Self-help books are hugely popular but I never really paid them much attention. However, I then had a huge change to my life with a work accident that meant a loss of a certain future I was working towards. This left me feeling incredibly lost, so I turned to personal growth books to refocus and gain some clarity.
Whilst I am currently trying to figure out what my future is going to look like and what I am going to do, I have been using this time to work on myself. I am using personal growth books to learn and develop. Being forced to live a slower pace because of my chronic illness is now enabling me to figure out more about myself and what I really want from life.
If you go to your local library or book shops you will find so many books that come under the personal growth umbrella term. Not every book will resonate with you or enlighten you and that is okay. I am sharing a list of 6 personal growth books that I recommend.
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Here Are 6 Personal Growth Books You Should Read
1. Atomic Habits by James Clear
Atomic habits is a guide to building good habits and breaking bad ones. James Clear details how all our habits follow a 4-step habit loop which includes: cue, craving, response and reward. He shares practical techniques to ‘hack’ each stage so we can achieve personal change and development.
2. The Life Changing Magic Of Not Giving A F**k by Sarah Knight
The life changing magic of not giving a f**k is a funny but practical guide to mental decluttering, giving you actionable tips to stop caring about things that don’t really matter to you, without feeling guilty or ashamed. You’ll learn practical methods on avoiding what makes you unhappy and get on what to say yes to. You can also learn: what to do with unwanted gifts or how to kindly decline a party invite. See how this book can enable you to start living a life full of joy.
3. No Longer Last On The List by Jo Bevilacqua
No longer last on the list is a powerful guide to getting more of what you love in life and putting your own needs higher on your to-do list. Life can be so busy, it is important for you to assess where your needs come on your never-ending to-do list. Award-winning entrepreneur and mentor Jo Bevilacqua looks at the pressures women face and gives you barrier-breaking activities for change. Help find clarity about what you really love in life and what you want from your life.
4. Happy by Fearne Cotton
Happy written by Fearne Cotton is her drawing on her own experience in addition to experts advice. This book shares practical ways of finding joy each and every day. Happy shares how happiness isn’t a huge mountain you have to climb, it is about taking one step at a time and you will find those small steps will make a huge difference in your life.
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5. The Chimp Paradox: The Mind Management Programme For Confidence, Success & Happiness by Prof Steve Peters
This book was actually recommended to me by one of my childhood friends as it had such an impact on her life. This book by Prof Steve Peters was accredited as the mind programme that helped Sir Chris Hay win his Olympic gold medals – how amazing is that! In essence Peters says that we can view the psychological mind as made up of three independent component parts. You will learn an easy to understand description of the psychological mind system. The simple analogy used in this book will enable you to take control of your emotions and to act in your own best interest. This can be in decision making, communicating with others, your health and your happiness.
6. Good Vibes, Good Life by Vex King
Good vibes, good life explores the power of positive thinking. By outlying simple techniques for changing your mindset, it reveals how every one of us can take control of our happiness and put put you in the driving seat for your future. In this book Vex King draws on his own personal experience to help you practise self-care, manifest your goals, overcome fear and much more. This book is a perfect start for manifestation beginners.
This time I have been giving due to my accident and having to get myself better to a stage I can move forward with my future, I saw it as a negative. However, I am starting to see how it is allowing me to learn about my body, my mind and how I can learn to be in control of my own happiness and success. I am enjoying discovering more about myself and books that can positively influence me and my life.
Have you read any of these books before? What are you thoughts? I’d love to hear in the comments.
The second and sixth books caught my attention. I shall add them to my TBR. Thank you for sharing.
I hope you get to read them! Thank you for reading and commenting.
I am very interested in Atomic Habits! Thanks for sharing these short blurbs.
I definitely recommend you give it a read. Thank you for reading and commenting.
I’ve heard about The Life Changing Magic Of Not Giving A Fuck. What I would like to read the most here is Atomic Habits. Definitely have to get.
Definitely give it a go! Thank you for reading and commenting.
I’ve not read any self help books. Some of these sound really great though. I like the sound of happy in particular. It sounds like quite a casual and easy read.
Claire.X
http://www.clairemac.co.uk
Definitely give it a try! Thank you for reading and commenting. X
Atomic Habits is one of the best books on habit forming you can read. We read it a few months ago and immediately implement much of its content. Thank you for sharing.
It is a great book. Thank you for reading and commenting.
Definitely, and you’re welcome!
These sound really interesting! I’ve never read any of them but I love books about psychology and mindset. Thanks for the recommendations!
Thank you for reading and commenting.
I’ve read Sarah Knight’s book before and it really is such a good personal growth book! I will have to have a look at the others x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
That’s great you have already read one of these. Thank you for reading and commenting.
I haven’t read any of these books before but some of them are on my TBR list. I love the sound of No Longer Last On The List – sounds like something I need to read x
That’s awesome. I hope you get to read some of them x
Read #1 and will have to check out the rest! Found your blog on a fellow friend’s post. Take care
Oh really! That’s cool. What blog? Thank you for reading and commenting.
I’ve read Atomic Habits and Good Vybes, Good Life and really enjoyed both. Atomic Habits is one of my go-to and highly recommended personal growth books as I believe it creates a great foundation for implementing change in your life. The other books sounds really amazing too. I hope this time of recovery and slowing down helps you find your path to a wonderful life. Thanks for sharing.
I love Atomic Habits, because that’s how I learned to juggle—by getting 1% better every day. #2 sounds pretty similar to Mark Manson’s book, and I liked his book, so I guess I’ll give it a go. Thanks for sharing, Lauren!
Thank you for reading and commenting.
My brother-in-law read the art of not giving a @#$ and he told me to read it. I reeeeaallly think I should make the time to.
Give it a go and see!
These all sound like great books! I will be adding them to my list to read. Thank you for the recommendations! 🙂
I haven’t read many personal growth books so this was great to get a few ideas about where to start; thanks for sharing!
That’s great! Give them a try. Thank you for reading and commenting.
Great list! I’ve read the one by Sarah Knight – so funny! And listen to Fearne’s podcast but not heard of the rest so thank you!
Thank you for reading and commenting.
I love personal growth books and this is a great list of recommendations. I’ve love Vex King’s tweets but never knew he had a book, thank you for putting it on my radar!
You are welcome. Thank you for reading and commenting.
This is the second time today I’ve heard great things about Sarah Knight’s book, so I’ll be reading it! Can’t wait to read ‘No longer last on the list.’ Thanks, Lauren! Xx
Thank you for reading and commenting.
Will have to look at the Fern Cotton book. Glad they inspired you.
Thank you for reading and commenting.
I’ve not read any of these before. But my favourite personal growrh book is ‘the power of habit’. It helped me stop smoking and start running. I loved it!
Corinne x
Ooo I haven’t heard of that one, who wrote that? That’s awesome! Thank you for reading and commenting.
I love the Art of not giving a ‘duck’! It’s a great book! It’s helped me through some rough patches of self-growth and discovery. I also swear by Fearne Cotton’s ‘Happy!’.
It is great that it helped you through those periods of time. Thank you for reading and commenting.
Awesome collection, I would love to have some personal growth books. It helps me a lot because I’m watching and reading online haha. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for reading and commenting.
Ooh you’ve got some really great suggestions here! I haven’t read any self help books before but these all sound amazing. I’ve been struggling a lot with positive thinking recently so I’m going to look into Happy and Good Vibes, Good Life. Thank you so much for sharing x
Thank you for reading and commenting. I hope those books help you! X
I so enjoyed this list as personal growth and self improvement are two things I am working on. Reading books like the ones you recommend definitely helps amplify my inspiration and ideas for growth, so I love the sounds of “Happy” the most! 🙂
I hope you get to read some of these! Thank you for reading and commenting.
These sound like the perfect books to read this summer. I’ve heard amazing things about Fearne Cotton’s book, Happy – it’s defiantly one I need to pick up asap! Thank you so much for sharing this with us lovely, I’ll for sure be purchasing a couple of these to read. Xo
Elle – ellegracedeveson.com
Thank you for reading and commenting. I hope you get to read some of these x
Great book suggestions. I haven’t had the chance to go deeper with these ones but they are on my book list. Thanks for sharing! 💜
A great blog, I have actually never tried any personal growth books and usually read scripture but after reading this I would love to try Good Vibes, Good Life by Vex King, sounds like an excellent positive read.
I hope you manage to get to read it. Thank you for reading and commenting.
Two and six have been on my list for a while (they are now moving to the top of the list). Also adding the others! Thank you! ✌️
Thank you for reading and commenting.
I absolutely love Atomic Habits! I’ve been reading chunks of it in the morning before I journal. It helps me assess my habits and patterns with a more analytical perspective. I don’t feel bad if I don’t like a habit, I explore why plus how to improve it. This has been great for me since I can be a huge self-critic. Also, James Clear’s writing style makes the information easy to understand. Nice post! x
It is great you having a good experience with the book. Thank you for reading and commenting.
I love all but number 5 the most❤️ “The Chimp Paradox: The Mind Management Programme For Confidence, Success & Happiness”
I need to read it.
Thank you for reading and commenting. I hope you manage to read it!
I hope too.
Thank you for sharing these reccomendations! I’ve got the reading bug atm so looking for new books to pick up. I love Jo’s book No Longer Last on the List! I’ve been using it since December last year after Jo sent me a copy and it’s great for shifting your mindset!
It is great isn’t it, I won it in a giveaway. Thank you for reading and commenting Jordanne x
One of my favourite self help books was “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne. It has massively helped me to overcome certain problems through the power of positive thinking and utilisation of the law of attraction. It’s a nice book for all ages. I’ll surely recommend it too.
Book #2 have been showing up alot on bloogers book recommendations. These books sounds interesting. Will save for future reference
I am glad you found this post helpful. Thank you for reading and commenting
I have read Good Vibes, Good Life and I love it sooo much! The rest sounds interesting and I need to check them out because I’ve been working on my personal growth 😀 Thanks for sharing x
I hope you find them helpful. Thank you for reading and commenting.
I love self-help books. I have read Happy and Vex King’s Good Vibes book – I enjoyed them both. They helped me to change my outlook on life. I’m interested in reading Chimp Paradox – I’ve heard good things about this book. Great post – thanks for sharing. Jade MumLifeAndMe
Thank you for reading and sharing your experience of some of these books.
A good post. Thank you 😊
I love this list, thank you for putting these out there!
Atomic Habits is my NEXT book to read. I am looking forward to learning from it since so many people have recommended this book that will change things.
I am going to add a couple of these to my to-read list as well. Thank you for sharing the ones that have made a difference in your life. Have you read You’re A Badxx yet?
I hope you get to read some of these and enjoy them. I haven’t heard of that before, is it any good?