real change, including setting boundaries, moving past guilt, treating yourself with compassion, and asserting your power.
Forget just living longer. Live better. Using the latest science to provide nutritional interventions, techniques for optimizing exercise and sleep, and tools addressing emotional and mental health, Dr. Attia’s aim is to help you learn how to think about long-term health in order to create the best plan for you as an individual. The goal? To outlive your genes to make each decade better than the one before.
Drawing from her past personal experience being out of a job and in a huge financial hole, Aliche shares her ten-step formula for attaining both financial security and peace of mind. Wondering how to once and for all pay off debt, save money, and build wealth? With checklists, worksheets, and pearls of wisdom from experts who Aliche herself relies on, Get Good with Money has guided more than one million women worldwide in cultivating good financial habits and making your money work for you.
Whether you need a perspective check or a friendly nudge in the right direction, Wiest is your girl. And The Pivot Year is no exception. If you’re in the in-between, navigating your way between where you are and where you want to be, this book of of 365 daily meditations is a regular reminder that the person you’re becoming is attainable because she’s already within you. This book is your guide in convincing your mind to act in line with what your heart already knows it wants to do.
Inspired by her popular podcast How To Fail (where she interviews people about what they have learned from their failures), Day flips the script on failure in this part memoir, part manifesto, celebrating when things go awry. With chapters on everything from dating to work to families and friendship, Day draws on her own hardships as well as those faced by her interviewees to drive home the simple premise that understanding why we fail ultimately makes us stronger.
If you’re looking to change what your average day looks like and build better habits while breaking bad ones, you’ve come to the right place. Clear provides a practical guide for transforming your habits—no matter what your goal is—intertwined with inspiring, real-life stories of people who used his strategies to master their craft and become their highest selves.
Because there’s no such thing as too much manifestation, consider this book your BFF that will hand-hold you through seven simple steps to create the life you’ve always envisioned. Step one: Be clear in your vision. Listen to Roxie Nafousi on The Everygirl Podcast (click here for part 1 and click here for part 2).
For all you people-pleasers out there, this is a must-read. Untamed is about discovering your voice and living authentically. Doyle takes us through her personal journey of letting go of others’ expectations and, instead, trusting and strengthening her inner voice. The main takeaway? “Your job, throughout your entire life, is to disappoint as many people as it takes to avoid disappointing yourself.”
According to Robbins, all it takes is a simple habit—giving your reflection a high five in the mirror—and an easy morning routine to shift your mood and perspective, which she calls the “High 5 Habit.” You shouldn’t wait to receive a promotion, fit in your favorite pair of jeans from high school, or finally get reciprocation from a longtime crush to feel more confident; you deserve to be happy now.
You’ve got to put in the work to live your highest self. Enter: this workbook that leads you through proven exercises to help you tap into your emotions and let go of limiting beliefs. Uplifting affirmations round out this guided self-love journal for a boost in self-esteem. What’s not to love?
The Mountain Is You is a book about self-sabotage: why we do it, when we do it, and how to stop doing it—for good. Wiest argues that any bad habit, problem, or not achieving the life that we want is often because we are holding ourselves back. In this book, you’ll find out why you’re resisting positive changes, or why you say you want one thing but doing another. With self-compassion, science, and inspiration, Wiest will inspire you to get out of your own way and live your best life. Listen to Brianna Wiest on The Everygirl Podcast.
If you’ve ever heard Brené Brown’s podcast about shame and vulnerability, this is basically its mom. One of the hardest things to learn is being vulnerable, and this book not only reveals why it is so difficult, but it also breaks down the little steps we can take to learn how. Brown includes several anecdotes to share just how she struggles with this same thing even though researching and discussing shame is her job.
The Self-Love Experiment is the cheerleader you need to shake those perfectionist and fearful thoughts and remember how much good your failures can do. Kaiser takes you on her journey to self-love and acceptance, and through her true testimony, you just might start to realize more about your own. She’s candid and real and doesn’t lead you on that self-love is a quick fix.
As the title conveys, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat it: “Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it.” Rather than living in a world of sunshine and rainbows, he encourages embracing our fears, faults, and uncertainties to lead happier, more grounded lives. Equal parts a reality-check and a humorous self-help guide, this book is the kick in the a** we all need.
You might know Oyeneyin as the sought-after Peloton instructor or from her popular S.P.E.A.K. Instagram Live series. Well, now she’s extending her trademark blend of positivity, empathy, and motivational “Tunde-isms” to fans on and off the bike through this book. She walks you through each step of the SPEAK acronym—Surrender, Power, Empathy, Authenticity, and Knowledge—while imparting what she has learned about loss, love, body image, and creating an intentional, joyful life.
No matter your experience level with the Law of Attraction, Gabby Bernstein makes manifestation simple and effective. The Law of Attraction is about more than just manifesting bougie cars and designer bags, and this book shows that it can be as simple as changing your mindset for a positive one. It covers the essential methods for confidently attracting what you want in life.
Ladies, it’s about time we write our own rules and blaze our own trails. The follow-up to the best-selling book Girl Code, Girl on Fire builds on the idea that you don’t need permission or validation to start fearlessly living your dream life and career, and it teaches you just how to do that.
The Age of Magical Overthinking is organized around 12 different cognitive biases, each of which Montell argues are impacting our daily lives in an era of information overwhelm. If you feel like your phone replaced your brain while you weren’t looking or don’t know why you feel so sad/crazy/stressed right now, this book is for you. Read our editor’s full review here and listen to Amanda Montell on The Everygirl Podcast.
According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai—a reason for living or purpose. And based on the lives of the residents of Ōgimi, the Japanese village with the world’s longest-living people, having a strong sense of ikigai may be the secret to happiness, physical health, and longevity. This book provides practical tools to help you discover your own ikigai.
In this refreshingly entertaining guide to reshaping your mindset and your life, Sincero serves up loving yet firm inspo and easy-to-implement exercises to help you identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that stop you from getting what you want. By the end of the book, you’ll understand how to stop self-sabotaging and start living the kind of life that once seemed impossible.
Katherine Chang, Wellness Staff Writer
Katherine Chang is The Everygirl’s Wellness Staff Writer with over five years of experience in the health and wellness space. She navigates the latest wellness topics and trends through studies, articles, and is always first in line to try them firsthand.