When you find yourself in need of a pick-me-up, these are some of the self-improvement books that can help get you out of that funk:

You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero
I had this on my shelf for a long time before I finally found myself in a place where I needed to read this. It will definitely come across differently when you’re in need of words like this rather when you already have confidence built up. There’s a lot of good exercises, and it feels like a good start on a therapy or self-wellness journey. Some of the money and career items didn’t apply to me as much, but honestly overall I got a lot out of this book.

The Subtle Art f Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson
This is a good book to sorta whip you back into shape if you’re needing a little bit of a zap back into life. It’s written in a way that’s supposed to be very brazen and in your face, which is more for the gimmick I feel. Even the title is mostly done for the shock value, but the information in the book is actually really valuable in terms of getting out of your own way.

How We Love by Milan & Kay Yerkovich
This is focused a lot on attachment and conflict styles in relationships, although I think this could be read by single people as well. There’s a lot of focus on childhood experiences creating adult patterns, and I do think that there’s more nuance to things than that. Even still, there was a lot that I got out of this book and the workbook that is included in the back.

The Dance by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
My Grams gave me this book as a gift in 2009, and here I am finally finding myself in a place to read it in 2025. The beginning of this book was very profound and fell into the self-help genre, but the second half of the book became a little more memoir-oriented and I didn’t like that as much. It also got a little religious for me, which is expected from a book my Grams gave me though. I think the author is a privileged white woman who is somewhat out of touch regarding culture respect and appropriation, but there’s still some good things in here that can help someone move their live forward.

Thanks for reading! (Last Updated: April 2025)