Start the new year off with a plan to shift gears and a practical guide to embracing your best life. As 2023 comes to a close, now is a great time to find the best personal development books for yourself or gifts for loved ones.
From inspiring to expansively informative, these life and career books have left an imprint on our minds and hearts. We hope they guide you to growth, innovative creation, and personal excellence in the new year.
Whether you’re looking to change your life, build resilience, kick off new habits, dive into deep work, develop your self-esteem, grow as a leader, or simply learn more about yourself, these are some of the best self-help books to guide you through it all.
We hope you enjoy our top book picks for growth, inspiration, and reflection!
What are personal development books?
Personal growth books, often categorized under the self-help book genre, are written with the intention of guiding individuals toward self-improvement, self-discovery, and personal development. These books (or audiobooks) aim to provide insights, strategies, and tools that can help readers enhance various aspects of their lives, including relationships, careers, mindsets, habits, and overall well-being.
Key characteristics of the best self-improvement books for personal growth include:
- Actionable insights: Effective personal growth books provide practical advice and actionable steps that readers can apply in their daily lives. The guidance should be clear, realistic, and applicable to a variety of situations.
- Empowerment: These books empower readers to take control of their lives and make positive changes. They often encourage a sense of agency and personal responsibility for one's growth and development.
- Inspiration and motivation: Beneficial personal growth books inspire and motivate readers to strive for improvement. They may include stories of individuals who have overcome challenges, illustrating the possibilities for positive change.
- Research-based or well-informed: Many impactful personal growth books are grounded in research, psychology, or the author's personal experiences. They should provide evidence or reasoning behind the strategies and concepts presented.
- Holistic approach: Effective personal growth books often address multiple aspects of life, recognizing the interconnectedness of various areas such as relationships, career, mental health, and spirituality.
- Practical examples and case studies: Real-world examples and case studies help readers relate the concepts to their own experiences, making the advice more tangible and relatable.
- Positive psychology: Many personal growth books draw from positive psychology, focusing on strengths, resilience, and the pursuit of happiness. They often provide a constructive and optimistic perspective on personal challenges.
- Accessibility: A beneficial personal growth book should be accessible to a wide audience. It should be written in a way that is engaging, understandable, and relatable, regardless of the reader's background or level of expertise in the subject matter.
- Encouragement of self-reflection: Effective personal growth books encourage readers to reflect on their own lives, values, and goals. Prompts for self-reflection and journaling may be included to enhance the learning process.
- Long-term impact: The best personal growth books offer insights that have a lasting impact on the reader. They provide tools and perspectives that individuals can continue to use as they navigate through different phases of life.
It's important to note that different people may resonate with different books based on their preferences, needs, and personal situations. While personal growth books can be valuable, individual growth is a unique and ongoing journey, and no single book has all the answers.
The top 20 personal growth books to become your best self
1. Immunity to Change, by Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey
In this book, Lahey and Kegan explore the power of belief. Our beliefs are strong and can make it very difficult to change. But if we can understand the mechanisms behind why change is so difficult, we can move forward and grow into our potential. Filled with “hands-on diagnostic and compelling case studies”, Immunity to Change helps you directly impact your beliefs for lasting transformation.
“I strongly recommend Immunity to Change to everyone who is passionate about adult development. It’s thought-provoking, inspiring, and eye-opening. It clearly explains how we’re the architects of our own immunity to change which makes ongoing growth and development so difficult. Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey provide a lot of real client examples that can guide you on how you can overcome your and your client's immunity to change systems.” - BetterUp Coach Evangelos Bertsekas, ACC
2. The Inner Work of Racial Justice, by Rhonda Magee
We all have habits we want to change. Mindfulness is an effective way of reviewing those habits to create a lasting impact. In this thought-provoking book, Rhonda Magee pairs mindfulness with the internal work necessary to defuse unconscious racism, dissolve personal barriers, and identify microaggressions so we can become more empathetic and connected through our unique differences as a global community.
“The Inner Work of Racial Justice encouraged each of us to recognize the individual, family, and group identities we learned as kids, grew into, and participated in as adults. The strategies allowed me to look at my own experiences of “other,” and the associated vulnerability. As a result, I became more open to hearing about the experiences of more people and able to listen with less reactivity.” - BetterUp Coach Dina Markind, PCC, RN
3. Why Meditate, by Matthieu Ricard
Ever wondered if you ought to try meditating? In this short book, Matthieu Ricard explores the theory and spirituality of meditation, with a deep-seated and fine-tuned understanding of the historical texts and Buddhist masters. This rich background leads to practical guidance paired with real-world examples of how daily meditation can profoundly enrich and impact how we see ourselves and the world.
“For those wishing to begin or refine a meditation practice, I recommend Why Meditate: Working with Thoughts and Emotions by Matthieu Ricard. As both a scientist and a monk who’s lived in the Himalayas for more than 40 years, Ricard provides concise yet complete instructions on working with the mind. In addition, he gives an overview of the theory, spirituality, and practical aspects of meditation, bringing Eastern teachings to Western readers in an easily understood format.” - BetterUp Coach Julianne Davidow, PCC
4. Already Free, by Bruce Tift
Therapeutic process and deep spiritual realization are more intricately tied than we think, and embracing this duality can lead us to freedom. In his book Already Free, Bruce Tift engages these two seemingly at odds perspectives in a provocative dialogue. Through exploring psychotherapy’s ‘developmental’ approach and examining its support and contradiction of Buddhist philosophy, Tift shows us the always accessible path to personal freedom.
“In Already Free, Bruce Tift highlights the practice of personal responsibility as an antidote to unnecessary suffering. He insightfully integrates a Western therapeutic model with Eastern thought principles, bringing awareness of how we can break free from attaching our state of mind to external circumstances. He effectively creates space for acknowledging how developmental experiences impact our well-being while also recognizing the power of mindfulness, being present, and accepting what is.” - BetterUp Coach Karen Doll, PsyD, LP
5. The Art of Happiness, by the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler
The Dalai Lama is always happy – how does he do it? It starts with and flows from his core belief that happiness is the purpose of life. In this book, co-authored with psychotherapist Dr. Howard Cutler, the Dalai Lama shares his experience to explore how we can all deal with anxiety, depression, disappointment, and the day-to-day obstacles life throws at us, and be happier. This book was among the first in the genre of happiness books and is considered the cornerstone of positive psychology.
“I find this book helpful to my life as a professional coach and human being. Containing a wealth of powerful ideas, I like to keep it nearby to look at a bit at a time, exploring, savoring, and reflecting on the integration of concepts and practices with the potential to uplift the human experience.” BetterUp Coach, Ilene Berns-Zare, PsyD, PCC
6. Design Your Worklife, by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
Our workspace enormously affects our productivity and feelings of ease and success at work. Burnett and Evans explore Design Theory and how it can affect workers' success and happiness. Step by step and chapter by chapter, Burnett and Evans give the tools to build positive change, whether you want to make your current job more meaningful or move on. If you want a more meaningful, engaged, productive, and fun work life, this is a great book to read.
“This book uses design thinking exercises to help the reader reflect on their work life and set realistic goals while providing a toolbox to address common work-life problems. Design thinking empowers the reader to reframe their own dysfunctional beliefs when addressing obstacles that make them feel "stuck" in their jobs.” - BetterUp Coach Marie Stevenson MSOD, ACC
7. The Source: The Secrets of the Universe by Dr. Tara Swart
Neuroscientist, former psychiatrist, and Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan, Dr. Tara Swart, brings evidence to the manifesting world. Her book talks about the “latest breakthroughs in neuroscience and behavioral psychology, including lessons in neuroplasticity, magnetism, emotional and logical thinking, and even hydration, self-care, and relaxation”, and how they overlap with the Law of Attraction. Paired with her personal evolution from doubter to ardent believer, her book provides practical knowledge with inspiration and insight in helping people stuck in unhappiness move into confident fulfillment.
“ The Source: The Secrets of the Universe lends scientific rigor to concepts well-known to many coaches, like “think it, believe it, achieve it,” and “thoughts become things.” Far from magic, Dr. Swart Bieber demonstrates why tools like affirmations and vision boards work, and how each of us can create the lives we want by first changing our consciousness, from which our actions ultimately flow. For all looking to take their lives to the next level, this book is a worthy addition to your collection.” - BetterUp Coach Rob Michelucci, PCC
8. Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Chamine
Looking for personal and professional fulfillment? Often, we’re our own worst enemy. Chamine’s research found 10 common ways that this self-sabotage can cause significant damage to anyone trying to achieve their full potential. He then helps you identify how much potential you really have and provides concrete steps towards realizing it, bringing welcome stress relief and happiness as you progress.
“In Positive Intelligence, Shirzad explains the concepts of Sage and Saboteurs. Exploring how simple practices like using PQ reps can weaken your Saboteurs and strengthen your Sage, Shirzad helps you achieve your highest success and sustained happiness. Of all the personal development work and coaching training I have done, this is the simplest and easiest to implement, and has benefited me greatly. Better yet, I get the same feedback from my clients.” - BetterUp Coach Kristina Liu PsyD, ACC
9. Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Rather Than Telling by Edgar Schein
Oftentimes we speak before thinking. When we don’t check in with the person we’re speaking to, our conversations can miss the mark and leave people around us feeling irritated, unappreciated, and shut down. When we instead begin our conversations with humble inquiry and a desire to learn, we can spark collaborative and creative dialogues that lead to greater team success and cohesion.
“In this slim volume, Schein urges leaders to try out the philosophy, policy, and practices that turn leadership from a "telling" orientation to a "drawing out" orientation. Leaders, he argues, will "arouse positive helping behavior" and motivate teams by leading from "an attitude of interest and curiosity" and "a desire to build a relationship." Members exploring how to adapt to new leadership challenges have found this guide useful, especially in underscoring how team success doesn't only have to be up to them.” - BetterUp Coach Ross Dworman, MA, BCC
10. How Emotions Are Made by Lisa Feldman Barret
Have you ever struggled with your emotions? Wondered where they came from? Now, with ground-breaking research, psychologist and neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barret finds that instead of being stored in certain parts of our brains, emotions are actually made completely at the moment, lending us more power over our emotions than we previously thought. If you’ve ever wondered where emotions come from, how your children can become more emotionally intelligent, or if emotions impact ideas - this is the book for you.
“I recommended How Emotions Are Made by Lisa Feldman Barret , because it opened up a breakthrough in my understanding of how emotions are created in the brain. It’s not that emotions are already built-in, waiting to surface automatically in our personal life depending on the situation. Instead, Feldman shows us that emotions are built. The brain “forecasts” an emotion to surface based on previous experience and learning. This implies we’re able to influence our emotions based on the experiences we decide to have in our lives!” - BetterUp Coach Roberto Cuarón, ACC.
11. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
James Clear's "Atomic Habits" delves into the science of habits, advocating for the transformative power of marginal gains—small changes that compound over time. Clear explains the Four Laws of Behavior Change—cue, craving, response, and reward—providing practical strategies for reshaping habits. The book emphasizes the importance of understanding how habits work, ultimately leading readers to make incremental improvements with lasting impact.
12. How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie
Dale Carnegie's timeless classic explores fundamental principles for effective interpersonal communication. Offering practical advice, the book guides readers on how to make lasting connections, influence others positively, and navigate conflicts with diplomacy. Carnegie underscores the significance of genuine interest, active listening, and expressing appreciation in building meaningful relationships, making it a cornerstone in personal development.
13. Daring Greatly, by Brené Brown
In "Daring Greatly," Brené Brown challenges societal misconceptions about vulnerability, asserting it as a source of strength, courage, and connection. Drawing from her research, Brown explores the impact of vulnerability on various aspects of life, from relationships to leadership. The book encourages readers to embrace imperfections, take risks, and step into the arena of life, highlighting the interplay between vulnerability, shame, empathy, and resilience.
14. Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor E. Frankl
Viktor E. Frankl's "Man’s Search for Meaning" is a profound reflection on his experiences as a Holocaust survivor. Divided into two parts, the first recounts his time in concentration camps, while the second outlines his logotherapy approach to psychotherapy. Frankl argues for the importance of finding meaning in all circumstances, even in the face of extreme suffering. The book emphasizes individual responsibility, choice, and the human capacity to derive purpose, making it a poignant exploration of resilience and the search for meaning.
15. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, by Angela Duckworth
Angela Duckworth's "Grit" explores the concept of grit as a key determinant of success in this New York Times bestseller. Drawing on extensive research, Duckworth argues that talent alone is not enough; perseverance, passion, and long-term commitment are crucial elements in achieving goals. The book provides insights into how grit can be cultivated and how individuals can sustain effort over the long haul to accomplish meaningful objectives.
16. The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle
"The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle is a transformative must-read guide that encourages readers to live in the present moment. Tolle discusses the importance of letting go of past regrets and anxieties about the future, emphasizing that true fulfillment and enlightenment can be found by fully embracing the present. The book offers practical advice on mindfulness and spiritual awakening, providing a roadmap to a more conscious and fulfilling life.
17. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol S. Dweck
In "Mindset," psychologist Carol S. Dweck explores the concept of mindset and its profound impact on success and achievement. Dweck distinguishes between a fixed mindset, where individuals believe their abilities are innate and unchangeable, and a growth mindset, where people see their abilities as malleable through effort and learning. The book offers valuable insights into fostering a growth mindset for personal and professional development.
18. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, by Greg McKeown
"Essentialism" by Greg McKeown advocates for the disciplined pursuit of less to achieve more. McKeown challenges the idea that more is always better and encourages readers to focus on what truly matters. The book provides practical strategies for prioritization, decision-making, and simplifying life, guiding individuals toward a more purposeful and fulfilling existence.
19. Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy, by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
"Option B" explores resilience and finding joy in the face of adversity. Co-authored by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant, the book delves into Sandberg's personal journey of coping with grief after the sudden death of her husband. It offers insights into overcoming challenges, building resilience, and finding a way forward after setbacks. The book combines personal narratives with research on resilience to provide a compelling guide for navigating life's difficulties.
20. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey
"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" is a classic in the personal development genre. Stephen R. Covey outlines seven principles that can lead to success and effectiveness in both personal and professional life. The habits, such as being proactive, beginning with the end in mind, and seeking to understand before being understood, provide a framework for personal growth and effectiveness.
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