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10 Self-Help Essays to Read Before Re-entering Society

The author notes that any resemblance to actual self-help is coincidental or born from deep and unrelenting fatigue.

By Kate Baer

1. Boy, This Weather Sure Is Nice! Making Small Talk Again With Someone Other Than Your Rescue Dog Robert

2. Your Friend’s Gray Tooth: Reacquainting With the Bottom Half of Beverly’s Face at Sunday Brunch

3. Oops, My Boss Has Seen My Vibrator! Troubleshooting Your Return to the Office After Multiple Blunders on Zoom

4. This Is No Longer Bananas: Unsubscribing From Early Quarantine Banana Bread Blogs in 12 Easy Steps

5. The Primitive Howl v. The Bloodcurdling Scream: Which Noise Is Right for You After Finally Dropping Your Kid at In-Person School

6. “Sorry, I Need To Water My Houseplants” and Other Excuses to Get Out of All Those Social Engagements You Were So Desperate For

7. These Corduroys Are Trying to Kill Me: Navigating the Return to Real Pants With Dignity and Grace

8. Tears at Table 3: Interacting With Your College-Aged Server, “Jell-O Shot Mike,” Without Bursting Into Heaving Sobs Over Eating at a Restaurant

9. I’ve Made a Huge Mistake : How to Reunite With (and Then Immediately Break Up With) Your Friend Stacy After You Remember She Is the Worst

10. “Aunt Brenda, What’s In This Potato Salad?” Questions and Phrases to Redirect QAnon Relatives at the Family BBQ (A Survivor’s Guide)

Please note that these essays are a work of fiction.

Kate Baer is a poet and bestselling author of “ What Kind of Woman .” Her new book, “I Hope This Finds You Well,” comes out in November.

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Computing and artificial intelligence

Struggling to learn how to do a backflip, Nikita takes on an unusual training regimen

History of ideas

Whither philosophy?

The discipline today finds itself precariously balanced between incomprehensible specialisation and cheap self-help

Siobhan Lyons

Self-improvement

Many wisdoms

There are no transcendent insights that rise above human difference. Yet wisdom exists if we look in the right places

Avram Alpert

Personality

Wesley wants to solve the rooftop mystery – but does he have what it takes?

Love and friendship

The right person

Contemporary wisdom says that happiness is the measure of a marriage. But is that a harmful way of judging relationships?

Joshua Coleman

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To listen well is not only a kindness to others but also, as the psychologist Carl Rogers made clear, a gift to ourselves

A tender poem doubles as a guide to sitting comfortably in one’s own company

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A harrowing account of a 1970 ‘leadership seminar’ spotlights self-help’s dark side

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Workplace diversity isn’t just about equality – it’s a competitive advantage

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No, Mozart isn’t a brain hack for babies – here’s how music really affects intelligence

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Authenticity is a sham

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Alexander Stern

The science of wisdom

Psychological science can now measure and nurture wisdom, superseding the speculations of philosophy and religion

Igor Grossmann

Beware of lateral thinking

De Bono’s popular theory is textbook pseudoscience: unsound, untested and derivative of real (unacknowledged) research

Antonio Melechi

At times of suffering, the greatest gift is accompaniment by another

Nicholaos Jones

Values and beliefs

How the philosophical paradox of aspiration is resolved by a new theory of self-creation

Do you feel like a fraud after a success? It can mean you’re doing something well

Why lifelong learning is the international passport to success

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Would you rather have a fish or know how to fish?

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Neel Burton

How William James encourages us to believe in the possible

Temma Ehrenfeld

Stories and literature

Highbrows and self-helpers

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Why speaking to yourself in the third person makes you wiser

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17 Best Self-Help Authors To Help You Make Positive Changes

Find out the best self-help authors to guide you with your personal growth and development. Learn more in this article.

Self-improvement is a never-ending journey, and people worldwide agree that these best-selling self-help books can help you learn to live your best life, one good decision at a time. 

Self-help books have helped many people change their lives for the better, and it’s easier than ever to get your hands on reading material that can help you grow and change. Whether you choose to hit up Amazon or your local library, the authors below are known among businesspeople, entrepreneurs, and everyday people who want to improve their lives by writing the best self-help books. 

1. Dale Carnegie

2. brené brown, 3. jen sincero, 4. stephen r. covey, 5. eckhart tolle, 6. elizabeth gilbert, 7. james clear, 8. marie kondo, 9. mark manson, 10. napoleon hill, 11. tony robbins, 12. david schwartz, 13. paulo coelho, 14. don miguel ruiz, 15. robert kiyosaki, 16. viktor frankl, 17. rhonda byrne, the final world on best self-help authors, what are the best books for self-help on the market today, who is the wealthiest self-help author, best authors reading list.

Dale Carnegie’s  self-improvement books have helped extroverts and introverts alike learn how to make friends and live happier lives. How to Stop Worrying and Start Living helps people living with anxiety and worry. His book on honing one’s social skills, How to Win Friends and Influence People , has sold over 30 million copies. Carnegie is heralded as one of the best self-help authors of all time.

• Brand: GENERAL PRESS
• Language: english
• Hardcover Book
• Carnegie, Dale (Author)
• English (Publication Language)

With over four million copies of her books sold worldwide, social scientist  Brené Brown  is in high demand. Her studies on relationships, vulnerability, and shame have helped people dig into past hurts and how they affect their relationships today. In addition to steadily churning out books that top the charts, Brown is also a regular guest on podcasts and talk shows alike. Brown’s latest book, Atlas of the Heart , is expected to follow sales trends of her previous bestsellers, including Daring Greatly and Dare to Lead . 

• Brown, Brené (Author)
• 336 Pages - 11/30/2021 (Publication Date) - Random House (Publisher)

Successful people worldwide know  Jen Sincero  for her You Are a Badass series, which has sold more than five million copies. In 2011, Sincero sold most of her belongings and embarked on a journey of self-discovery, running her book proposal writing business from all corners of the globe. In addition to writing motivational books, Sincero also performs motivational comedy, captivating audiences with her kick-in-the-pants style of pushing people to move forward. 

• Jen Sincero (Author)
• 01/01/2021 (Publication Date) - John Murray Learning (Publisher)

Heralded as one of the best self-help books of all time, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey has sold more than 20 million copies. Published in 1989, 7 Habits has stood the test of time and continues to be a favorite among high achievers across various sectors. Covey completed an analysis of self-help books during his doctoral dissertation and found a hole in the market that he could fill. So he developed 7 Habits as a secular extension of his faith, helping people use relational skills that worked no matter their beliefs.

• Covey, Stephen R. (Author)
• 464 Pages - 05/19/2020 (Publication Date) - Simon & Schuster (Publisher)

Embracing the power of positive thinking has undoubtedly worked for self-help author  Eckhart Tolle  — he’s sold more than 2 million copies of The Power of Now , his self-help guide to help readers learn to live in the present moment. Born in post-war Germany, Tolle experienced periods of deep depression that later inspired him to develop his world-renowned self-help techniques. In 2008, the author partnered with Oprah Winfrey to host a webinar series, exposing millions of people to his teachings on appreciating the stillness and embracing life at the moment. 

• Eckhart Tolle (Author)
• Yogi Immpressions (IBD) (Publisher)

Known for her self-love manifesto,  Elizabeth Gilbert’s 2006 Eat, Pray, Love tale of travel and personal discovery captivated book lovers and movie buffs alike. The memoir was made into a hit film starring Julia Roberts in 2010. To date, the bestseller has found its way into the hands of more than 10 million readers worldwide. Gilbert grew up in Connecticut and went to college in New York City. Post-college, she spent time traveling to gain experiences that she could use for her writing. Her divorce sparked the globe-trotting journey that she shared with Eat, Pray, Love readers. 

• Great product!
• Gilbert, Elizabeth (Author)
• 400 Pages - 01/30/2007 (Publication Date) - Riverhead Books (Publisher)

With over 5 million copies sold to date,  James Clear’s Atomic Habits is at the top of the book list for self-improvement gurus worldwide. A freak baseball accident that caused brain damage caused Clear to take a serious look at his life — and move things in a different direction. Throughout his recovery, he began to realize how small, consistent habits could make a significant difference in one’s life and chose to share his experience with others in his books. James works to help his readers understand that solid systems are far more effective than goal-setting when it comes to long-term accomplishments. 

Are you interested in building a solid system for your content creation business? Check out our post on building a solid editorial calendar . 

• Clear, James (Author)
• 320 Pages - 10/16/2018 (Publication Date) - Avery (Publisher)

Marie Kondo’s three-book series on how decluttering can lead to a more fulfilling life has sold more than 4 million copies in the United States alone. Kondo states that she has spent more than half of her life thinking about ways to tidy and organize, and 2010’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is proof of her dedication to her craft.

By her mid-20s, Kondo’s self-made organizing business had a hefty waitlist. Kondo’s method — dubbed the KonMari method, a nod to the Japanese-style version of her name — invites people to choose to keep belongings that serve a purpose or spark joy and to respectfully discard items that no longer serve them. 

• Kondo, Marie (Author)
• 10/15/2019 (Publication Date) - Ten Speed Press (Publisher)

Mark Manson’s self-help books have sold more than 14 million copies globally. His no-nonsense style is evident in his books, Life Advice That Doesn’t Suck and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck . Manson encourages people to subscribe to the less is more philosophy, encouraging them to focus on fewer tasks and people. In paying attention to fewer tasks, Manson encourages people to ensure that the tasks they focus on are done with excellence. In focusing on fewer people, Manson encourages his audiences to work to bolster the relationships that matter most. 

• Mark Manson (Author)
• Generic (Publisher)

Napoleon Hill’s 1937 smash success Think and Grow Rich taught people how to make money — the book has sold more than 30 million copies to date. Born in 1883, Hill helped his audience understand the importance of having — and working to fulfill — high expectations in life. In addition, Hill was the first self-help guru to introduce the concept of mastermind groups, in which executives and entrepreneurs with similar interests get together outside of their typical work environment to meet and swap ideas. 

• Think and Grow Rich
• Hill, Napoleon (Author)
• 378 Pages - 10/16/2008 (Publication Date) - TarcherPerigee (Publisher)

Known for his powerful personal development seminars,  Tony Robbins  is also rocking the self-help book market, with more than 15 million copies of Awaken the Giant Within  sold around the world. Robbins had a tough start to life, as he lived with abuse at home and developed a pituitary tumor that caused a 10-inch growth spurt in high school.

After leaving home at 17, Robbins worked as a janitor. Then, he began working for motivational speaker Jim Rohn and later began to run his own self-help and professional development seminars. Today, Robbins has a complete brand of coaching that offers trained coaches who work with budding entrepreneurs and others who want to move forward in business and life. 

• Anthony Robbins (Author)
• 688 Pages - 01/01/1800 (Publication Date) - Simon & Schuster Ltd; edition (2014-11-18) (Publisher)

With more than 6 million copies sold, The Magic of Thinking Big by  David Schwartz  has helped people around the world develop a more positive thought process. After studying at Georgia State University, Schwartz became well-known as a motivational expert.

The Magic of Thinking Big encourages readers to set high goals and believe in their ability to achieve them. In addition, Schwartz guides his readers through the process of using visualization to support their processes, as well as the importance of sharing good news with others to keep the positive energy flowing. 

Is it time for you to harness the power of positivity and take the next step in your writing career? Check out our post on the best writing contests.

• David J. Schwartz (Author)
• 276 Pages - 07/26/2015 (Publication Date) - Magdalene Press (Publisher)

Many have said that The Alchemist by  Paulo Coelho  is a story that can change your life — and 65 million people around the globe have experienced the powerful tale of how Santiago, a small-town shepherd boy, created his own reality.

Raised in Rio de Janeiro, Coelho rebelled against his family’s strict Roman Catholic values, resulting in his parents sending him to a psychiatric facility at a young age. Then, during a trip through Europe and Africa, Coelho walked the Santiago de Compostela, a 500-mile trek. Eight years later, Coelho wrote The Alchemist and became one of the top-selling self-help and motivational authors of all time. 

• Coelho, Paulo (Author)
• 208 Pages - 09/09/2014 (Publication Date) - HarperOne (Publisher)

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by  Don Miguel Ruiz  has sold more than nine million copies. Born and raised in rural Mexico, Ruiz did not start as a self-help guru helping others with life lessons. Instead, he was a practicing neurosurgeon before he became one of the best-known authors in the world. The Four Agreements offers readers steps that can provide long-term peace and transformation. Ruiz has also published The Fifth Agreement , co-authored by his son. 

• The Four Agreements Toltec Wisdom Collection
• Ruiz, Don Miguel (Author)
• 856 Pages - 09/01/2008 (Publication Date) - Amber-Allen Publishing (Publisher)

Bestselling author Robert Kiyosaki is a Hawaii-born Japanese-American who has become one of the most well-known personal finance experts. More than 32 million copies of Rich Dad Poor Dad have sold worldwide, and many look to  Robert Kiyosaki  for personal and business finance guidance.

Kiyosaki based his brand on his biological father, who was highly educated but struggled to earn a living, and his fictional other father, who was the richest man in Hawaii, despite being a high school dropout. Kiyosaki’s teachings have helped people worldwide rise above their circumstances and develop a sound financial future, no matter how they got their start. 

• Trade Paperback
• Kiyosaki, Robert T. (Author)
• 360 Pages - 08/16/2011 (Publication Date) - Plata Publishing (Publisher)

Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search For Meaning has sold more than 10 million copies. The Austrian psychotherapist and psychiatrist believed that the purpose of therapy should be to help clients in their search for meaning in their lives. Frankl served as the chief of the female suicide prevention program at a psychiatric hospital before working as the chief of neurology at Vienna’s Rothschild Hospital.

Frankl’s wife and mother were killed in concentration camps during the Nazi occupation of Germany, and Frankl determined that people who had meaning in their lives were more likely to make it out of concentration camps than those who felt their lives lacked meaning. Later in life, Frankl taught at both the University of Vienna and at American universities. You might also be interested in our list of authors like Yung Pueblo .

• Frankl, Viktor E. (Author)
• 192 Pages - 04/25/2017 (Publication Date) - Beacon Press (Publisher)

Heralded by Oprah and other self-improvement superstars, Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret has sold more than 30 million copies. After a series of traumatic personal and professional events, Byrne discovered the law of attraction and researched how the law had served various populations over time. The Secret shares the law of attraction with readers, inviting them to stay focused on what they want in life. You might also enjoy these authors like Wayne Dyer .

• Byrne, Rhonda (Author)
• 736 Pages - 12/09/2008 (Publication Date) - Atria Books (Publisher)

While many self-help authors don’t get into writing to make money, personal development and motivation are lucrative markets. The authors listed above haven’t just transformed people’s lives — they’ve changed their own careers as well. There may be a stigma attached to reading books by self-help authors, but that is an old and outdated view.

Personal growth and development are something everybody should be encouraged to explore. The authors on this list, and the books they have written, are full of empowering and motivating ideas and concepts that can set you on the path to not just a brighter tomorrow, but a better you, today. 

FAQs On The Best Self-Help Authors

Today, some of the current top sellers in the self-help market include How To Win Friends and Influence People, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, and The Power of Now.

The richest self-help author is Tony Robbins, with a net worth of $480 million.

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Bryan Collins is the owner of Become a Writer Today. He's an author from Ireland who helps writers build authority and earn a living from their creative work. He's also a former Forbes columnist and his work has appeared in publications like Lifehacker and Fast Company.

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Seductive Delusions

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Is Philosophy Self-Help?

In search of practical wisdom

In the past decade or so, there’s been a flowering of philosophical self-help—books authored by academics but intended to instruct us all. You can learn How to Be a Stoic , How to Be an Epicurean or How William James Can Save Your Life ; you can walk Aristotle’s Way and go Hiking with Nietzsche . As of 2020, Oxford University Press has issued a series of “Guides to the Good Life”: short, accessible volumes that draw practical wisdom from historical traditions in philosophy, with entries on existentialism, Buddhism, Epicureanism, Confucianism and Kant.

In the interest of full disclosure: I’ve planted seeds in this garden myself. In 2017, I published Midlife: A Philosophical Guide , and five years later, Life is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way . Both could be shelved without injustice in the self-help section. But both exhibit some discomfort with that fact. When I wrote Midlife , on the heels of a midlife crisis—philosophy, which I had loved, felt hollow and repetitive, a treadmill of classes to teach and papers to write, with tenure a gilded cage—I adopted the conventions of the self-help genre partly tongue-in-cheek. The midlife crisis invites self-mockery, and I was happy to oblige: there’s respite to be found in laughing at oneself. If my options were to quit my job, have an extramarital affair or write a navel-gazing book, my wife and I were glad that I had chosen option three. I hope the book helped others too—but it never really faced up to the problems of its project.

Asking a professor of moral philosophy for life advice can seem quixotic, like asking an expert on the mind-body problem to perform brain surgery. Philosophy is an abstract field of argument and theory: this is true as much of ethics as it is of metaphysics. Why should reflection in this vein—ruthless, complex, conceptual—make us happier, more well-adjusted people? (If you’ve spent time with philosophers, you may doubt that it has such salutary effects.) And why should philosophers want to join the self-help movement, anyway?

Historians often trace the origins of self-help to 1859, when the aptly monikered Samuel Smiles published Self-Help: With Illustrations of Character and Conduct , a practical guide to self-improvement that became an international blockbuster. (The term itself derives from earlier writing by Thomas Carlyle and Ralph Waldo Emerson.) 1 1. As Vladimir Trendafilov points out , Carlyle had used the phrase much earlier, in correspondence from 1822 and in fiction from 1831. According to Asa Briggs , Smiles took the phrase “self-help” from Emerson; but since Sartor Resartus was first published in America with a preface by Emerson in 1836, it is possible that Emerson took the phrase from Carlyle. Vladimir Trendafilov tracks Smiles’s use of the phrase instead to an unsigned editorial in the Leeds Times in 1836, written by Robert Nicoll: “Heaven helps those who help themselves, and self-help is the only effectual help.” Smiles inspired readers across the globe, from Nigeria to Japan. And he inspired imitators—thousands of them. Between his time and ours, self-help has grown into a multibillion-dollar industry.

Smiles was a social reformer, but his book tells people that reform begins at home: self-transformation is, he promises, a sure path to success. The fantasy of self-reliance is a hallmark of the genre—and a focus of political critique. According to the literary critic Beth Blum , “self-help is widely understood as a technology of neoliberal self-governance used to discipline citizens and manage populations”: the social function of self-help is to obfuscate injustice, directing us to work not on society but ourselves. As if that wasn’t bad enough, self-help provokes eye-rolling cynicism. It has become “synonymous with sentimentality, idiocy, and hucksterism”—and this from one of its foremost advocates, the bestselling Alain de Botton. According to its detractors, self-help is glib, politically obtuse and intellectually dishonest: embarrassing, if not shameful. Philosophy is better off without it.

What, then, should we make of the philosophers who write self-help books? Are they bowing to market forces, dumbing down ideas to cash in on a credulous readership? Or returning to a calling they should never have renounced, “a region that from time immemorial was regarded as the true field of philosophy”—in the words of Theodor Adorno, no admirer of dumbing down or cashing in—“but which … has lapsed into intellectual neglect, sententious whimsy and finally oblivion: the teaching of the good life”?

If self-help as a distinctive genre is an invention of the Victorian era, thinking and writing aimed at better living is not. In this broader sense, self-help was entwined with philosophy at the birth of the Western tradition. In Plato’s Republic , “the argument concerns no ordinary topic but the way we ought to live”; and in the Apology , Socrates definitively states: “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Philosophy is not just a guide to life; it’s an essential part of living well.

By philosophy, Socrates meant ethics, the systematic study of that extraordinary topic, how to live. Like Diogenes the Cynic, his descendant, he disdained the metaphysical speculations of the pre-Socratic philosophers, who argued that all is flux, or that all is one, or that all is water. But Socrates’s more dominant descendants, Plato and Aristotle, disagreed : they argued that philosophy as a whole, including its more esoteric parts—like metaphysics—lies at the heart of the best human life. This idea was common ground among the Hellenistic schools, the Stoics, Skeptics and Epicureans who shaped philosophy in ancient Rome. 2 2. For a fuller discussion, to which I am indebted, see John Cooper, Pursuits of Wisdom: Six Ways of Life in Ancient Philosophy (2012). They promised a life of tranquility to those who grasp reality as it is.

When contemporary writers treat ancient philosophy as self-help, they tend to minimize its metaphysical presumptions. But the Stoic injunction to let go of what is out of your control—“If you kiss your child or your wife, say to yourself that it is a human being that you’re kissing; and then, if one of them should die, you won’t be upset”— tends to ring hollow without a Stoic faith in providence. And it’s distorting when contemporary readers, like the psychologist Jonathan Haidt, extract from Aristotle a pedestrian vision of the good life as “one where you develop your strengths, realize your potential, and become what it is in your nature to become.” For Aristotle, the nature you should perfect is not your individual potential, but an objective human nature whose ideal expression lies in theoretical contemplation of the cosmos.

I’m not here to make a case for the revival of metaphysics as self-help. Nor do I agree with Socrates. Like Iris Murdoch, I believe that “an unexamined life can be virtuous.” But Murdoch was surely right that the question “How can we make ourselves better?” is one “that moral philosophers should attempt to answer.”

This thought persists through the ups and downs of the Western tradition into the early modern period—at which point it falters. It’s unfair to blame a single thinker for the fractures that began to surface then. But David Hume is representative. Bringing the methods of Newtonian natural science to “moral subjects,” Hume compared himself to an “anatomist” who seeks the “most secret Springs & Principles” of mind and body. His Treatise of Human Nature ends with a cautionary note: “The anatomist ought never to emulate the painter; nor in his accurate dissections and portraitures of the smaller parts of the human body, pretend to give his figures any graceful and engaging attitude or expression.” According to this dictum, a moral philosopher is not a moralist who guides us to virtue but a scientist who dissects what virtue is. The work of the anatomist may or may not help the painter, but there’s a clear division of labor. To anatomize is not to paint, and philosophy is not self-help.

Hume’s distinction has shaped the self-conception of subsequent moral philosophers. They may frame principles for living better lives, but it’s not their job to pitch advice for self-improvement of the sort one finds in Samuel Smiles. If these projects are connected, the connection is frayed, like a rope bridge across a ravine. Safer to stay on your own side, building theories of morality indifferent to applicable self-help—or self-help spaces unencumbered by philosophy. With rare exceptions—like the Autobiography of John Stuart Mill, which philosophized his nervous breakdown—the moral theory of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries does not look much like contemporary self-help. Its field is the construction and demolition of abstract arguments, addressed to ever more intricate questions, not the directive wisdom of the sage.

If philosophers hope to span this gulf, they will need a blueprint, or at least a sketch, of the bridge between theory and practice, an inkling of the flaw in Hume’s analogy. How can philosophy as it now exists—a discipline of argument, analysis and abstract principle—make us into better people, living better lives?

I’m not alone in asking this question or in being struck by the recent bloom of philosophical self-help. A mark of its professional recognition is the publication of an essay by Meghan Sullivan in the flagship journal, Ethics, that treats the Oxford Guides to the Good Life as specimens of a type. Sullivan calls this type “applied tradition”:

In applied tradition the focal questions concern how a person can embrace a comprehensive life goal, like enlightenment (Buddhists), sagehood (Confucians), freedom (Kantians), authenticity (existentialists), or flourishing (Aristotelians). Like applied ethics, applied tradition has its characteristic method: the philosopher takes a question where there are moral and practical stakes particularly with respect to the life goal, identifies ideas and practices within a tradition that might answer the question, and then develops a plan for implementing those ideas and practices within the seeker’s life.

This is one way to think about philosophy as self-help: it recruits a given tradition and makes it newly relevant. Go back to a time when philosophy functioned as self-help and recreate it in the present. If a tradition was therapeutic once before, why not again?

Yet as a writer of philosophical self-help, I’ve never thought of what I was doing in these terms. I don’t just mean that I’m more eclectic, dispensing “doses of Schopenhauer, Wittgenstein, Aristotle, and others,” to quote Sullivan’s description of my work. I mean that I am trying to get things right. When I engage with Aristotle, say, I’m as much concerned with his mistakes—an obsession with the ideal life, a meritocracy of friendship—as with his ethical insights.

If philosophy has authority, it’s the authority of truth, not tradition. Of the authors of the Oxford Guides, Sullivan writes: “These philosophers see themselves more as generating material that might fruitfully guide those drawn to the traditions than as adjudicating between the traditions.” But philosophy must judge. I don’t see how to reconcile its alethic self-image with a view on which one simply picks a goal—enlightenment, sagehood, freedom, authenticity or flourishing—and taps philosophy (and psychology) for the means. We have to know what the goal should be.

The picture I’m opposing is explicit in a recent book that is otherwise very good, How to Live a Good Life: A Guide to Choosing Your Personal Philosophy , edited by three philosophers: Massimo Pigliucci, Skye Cleary and Daniel Kaufman. The book has fifteen chapters, retailing “philosophies of life” from Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism through Aristotle, Epicurus and the Stoics to the monotheistic religions, Ethical Culture, existentialism, pragmatism, Effective Altruism and secular humanism. Each thinker was invited to “reflect publicly on their choice of philosophy of life, explaining … why it works for them.” The options are offered up for our selection, like suits to purchase off the rack.

There is little acknowledgment that a central element of most every outlook in the book is that it alone is true and every other outlook false. What we get in place of argument is appeal to personal style. “What Buddhism might offer,” Owen Flanagan writes in the first chapter, “is a relatively stable sense of serenity and contentment, not the sort of feeling state that is widely sought and promoted in the West as the best kind of happiness.” Hiram Crespo became an Epicurean “after realizing that the Epicurean philosophy was the most satisfying for me,” not through being convinced that it was true. And in embracing Ethical Culture, Anne Klaeysen made “a deeply personal decision to attribute worth and dignity to every human being.”

In a passage that would shock Aristotle, Daniel Kaufman, whose “preferred philosophy of life [is] Aristotelianism,” buys wholesale the metaphor of clothes: “It is not enough, then, that one admire a philosophy for its intellectual qualities. It must be well suited to the type of person one is and the type of life one leads, an ill-fitting philosophy being even more obvious and awkward and ultimately useless than an ill-fitting suit.” But Aristotle believed that his philosophy was true —one size fits all—not a good look for some that others need not sport.

This sharpens the problem implicit in Hume’s distinction. If we are in pursuit of truth, not expressing our taste, if we take a critical stance toward consoling traditions, what assurance do we have that philosophy will help, not harm? In his madly egocentric autobiography, Ecce Homo , Nietzsche wrote: “my truth is terrible.” For all we know, philosophy will drive us to despair.

When I was writing Midlife in the early 2010s, I didn’t have an answer to these problems. As it happened, thinking through regret and the relentless grind of things to do did give rise to insights that afforded consolation. (For instance, that missing out in middle age is the inevitable side effect of something good: the wild excess of things worth wanting, too many to contain within a single life.) But if you’d asked me why philosophy assuaged my midlife crisis, I could only say that I got lucky.

I think I have the rudiments of a theory now, though: a vision of philosophy as self-help that turns on reconceiving both. It begins by distinguishing happiness—a subjective state of mind—from the activity of living well. Imagine someone submerged in sustaining fluid, electrodes plugged into their brain, being fed each day a stream of consciousness that simulates an ideal life. Unaware that it’s unreal, they’re wildly happy. But their life does not go well. They don’t do most of what they think they’re doing or know most of what they think they know, and they don’t interact with anyone or anything but the machine. You wouldn’t wish it on someone you love: to be imprisoned in a vat, alone forever, duped.

If it aimed at nothing more than happiness, self-help would be a soulless enterprise. But it needn’t take that form. The idea of “living well” that animates the philosophical tradition—the aim of philosophical self-help—is to treat oneself and others as one should. It’s a platitude that we should try to live that way, but as Iris Murdoch argued in The Sovereignty of Good , we can do so only through the hard-won truth. We live within the world we see, “in the moral sense of ‘see’ [that calls for] moral imagination and moral effort.”

The vision intrinsic to living well need not rest on elaborate reasoning or systematic theory of the sort philosophers flaunt. It aims at an abundant honesty about one’s circumstance, about oneself and others. It is knowledge of this kind that tells us how to feel and what to do. But the difference between vision and philosophy is overblown. For Murdoch, attention turns on refining our concepts, portraying people as they are, while her philosophy interrogates the concepts that articulate our social world. To think about thinking of others in terms of attention, not “impersonal quasi-scientific knowledge of the ordinary world” but “a refined and honest perception of what is really the case,” is to see ourselves differently.

Moral philosophy often works this way: the role of argument is not to compel assent—it almost never does—but to build conceptual schemes and through connection create new meaning. It’s what I’m doing now: sketching the relationship between moral philosophy, truth and argument in a way that makes room for philosophical self-help. It’s what Murdoch is doing when she identifies love with “the perception of individuals”: shifting our conceptions of attention, knowledge and love.

The stickiest ideas in philosophical self-help are not proofs but concepts or distinctions. Take the cliché “living in the present,” which calls to mind the German spiritual guru Eckhart Tolle, for whom “time is an illusion.” “In the Now, in the absence of time,” he counsels, “all your problems dissolve.” Despite the hyperbole, there’s something right in the idea that we should give “more attention to the doing than to the result [we] want to achieve through it.” Philosophy can make sense of this , contrasting “telic” activities, which aim at terminal ends—like earning a promotion, having a child or writing a book—with activities that are “atelic.” Philosophizing, parenting, spending time with friends: you can stop doing these things, but you can’t complete them, leaving nothing more to do. With telic activities, fulfillment is deferred to the future then archived in the past, so that the present feels empty—but atelic activities are fully realized in the Now. To live in the present is to cherish the value of the atelic, so easily neglected in our project-driven lives.

What philosophy gives us here is a conceptual lens: a capacity for self-audit that comes from asking what we value and what kind of value it has. It’s the redescription of life that is ethically orienting. Perhaps surprisingly, this way of thinking speaks to the political critique of self-help. Murdoch borrowed the concept of attention and its relation to love from the French philosopher and mystic Simone Weil; but while Murdoch was philosophically apolitical, Weil was not. For Weil, refining the concepts with which to frame our social circumstance was a politically urgent task. As World War II loomed over Europe, she would write: “To clarify thought, to discredit the intrinsically meaningless words, and to define the use of others by precise analysis—to do this, strange though it may appear, might be a way of saving human lives.”

Philosophy seeds new concepts, novel understandings—as it might be, alienation, ideology, structural injustice; new ways of comprehending freedom, status, power. Philosophical argument serves more to nurture these concepts and give them life than to establish theorems critics can’t dispute. In Murdoch’s words, “the task of moral philosophers [is] to extend, as poets may extend, the limits of language, and enable it to illuminate regions which were formerly dark.”

The most profound achievements of moral and political philosophy lie not in abstract theory or geometric proof but in finding words by which to light our way to lives well-lived. If that is not self-help, what is?

If you liked this essay, you’ll love reading The Point in print.

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The 7 Best Self-Help Books to Change Your Life

Find yourself in one of these versatile, mind-changing reads

Mary K. Tatum is a licensed mental health counselor and psychotherapist and has worked in the field of psychology for over 15 years, with seven years in the private practice setting.

Amy Morin, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and international bestselling author. Her books, including "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do," have been translated into more than 40 languages. Her TEDx talk,  "The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong," is one of the most viewed talks of all time.

Emily is a board-certified science editor who has worked with top digital publishing brands like Voices for Biodiversity, Study.com, GoodTherapy, Vox, and Verywell.

Until proven otherwise, it’s safe to assume that—as the saying goes—nobody’s perfect. That means we have room for at least some improvement in our lives . And no, we’re not talking about getting a higher-paying job or a new haircut: we’re referring to inner improvement . This involves working on managing some of our less-than-desirable habits and traits—things like being unable to trust other people, having difficulties with interpersonal communication, or lacking self-confidence. 

That’s where self-help books can come in handy. It’s basically like someone has thought extensively about the general challenge you’re facing, and then walks you through steps to help you figure it out—or at least think about it more clearly. To be clear: self-help books are not a replacement for working with mental health professionals. If you’re dealing with a mental illness, seek out a credentialed person you can speak with in person (or over a video call). But for situations without a clinical element, a self-help book can make a difference.

To help you narrow down your options, here are the best self-help books according to the experts.

"A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose" by Eckhart Tolle

Can be helpful to reivist certain passages, as needed

Discusses how to effectively process and find meaning in suffering

A lot of overlap with content found in the author's previous book

Many consider Eckhart Tolle one of the great thought leaders our time. Prior to " A New Earth ," Tolle wrote "The Power of Now," a best seller and must-read. The reason "A New Earth" makes this list is quite simple: it goes beyond teaching how to live in the moment and helps readers learn how to turn their suffering into peace. All types of suffering are addressed in the book, from anger and grief to jealousy and anxiety.

Tolle talks a lot about the ego and how to separate ourselves from it. His examples and recommended exercises are not just hocus pocus; they really work and are something anyone can do. Whether your suffering is rooted in jealousy, anger, grief, sadness, anxiety, or depression , Tolle will help you see life from varied perspectives, awakening you to your life’s purpose.

This book is great as a reference point, too. Those who pick up a copy will read it front to back then revisit Tolle's words over and over again. Others will keep it by their nightstands and flip to a chapter when they’re feeling some excess baggage creep in and could use some words of wisdom.

Price at time of publication: $18

"You Are a Badass" by Jen Sincero

Engaging exercises

Accessible writing style

Not the most empathetic towards people with depression

Contains some microaggressions and fat shaming

Far too often, fear gets the best of us. Jen Sincero helps readers go beyond that fear in her New York Times best seller " You Are a Badass ." What sets this self-help book apart from the others are the engaging end-of-chapter exercises.

Instead of casting the book aside and letting it collect dust after you read the last page, you'll be inspired to go back and reflect on the previous exercises you responded to. The exercises also drive home the points Sincero makes through her writing. When you feel a dip in your confidence, going back to your entries will put a positive spin on your day and remind you why you should show yourself more self-love . Also make sure to check out Sincero's follow-up book, "You Are a Badass at Making Money."

Price at time of publication: $8

Dr. Leela R. Magavi, MD, psychiatrist and regional medical director for Community Psychiatry.

Some self-help books include daily therapeutic activities and provide comfort and guidance to individuals who are suffering. I recommend individuals meet with a psychiatrist and therapist, and concurrently utilize self-help books to expedite their healing.

"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens" by Sean Covey

Text is broken up using cartoons and quotes

Could be beneficial for both teens and parents

Updated in 2014, but still can feel outdated

Unnecessary references to dieting and losing weight

Many have read, or at least have heard about, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey. Covey's son Sean followed in his footsteps, making a spinoff version for teenagers that uses the same principles to help young adults master formative areas of their lives.

To make this self-help book age-appropriate and downright fun to read, Covey breaks up the text with cartoons, quotes, brainstorming ideas, and stories from real teens to bring the book together. " The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens " covers   topics like  body image , friendships, relationships, goal-setting, peer pressure, bullying, internet safety, and so much more. Gift this book to your teenage son, daughter, niece, nephew, or grandchild. It's the perfect keepsake to pass down to future generations of teens too.

"What Are You Hungry For?" by Deepak Chopra

Helps readers understand their reasons for certain types of eating

More than simply a guide to healthy eating

Even though it’s not a traditional weight loss book, that component being included at all might turn some people off

Can feel like any other book on weight loss and our relationship with food

Deepak Chopra is the self-help guru of our time, and any one of his books could be recommended for various reasons. " What Are You Hungry For? " will help you see your relationship with food in an entirely new light.

While this self-help book could be considered a guide to help with weight loss, it’s really so much more. Chopra does talk about losing weight and also gives a pretty regimented recommendation on what to eat. But he also digs deeper into the reasoning behind our desire to seek this transformation, and fulfillment is at the center of this argument.

Since change isn’t easy for most, the book offers a lot of intention-setting tips to help readers determine the motives behind their goals. Attaching an emotion to the things you want in life, health-related or otherwise, makes it easier to stay the course when the going gets tough.

Price at time of publication: $16

"Declutter Your Mind" by S.J. Scott

Tackles negative thinking patterns—something a lot of people struggle with

Includes helpful, actionable exercises

May not feel as applicable to people who aren’t self-employed

Writing can feel self-promotional at times

The subtitle of this book provides great insight into the heart of the book: How to stop worrying, relieve anxiety and eliminate negative thinking. " Declutter Your Mind " is a book that is very hands-on with its reader and full of various exercises to engage your mindset. You will learn the causes of mental clutter, how to change negative thoughts to positive ones, strategies to help with rocky relationships, how to identify what’s important to you, the importance of meditation, how to goal set, and much more.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with stress, worry, or anxiety, this powerful book will do its part in offering various techniques, tips, and tricks to cope with an overactive mind. Reviewers consistently note how much they enjoy the actionable exercises in the book and that the co-authors offer more than a sermon on the importance of living mindfully and in the moment.

Price at time of publication: $15

"Big Magic: Create Living Beyond Fear" by Elizabeth Gilbert

Great for creative people (or those who want to be more creative)

Accessible and conversational writing style makes it easy to read

Gilbert’s “tough love” approach doesn't always translate

Reads more as a memoir than a self-help book in parts

For one reason or another, some were turned off by Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling "Eat Pray Love". But don’t let that turn you away from reading her other material, in particular, " Big Magic ". If you’re an artist or creator of any type and have struggled with a blockage that prevents you from pursuing your calling to its fullest, you’ll want to give this a read.

From creating new habits (and ridding yourself of old ones) to overcoming fear and surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals, Gilbert hits the nail on the head as she dissects the obstacles a creative person may face in pursuing their dreams. Her honest, conversational, no-BS tone will light a fire in your soul and help you be upfront with yourself about what you want from life. A highlight of this book is the usage of real-life examples from regular men and women across the country who have endured in their creative feats.

Price at time of publication: $21

"The Wisdom of Sundays" by Oprah Winfrey

Full of what Oprah Winfrey considers “life-changing insights”

It’s like sitting in on a conversation between Oprah and major thought leaders

Print can be small and hard to read at times

Oprah is the queen of interviewing spiritual gurus, world leaders, therapists, doctors, and other thought leaders. " The Wisdom of Sundays " takes the best-of-the-best from these conversations and combines them into one uplifting read.

The book has 240 pages full of snippets from what Oprah refers to as "life-changing insights". Authors in The Wisdom of Sundays include   Shonda Rimes, Cheryl Strayed, Tony Robbins, Thich Nhat Hahn, Wayne Dyer, and so many more. Take your time with each individual page to make sure you don't skim over any of the wonderful and thought-provoking insights inside.

Price at time of publication: $28

Final Verdict

This one’s tricky, because a self-help book that one person hated could be the one that changed another person’s life. Having said that, if you’re new to the genre, you probably want to stick with a book with a broader appeal, like "Declutter Your Mind" ( view on Amazon ). While not everyone is looking to mold a highly effective teen, everyone does have something that makes them anxious, and this book provides a manageable way of identifying and addressing some of the ones that are holding you back. 

What to Look for in a Self-Help Book

Selecting a self-help book is, for the most part, a highly personal decision (with the exception  being cases when a book is so popular you feel the need to read it, even if you wouldn’t have done so on your own). Given that this genre is not one-size-fits-all—and that people respond to a wide range of styles, topics, and tones—finding the right self-help books for yourself can be a process of trial and error. But, to help guide you through that process, here are a few general things to look for when purchasing a self-help book:

Writing style and tone:

First, think about what kind of book that is likely to be the most helpful in your current situation, as well as the kind you’d actually like to read. These two categories don’t necessarily overlap. For example, you may think you want a clinical-sounding, research-backed guide through a particular condition or situation, but in reality, would find it so boring that you’d never pick it up. And a self-help book just sitting on the shelf isn’t helping anyone.

If you think you’d respond well to something funny, or that it would help hold your interest, look for a self-help book that injects humor into its pages. (And yes, highly qualified experts with fancy degrees can also be hilarious.)

Something your therapist recommends:

If you are working with some type of therapist or counselor , ask them for recommendations for self-help books. Not only are they probably very familiar with this genre, but they also have gotten to know you during your sessions, and may have a good idea of the type of book that you’d benefit from the most.

In addition to tone, self-help books also come in several different formats. “Some individuals fare better with more structure and guidance, while others excel with more creative and fluid feedback,” Dr. Leela R. Magavi, MD , psychiatrist and regional medical director for Community Psychiatry explains. “Some people enjoy reading about concepts, while others prefer completing daily tasks and worksheets.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Like many things in life, what you get out of self-help books depends on the time and effort you put into not only reading them, but also doing the work. And no, that doesn’t necessarily include actual worksheets: the “work” also involves taking what you’ve read, sitting with it, processing it, and figuring out how you can use it in your own life (if applicable). 

“Self-help books can, in truth, be very helpful if an individual puts forth the effort to integrate the information learned from the book into their daily life,” Summer R. Thompson , DNP, PMHNP-BC, a mental health nurse practitioner at Community Psychiatry explains.

When someone finds the right self-help book and puts the time into reading it and doing the work, it can have a number of benefits. One is that they can “provide a concrete blueprint for an individual who has identified an issue in their life to navigate addressing it in a healthy manner on their own,” Thompson explains.   

In addition to providing a general blueprint for how a person can approach some of their biggest challenges, self-help books can add structure to individuals’ day-to-day life. “They can motivate individuals to try different strategies and venture into uncomfortable territory,” says Dr. Leela R. Magavi, MD , psychiatrist and regional medical director for Community Psychiatry .

Beyond that, Magavi notes that self-help books can lead to more fluid and healthy communication at work and at home, and many allow individuals to remain introspective and practice self-compassion. “It helps individuals identify ways in which they can respond to inevitable stress in a more positive way, and reiterates the fact that they have the power to write their own story and determine their own emotional experience,” she explains.

What the Experts Say

“Self-help books have helped many men and women initiate the often-daunting task of processing their thoughts and assessing their insecurities and weaknesses. Self-help books allow individuals to try different techniques and find what works the best for them to assuage anxiety and confront tumultuous times with grace.” — Dr. Leela R. Magavi, MD , psychiatrist and regional medical director for Community Psychiatry . 

“When looking at self-help books, it is important to look for books that provide clear and attainable goals in the context of the issue you are addressing. If a book makes recommendations that you do not feel are achievable in the context of your life, the book will likely not be very helpful to you and end up collecting dust rather than being an effective self-improvement tool.” — Summer R. Thompson , DNP, PMHNP-BC, mental health nurse practitioner at Community Psychiatry

Why Trust Verywell Mind?

Erinne Magee is a freelance writer covering health, wellness and lifestyle topics. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and more.

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Yuko

As a seasoned health writer and editor with a special focus on mental health and well-being, Elizabeth Yuko understands how powerful stress-relieving activities can be for many people—as well as the fact that they’re not one-size-fits-all. With decades of first-hand experience dealing with anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, she’s always on the lookout for new (and research-backed) products, techniques, and services that can help people cope with stress and other mental health challenges. 

By Mary K. Tatum, MS, LMHC Mary is a licensed mental health counselor and psychotherapist with 15 years of experience working in the psychology field. She earned a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Bluefield College and a Master of Science in Psychology from Palm Beach Atlantic University. She began in social work and then moved to drug rehab settings, working as a therapist, group facilitator, and clinical director. She specializes in family dynamic systems, trauma recovery, improving resilience, addiction recovery, and the psychology of successful business management.

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Blog • Perfecting your Craft

Posted on Apr 18, 2022

How to Write a Self-Help Book (That Actually Helps People)

✍️ This post was written by Kleopatra Olympiou, a writer from Cyprus and holder of an MA in Creative Writing from Durham University.

You’ve overcome an obstacle or problem and learned some important life lessons — now you want to write a self-help book and share your experience and wisdom with other people. You’re ready to give them the tools they need to grow and improve their lives. 

This post walks you through the whole process, sharing some tips from expert self-help editors on the Reedsy marketplace. Here’s how you can write your own self-help book:

1. Identify a specific problem your book will remedy

2. make your readers believe you can help them, 3. don’t forget that you’re telling a story , 4. give your readers specific actions they can take, 5. pick an appealing and informative title (and subtitle), 6. always cite your sources, 7. give readers something extra at the end.

To some extent, nonfiction books (with the important exception of memoirs and creative nonfiction) are about identifying a problem and offering a solution. This could mean practical, step-by-step advice or a deeper, more nuanced understanding of an existing situation that changes the reader’s perception. Self-help books are no different: your job as a writer is to zero in on a particular problem, and provide your reader a way to deal with it.

Accept that you need to limit your scope

Many self-help writers begin with a very general idea, like overcoming mental illness or becoming a happier person. Broad, abstract topics like this are great as a first instinct, but you’ll need to refine the scope of your book for the sake of your readers, your sanity, and your commercial potential. 

Abstract concepts are hard to comprehensively address in a helpful way that provides concrete insights and advice. They’re also notoriously difficult to sell to a traditional self-help publisher , who will be looking for something new and unique with a defined target audience. As of March 2022, there are over 70,000 titles in the Self-Help category on Amazon — so writing a generic book about “finding happiness” won’t quite cut it. 

Distill your idea

A good way to focus the scope of your book is to fill in the blanks of this imaginary pledge to your reader:

If you are ____ and your problem is ____, I can help you by ____.

This pledge helps you identify your audience, the problem they’re facing, and its solution. We’ll use ParentShift: Ten Universal Truths That Will Change the Way You Raise Your Kids by Wendy Thomas Russell, Linda Hatfield, and Ty Hatfield as a vehicle to explore all three. 

Understanding your target audience is crucial when writing any type of nonfiction. Not only will it help you market your book , but it will also be the driving force that shapes your book and helps you write it well . After all, how can you help someone if you don’t know who they are and what they need?

So ask yourself who will gain the most from the material in your book. The answer should be as specific as possible. Let’s look at  ParentShift: Ten Universal Truths That Will Change the Way You Raise Your Kids . 

And don’t just stop there, think about location, cultural context, and occupation: parents who work full-time might especially need fast solutions — with triple shifts, play dates and a mountain of housework to stay on top of, ten universal truths might be as much as they can handle. The more detail you have on your demographic, the easier it will be to target them. 

After you’ve located your target audience, figure out the precise aspects of their problem (or “pain point”) and identify the many shapes they might take. ParentShift , for example, immediately sets up a problem: you’re struggling with raising your children, you know it, and common parenting methods aren’t working for you.

When you’ve identified your central problem, make it visible in the title, subtitle, or blurb, so that your audience can tell that this book is for them right away. 

How does a book on terrible teens and toddlers solve the problem of mediocre parenting? Well, as ParentShift ’s blurb notes, it “challenges some of our most popular disciplinary tools and replaces them with more than a dozen ‘toolkits’ designed to help parents solve virtually any household without sabotaging their long term goals.” In other words, this book helps you analyze your problem in new ways, and shows you alternative courses of action. 

Presumably, this is the kind of insight that made you want to write a book in the first place, so we’ll assume you have a good understanding of your own ideas here — but just in case the thoughts are getting jumbled in your mind, try talking out your ideas with a friend to make sure they’re easy to understand and you’re able to communicate them clearly. Then put pen to paper, and repeat the process!

The success of a self-help book hinges entirely on your credibility and authority as a writer. After all, you wouldn’t wander down the street asking random people to help you improve your life, would you? That’s why you’ll often see beloved media personalities publish self-help books: they have an inbuilt audience of people who already trust them.

But how can you create trust with prospective readers if you’re not Russell Brand or Oprah Winfrey ? Two ways to do this involve sharing facts about yourself — the third, and sometimes forgotten one, has to do with style and structure.

Qualifications tell readers others can vouch for your knowledge

One way in which authors can show that they’re authoritative sources is by noting any relevant qualifications. For example, Brené Brown regularly cites her work as a researcher and psychology professor when examining the kinds of people who struggle to be vulnerable in her book Daring Greatly . But university degrees aren’t the only qualification that matters — take Matthieu Ricard, for example, whose book The Art of Meditation is infinitely more appealing because of the fact that its writer is a Buddhist monk, and so someone the reader trusts to know meditation well.

Personal experiences say “I’ve been there”

By opening up and sharing stories from your personal past, you show readers you’re speaking from real, first-hand experience — not just theorizing from a distance. For example, Louise Hay’s self-help classic, The Power Is Within You , followed her many years of work with HIV/AIDS patients and her own experience of cervical cancer, and focuses on how positive thought patterns can help lead to improved wellbeing. Were Hay not speaking from experience, skeptical readers might struggle to see why they should read her book — but by letting millions of readers walk a mile in her shoes, she gave them a reason to listen to what she had to say.

Persuasive style and structure matter the most

While it’s important that readers can see that you are worthy of their trust, resist the urge to turn your book into a LinkedIn page of your Expert Qualifications. 

Elaine O’Neill , a former Hay House Commissioning Editor, points out that self-help writers often miss a trick in getting readers to believe in them by neglecting style and structure: 

"One mistake that I find new self-help authors make more often than anything else is forgetting their reader. They believe they have to include everything they've learned into their manuscript, without thinking about what the reader needs to learn, and how to feed it to them bit by bit. Authors can show their authority by really knowing their reader inside out and speaking to them directly, by sharing their own recovery from the same issue. 

“You want the reader to feel seen by you, and once they do, they'll trust your expertise because you've been there — and you can see they are too.”

Didacticism never works

Fiction readers are notoriously intolerant of didactic narratives — self-help books are a slightly different story, because the writer is, by default, in the position of a teacher. That said, no one likes to be spoken down to, and a superior tone will not help you assert your expertise. You aren’t running for president of the Nobel committee — you just want a reader to like you enough to listen, so make an effort to communicate your knowledge in a style of language that speaks to them.

📚 Still not sure how to present yourself? Head to our list of the 50 Best Self-Help Books of All Time and check out how each of these authors presents themselves as an authority figure.

Self-help books rarely follow a single, overarching narrative arc . Typically, they’re guided not by a narrative but by an argument or thesis — with chapters structured around stories that help illustrate the points made. 

Structure intuitively for a great reading experience

How do you make sure your book is readable, compact, and flows logically from chapter to chapter? By committing to a detailed outline before you even start to write. In traditional publishing, you will almost always first draft a book proposal which will serve as an excellent plan. But even if you’re self-publishing , making a plan is well worth your time to ensure that every chapter is necessary and contributes value.

As with novels, good beginnings can make or break a self-help book. Your introduction should tell readers a little about you and why you’re writing a book. It should also give them a quick, at-a-glance summary of what will follow. Chapter 1 is where you’ll start getting to the meat of things, sketching out the complexities of the central problem. After that, it’s up to you how the rest of the book will be structured.

If this is a point you’re really struggling with, focus on getting all your thoughts out instead, and make a note of questions or concerns to bring up with your editor later. Speaking of editors, you can request quotes from some of the best self-help editors in the industry for free, right here on Reedsy:

Give your book the help it deserves

The best self-help editors are on Reedsy. Sign up for free and meet them.

Learn how Reedsy can help you craft a beautiful book.

Solidify through anecdotes and emotional storytelling

Ideally, you should structure each chapter of your self-help book around a specific point or insight — and the best way to illustrate each point is through a story or anecdote, whether it’s personal, hypothetical, or entirely fictional. Stories have the great effect of eliciting an emotional response or more active interest by involving a character that readers can empathize with or watch with curiosity. 

Need an example? Think of the way Christianity’s teachings are shared through the parables Jesus taught lessons with: the story of the good Samaritan is infinitely more memorable than “be kind.”

Storytelling also creates interest and suspense , keeping readers invested — take a look at Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People , the first chapter of which starts as follows: 

“On May 7, 1931, the most sensational manhunt New York City had ever known had come to its climax. After weeks of search, ‘Two Gun’ Crowley—the killer, the gunman who didn’t smoke or drink—was at bay, trapped in his sweetheart’s apartment on West End Avenue.”

Only tell stories that add to your message

Self-help editor Danielle Goodman emphasizes the need to only tell stories worth telling: “When it comes to self-help books, proof of concept is absolutely necessary. That’s why story-telling can be so powerful. It lifts your advice from the page and places it in the real world of real people, like yourself and your readers. 

“The main question to ask yourself when telling pieces of your story is: Is what I’m writing in service of my message? In other words, how does this story underscore what you want the reader to feel, understand, and act on? 

“Once you know the answer, be explicit in connecting the dots for the reader. Tell them exactly why you included this story and what you want them to get out of it. And if you can’t quite figure out why this story is important to your message, leave it out for now.” 

The self-help genre is often more abstract than, say, how-to guides or even memoir, so your book may run the risk of being too woolly in its advice.  And if you’ve ever tried to get travel directions from someone who sorta kinda knows the way to the library, you’ll know how frustrating vagueness can be.

Self-help editor Kate Victory Hannisian says that “one indicator that you haven’t made your self-help advice completely clear is a comment from editors or beta-readers like this: ‘Great, but how does someone actually DO that?’

“Sometimes the solution is to see if you can break that advice into bite-sized, actionable steps. Other times, adding specific examples and vivid anecdotes with a few well-chosen details can help make your advice real and relatable for your target reader, and thus more useful to them. Depending on the type of self-help book you’re writing, these examples may come from your own experience or other sources, but the key is knowing that it’s important to show, don’t tell — even in nonfiction writing.”

Free course: How to Master the ‘Show, Don’t Tell’ Rule

You've probably heard this classic piece of writing advice a thousand times. But what does ‘Show, Don't Tell’ actually mean?

To make sure your actionable points aren’t lost in the storytelling, you can offer a recap at the end of each chapter. Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein’s A Hunter-Gatherer's Guide to the 21st Century re-iterates each of its chapters perfectly, summarizing the main takeaways in bullet points — but you can go a step further and offer a checklist of actions to take or questions the reader can ask themselves to diagnose their own needs.

Self-help titles are generally pretty formulaic, and nearly always include a subtitle:

 [Attention-Grabbing Phrase]:[Description of the Book] 

You can see this formula in action with self-help titles like:

• The 4-Hour Work Week : Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich
• The Self-Love Habit : Transform fear and self-doubt into serenity, peace and power
• The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook : A Proven Way to Accept Yourself, Build Inner Strength, and Thrive

So what do you need to bear in mind when you title your own book ? Let’s do a super-quick linguistic analysis of this genre’s common title elements. 🧠

a) Direct address

Many self-help titles address the reader directly with the second person pronoun ‘you’. As with fiction written in second person point of view , directly addressing your reader has an immediate and personal effect, especially if the title catches a reader’s eye on a store shelf or online. Here are a few examples:

• You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero
• Make Your Bed by Admiral William H. McRaven
• Declutter Your Mind by S.J. Scott ⁠and Barrie Davenport
• Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin & Joe Dominguez

b) Imperatives

Authoritative statements are attention-grabbing in the same way that second person is: by being immediate. Titles that use imperatives put this most powerful of grammatical moods to use in order to command the reader’s attention. Can’t think of any? Here’s a few:

• Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murdered by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark ⁠
• Stick with Exercise for a Lifetime by Robert Hopper 
• Find Your Artistic Voice by Lisa Congdon
• Keep Going by Austin Kleon

c) An inspirational tone

• Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach
• The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz
• Street Smart Disciplines of Successful People by Mark Mullins and John Kuhn

d) Search-optimized subtitle

When self-help covers feature these inspirational titles, they often need a subtitle to contextualize the contents of the book. These relatively prosaic second titles give a more informative description of what readers can expect. 

🚨Watch your capitals! Head over to our post covering established title capitalization rules to make sure your title is correct.

That much is obvious — what fewer people realize is that titles are often search-optimized, meaning that they are written to contain some important keywords or terms related to the topic being discussed. This helps the book be found by readers searching for those terms on Amazon. Take a look at the titles below, and notice the keywords in their subtitles — bolded for your convenience:

• The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle
• Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
• Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention — And How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari
• Tired as F*ck: Burnout at the Hands of Diet , Self-Help , and Hustle Culture by Caroline Dooner 

Confused? It’s got to do with the way Amazon’s algorithms work, as Reedsy co-founder Ricardo Fayet explains in his free book How to Market a Book . 

“If your book is ‘indexed’ for a keyword, that means it will turn up as a result when a customer enters that term into the Amazon search bar. For example, more than nine thousand e-books are indexed on the Kindle Store for “herbal remedies.” [...] The closer the match between your title, or a part of your title, and the search keyword, the higher your book will rank.”

Looking for more marketing insights? You can download Ricardo’s book for free below:

It’s unlikely that you’re the first person to ever write about your topic, or even give advice about your topic. That’s okay — different people can give different, and still useful, advice on the same issues, so don’t feel like your idea is “taken.”

The important thing is to acknowledge those who have informed your research, clearly giving them credit for ideas they have contributed. By all means add to these or expand them, but, as many a disgruntled undergraduate can attest, you should never present them as your own: that’s intellectual property theft at worst  — and at best, very uncool.

Instead, be gracious: cite your sources, describe their positions if they differ from yours, and situate yourself as one of the many voices in this dialogue. Take Cal Newport as your example — his introduction of previous contributions on the subject of technology being distracting is a masterclass in sketching out an existing discussion and clarifying your place in it:

“[This idea] is not new. [Nicholas Carr’s] The Shallows was just the first in a series of recent books to examine the Internet’s effect on our brains and work habits. These subsequent titles include William Powers’s Hamlet’s BlackBerry , John Freeman’s The Tyranny of E-mail , and Alex Soojung-Kin Pang’s The Distraction Addiction —all of which agree, more or less, that network tools are distracting us from work that requires unbroken concentration, while simultaneously degrading our capacity to remain focused. Given this existing body of evidence, I will not spend more time in this book trying to establish this point.”   — Cal Newport, 'Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World '

Consider this a bonus step, particularly useful to those writers who hope to make a living from their writing careers . Supposing a reader has finished your book, you know that you have an interest in common with them — so there may be more they can learn from you.

If you’re active on social media, teach a video course, or offer further resources on similar topics freely available on your platform, mention this in your book. Even if you have none of these things at the moment, you can offer a simple and free resource that complements your book, like a printable checklist the reader can download for easy reference. The idea is that you’ll point the reader to your website , and offer them a “ reader magnet ,” in other words allow them to download something in exchange for them signing up to your mailing list… which you’ll need to set up if you don’t already have one!

Why bother with all this? Because, as Reedsy’s Ricardo Fayet asserts in his free Reedsy Learning course on mailing lists, “your author mailing list is the one main tool you’ll use to build a long-lasting relationship with your readers, turning them into repeat buyers and unconditional fans. Every sale you make while your mailing list is not in place is basically a lost opportunity.”

Free course: Author Mailing Lists

Acquire more readers, sell more books, and make more money with the only indispensable tool in the book marketer's arsenal. Get started now.

When written with care, self-help books can boost their writer’s career, turn seriously profitable , and actually help people improve their lives. It’s a win-win if ever there was one, so take the time to polish yours and you won’t regret it. Good luck!

Continue reading

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Essay on Self Help

Students are often asked to write an essay on Self Help in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Self Help

Understanding self help.

Self Help means relying on one’s own efforts and resources rather than depending on others. It’s about taking responsibility and control of your own life.

Importance of Self Help

Self Help is crucial for personal growth. It helps us become independent, confident, and capable of facing any challenge in life.

Self Help in Daily Life

We can practice self help in daily life by doing our own tasks, solving our own problems, and making our own decisions.

Benefits of Self Help

Self Help builds self-esteem, promotes self-reliance, and encourages self-improvement. It’s the key to success and happiness in life.

250 Words Essay on Self Help

Introduction.

Self-help, often referred to as self-improvement, is a self-guided improvement strategy—usually with substantial psychological basis. It includes activities that improve awareness, identity, develop talents, build human capital, and facilitate employability, besides contributing to the realization of dreams and aspirations.

The Importance of Self-Help

The essence of self-help is the pursuit of knowledge and improvement without reliance on others. It encourages autonomy and self-reliance, fostering a sense of empowerment and control. This concept resonates with the modern world’s emphasis on individualism and personal responsibility.

The Role of Self-Help in Personal Development

Self-help plays a vital role in personal development. It encourages introspection, leading to self-awareness and self-understanding. This introspection can help individuals identify their strengths and weaknesses, allowing them to focus on areas that need improvement. Furthermore, self-help strategies often involve setting and working towards personal goals, a process that can improve motivation and self-esteem.

Self-Help and Mental Health

Self-help can also be a powerful tool for managing mental health. Many self-help strategies, such as mindfulness and cognitive behavioral techniques, have been shown to be effective in treating conditions like depression and anxiety. These techniques can be used alongside professional treatment or as a standalone approach.

In conclusion, self-help is a valuable tool for personal growth and mental health management. It fosters independence, self-awareness, and resilience, equipping individuals with the skills and knowledge they need to navigate life’s challenges. As such, self-help should be considered a key component of any comprehensive approach to personal development.

500 Words Essay on Self Help

Introduction to self help.

Self-help, as a concept, is deeply embedded in human nature and the pursuit of personal growth. It is the practice of individuals independently solving their own problems, enhancing their skills, or achieving their goals. This essay aims to discuss the importance and implications of self-help in our lives, emphasizing its role in personal development and societal contribution.

The Essence of Self Help

At its core, self-help is about self-reliance and self-improvement. It is an intrinsic drive to better oneself, to overcome personal obstacles, and to strive for a higher level of functioning. It is the embodiment of the famous proverb, “God helps those who help themselves.” This does not negate the value of external assistance, but rather emphasizes the primary role of personal effort and initiative in achieving one’s goals.

Self Help and Personal Development

The act of self-help is instrumental in personal development. It encourages introspection, which leads to a deeper understanding of oneself. Through self-help, individuals can identify their strengths and weaknesses, set realistic goals, and devise strategies to achieve them. It fosters resilience, as individuals learn to face challenges head-on, and cultivates a sense of self-efficacy, the belief in one’s ability to succeed.

Self Help in the Digital Age

In the digital age, the concept of self-help has transformed and expanded. The internet has provided a wealth of resources for self-help, from online courses and webinars to self-help books and motivational videos. These resources have made self-help more accessible, enabling individuals to learn new skills, gain knowledge, and improve their lives from the comfort of their homes.

Societal Implications of Self Help

On a broader scale, self-help contributes significantly to societal progress. When individuals improve themselves, they are better equipped to contribute to their communities and society at large. They become more productive, more responsible, and more capable of effecting positive change. Moreover, as more people engage in self-help, it fosters a culture of self-reliance and continuous learning, which can lead to collective growth and development.

Conclusion: The Power of Self Help

In conclusion, self-help is a powerful tool for personal and societal development. It empowers individuals to take charge of their lives, to overcome challenges, and to strive for continuous improvement. While external assistance can be valuable, it is ultimately the individual’s responsibility and initiative that determine their success. As we navigate the complexities of the modern world, the practice of self-help becomes increasingly crucial, embodying the essence of human resilience and the pursuit of growth.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Self Esteem
• Essay on Self Defence
• Essay on Self Control

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

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EveryWriter

A New Community of Writers

100 Self-Help Writing Prompts

December 8, 2023 by Richard Leave a Comment

Self-Help Writing Prompts

Here are 100 Self-Help writing Prompts; whether we’re cognizant of it or not, our inner emotional landscapes, thoughts, and focus profoundly shape our realities. Becoming more self-aware of these internal dimensions can reveal limiting patterns while also illuminating boundless potential for conscious growth. The writing prompts below encourage such self-inquiry across three key domains in a spirit of radical self-honesty, compassion and possibility. First, explore your current emotional states – what they may be trying to tell you as well as tools to nurture them. Then delve into patterns of thinking that may require examination and updating for a more empowered life. Finally, discover practices to anchor more intentionally into the gifts of the present moment with mindfulness. Together, these prompts offer potent springboards to manifest more joy, meaning and inner peace if engaged with openness. Each prompt is an invitation for self-discovery – no need to tackle them all at once. Simply see which pique your curiosity and let the writing be its own reward. 

25 writing prompts to help reflect on current emotions:

• How would you describe your overall mood right now? What events, thoughts or interactions contributed to how you are feeling?
• If your emotions could speak right now, what would they say? What do they need or long for?
• When was the last time you felt truly at peace? What were the circumstances and is there anything you can recreate about that moment?
• What do you wish other people understood about the way you have been feeling lately? Have you communicated this effectively?
• Which emotion or feeling tone is most dominant for you at the present moment – stress, sadness, joy, irritation, nervousness? What triggered it?
• Are you suppressing or ignoring any emotions right now? If so, why? What might happen if you gave them space to breathe?
• If you were to paint a picture of your inner emotional landscape today, what colors and imagery would you use? What title would you give the painting?
• Which areas of your life are in greatest need of more patience, compassion and nurturing right now? How can you give that to yourself?
• What false stories about yourself have your emotions been telling you lately? How might you replace them with kinder truths?
• What’s one small act of self-care you could do tonight to reset your state of mind before this day ends?
• Write a short dialogue between your happiest self and your most stressed self right now. What wisdom might they share?
• When in the last 24 hours did you feel most like your authentic self? What allowed you to feel that way and how can you recreate it?
• How much grief, sadness or disappointment have your emotions been carrying lately? Is it time to fully acknowledge then release some of that weight?
• If a close friend described the emotional state you are in right now, what advice or support would you offer them? Should you take your own advice?
• Which song or artist best encapsulates the emotional landscape inside you lately? What significance does this have?
• Have any under-processed emotional hurts from your past been affecting your mood and reactions lately? Perhaps now is a good time to heal them.
• What old rule about how you “should” feel or react is your inner critic judging you with right now? Talk back to your inner critic.
• If you made a list of things that still excite, inspire or energize you, despite your recent mood, what would it include? Reconnect with those things.
• When you picture yourself five or ten years from now, fully living your purpose and greatest passions – what positive emotional state do you envision yourself experiencing? How do your current feelings compare?
• Have you fallen into any “emotional loops” recently – repeating the same negative thought cycles and feelings again and again? How might you disrupt those loops?
• Of all the difficult feelings you are contending with lately, which one do you think you might benefit most from embracing rather than resisting? What would be the first step in that direction?
• What comforting words would the person who loves and understands you best say about the turbulent emotions you’ve been experiencing lately? Let those kind words sink in.
• Knowing that all emotions eventually shift and fade if we allow them, what do you feel your emotional state needs in this moment – expression, release, distraction, stillness, nurturance? Provide that for yourself.
• What is one simple comforting ritual, small act of self-care or grounding technique you could incorporate every day this week to give your emotions the support they need? Try one right now.
• Observe any emotions arising in response to these questions without judgement. Simply watch them, welcome them and let them move through you. Emotions too shall pass. Feel what you need to feel, then refocus on the present.

25 thought-provoking writing prompts to encourage self-reflection:

• What thoughts tend to preoccupy your mind when you have quiet moments alone? What do these recurring thoughts reveal about what’s important to you?
• Is there any negative self-talk you find yourself thinking lately? How might you reframe these thoughts in a more constructive way?
• What areas of your life tend to fill you with the most worry, dread or anxiety when you think about them? How might you shift to a more positive mindset instead?
• What vision or possibility for your future fills you with the most excitement when you imagine it? What’s the first step toward making it a reality?
• Is there something going on in your life that you intentionally try not to think too much about? Why and would it serve you better to give it more mental focus?
• Do you feel that your current thought patterns and mindsets generally serve you well or hold you back in some way? How might you improve your thinking?
• Do certain people or situations reliably trigger unhelpful thought patterns like self-criticism, resentment or envy in you? How could you better manage your reactions next time?
• Are your thoughts overly focused on the past, present or future? Would achieving a better balance improve your current mental state or quality of life?
• Is there a new interest you’ve been thinking of pursuing or return to an old hobby you once enjoyed? What’s stopping you from giving it more mental focus and commitment?
• Do you feel overwhelmed, scattered or distracted by all the demands requiring your mental focus lately? Would simplifying your commitments and to-do’s help relieve this pressure?
• If you incorporated 10-15 minutes of meditation or thoughtful introspection into your daily routine, do you think it would improve self-awareness and clarity of thought over time?
• Do certain people or groups hold beliefs that you disagree with? Can you think of any shared values or common ground you could focus on instead to develop more empathy between you?
• What ways of thinking or seeing the world come most naturally and intuitively for you? Why do you think that is?
• Who is one person who has radically shaped your thinking or the way you see the world? How so?
• If you set aside more time for creative thought and problem solving, what issue or challenge in your life might benefit most from this reflection?
• What limiting beliefs about yourself have been proven wrong time and again but still subconsciously influence your thoughts? How could you start dismantling them for good?
• Is there a new personal or professional skill you’d like to develop but doubt your ability to master? How might focusing your mental energies here an hour a week make real progress?
• If you woke up tomorrow with the infectious optimism, confidence and mental resilience of your best self, how might your thoughts and actions change?
• Could you benefit from being more open-minded towards views and opinions you typically disagree with or feel irritated by? Which people or groups in particular?
• Are societal pressures or expectations subtly discouraging or muting thoughts and ideas important to you? In what ways do you feel you need to reclaim your own authentic thinking?
• What core goal or priority always seems to fall off your radar because other demands dominate your thoughts? How can you right this balance?
• What old ways of thinking or unconscious beliefs still require honest examination regarding any prejudices or blindspots they enable? What first step toward greater awareness could you take?
• If you knew that by focusing your thoughts somewhere constructive for 15 minutes a day you’d attract amazing opportunities within 12 months, where would your focus go? What might you manifest?
• Who do you think possesses greater wisdom than you on how to live life better and what core insights could you learn from studying their thinking more carefully?
• Is there an area of your life where you think shifting your focus to a growth mindset versus fixed mindset could help you develop, improve and progress when you previously thought change was unlikely? What first step could you take from this more empowered place of possibility?

25 writing prompts to help focus on the present moment:

• What are 3 things you observe around you right now through your senses – sights, textures, sounds, etc? Describe them in vivid detail.
• Name 5 things you’re grateful for in this very moment.
• What is a worry that is distracting you right now? Recognize it, then intentionally let it go and shift your focus back to the present.
• What emotion are you experiencing most strongly at this minute? Where in your body do you feel it?
• Complete this sentence – “Right now, in this moment, I feel…”
• Set a timer for two minutes. Until it goes off, focus all your concentration only on your breathing, conscious of each inhale and exhale.
• Pick up the closest object near you. Examine it closely from every angle using all your senses. Find at least 3 new details about it you never noticed before.
• Walk slowly around your environment for 1 minute, deliberately noticing every sight, texture, sound and smell without judging or analyzing. Pay close attention.
• What’s one small positive detail or moment that you might have overlooked today among bigger events? Describe it appreciatively.
• Before going to sleep tonight, list 5 good things the day brought even if small (saw cute dog, nice sunset, ate favorite food etc).
• What quote, phrase or brief meditation could you repeat to yourself right now to re-center yourself and let stressed thoughts go?
• What do you love and appreciate about your body and its abilities in this moment? Name 5 things.
• Clear your mind completely for one minute by focusing intently on a fixed spot. If thoughts intrude gently return focus to the spot.
• Close your eyes and visualize your happy place – real or imaginary. Engage all your senses to fully immerse and savor the moment.
• Deliberately relax your body, unclenching tight muscles and putting any technology down. Breathe deeply for 2 minutes attending only to your breath.
• Pick an everyday object nearby like a pen. Pretend you’ve never seen it before and explore it with fresh curiosity noticing every detail.
• Silently say hello to this very moment and goodbye to yesterday and tomorrow. They don’t exist now. Only say yes or no I to what’s real – this instant.
• Forget daydreams and future worries. Come fully alive by looking for beauty or interesting qualities in your immediate environment right now!
• Pick any task or routine activity. As you do it devote 100% engaged attention to each action instead of doing it mindlessly on auto-pilot. How does it feel different?
• Have an impromptu 30 second dance party! Pick a silly song, turn it on fast, dance wild and silly – getting out of your head and into the moment.
• Write down “I am here now 1 2 3” Take slow deep breaths returning focus if distracted until you’ve written it 10 times staying fully present to each pen stroke.
• Notice tiny sensations against your skin – air currents, fabric textures, heat or cold spots. Appreciatively explore these subtle details you usually overlook.
• With childlike curiosity fully explore your tactile environment asking “what’s this?” about every surface and texture within your reach without analyzing or judgments.
• Slowly eat one raisin or other small piece of food. Before chewing explore how it looks smells and feels, noticing what you never bothered to perceive before.
• After finishing this list sit quietly for 5 minutes with back straight simply observing the flow of your natural breathing with accepting, intentional presence.

25 writing prompts to encourage more positive thinking:

• What are 5 small things that bring you joy or make you smile in your typical day that you can make more time for?
• What is one positive affirmation you could repeat to yourself whenever negative thinking arises to help shift your mindset?
• What did you feel most proud of or grateful for about yourself and your life this past week?
• What act of kindness, progress or success felt most meaningful to you in recent days, no matter how small? Reflect on what it took to accomplish it.
• Who is someone who loves, supports or believes in you? What are some uplifting and encouraging things they likely think or say about you privately?
• What upcoming event, milestone or decision are you hopeful about? Visualize the best case scenario and describe how it positively transforms things.
• What inspiring quote or uplifting lyric speaks to your current hopes, dreams or situation in an empowering way? How so?
• Even in challenging situations, what hidden blessings or reasons for optimism can you identify if you intentionally shift perspective?
• What quality, value or intention matters most to you right now? How will focusing on manifesting more of it make life richer and brighter?
• Observe your stream of thoughts for one minute. Label any negative thinking. Then deliberately shift your inner dialogue to something affirmative.
• What past adversity did you overcome? What inner resources, strengths and supports helped you survive and grow? Remember you still possess these.
• If you started or ended each day naming 3 positive experiences from the last 24 hours, how might this gratitude practice positively change your outlook over time?
• What limiting belief holds you back from more happiness and fulfillment? Why is it untrue given the evidence? Replace it with a more empowering alternative.
• What sparks the most enthusiasm, creativity and engagement for you lately? Make regular space for those passions.
• List any recent areas of progress, growth or achievement. Explicitly acknowledge your demonstrated ability to learn and improve. Affirm that you can continue developing new strengths.
• Recall a time others’ belief in you empowered success when you doubted yourself. List people who champion you now and what they see in you.
• Set an intention to appreciate three moments of everyday beauty or joy today mindfully without judgment. Record what they were and the mood boost you received.
• What personal qualities and values matter most to you when times get tough? Reflect on someone who embodies these well. What would they tell you?
• Suppose you shifted all self-criticism about your perceived inadequacies into constructive self-coaching. What would this supportive inner voice advise to aid your growth?
• Envision any dream as already realized. Immerse in the vivid details – sights, sounds, emotions. This mental rehearsal activates the reticular activating system to support your goals.
• You have persevered through 100% of your hardest days. What evidence proves you have the resilience and inner resources to overcome current and future challenges?
• Where could you infuse more creativity into your problem solving and see innovations instead of obstacles?
• What might someone who cared deeply for you advise regarding any destructive thought cycles or stressors dragging you down? How could you apply this compassion to yourself?
• What brings you feelings of meaning, belonging, transcendence or service to others? Do more of whatever fuels your soul.
• Visualize your life 5 years from now if consistently practicing positive thinking. Write about how this will transform your future for the better.

Whether you chose to dive deep with one prompt or meandered through several, embrace the self-compassion to celebrate any new awareness while releasing judgment over what insights have yet to manifest. Further revelation requires gentleness. These prompts are but signposts; the inner terrain they reflect is yours to cultivate lovingly in its own ripening. What matters most is your willingness. So take from these words what resonates and leave the rest. Perhaps return to them another day if called. But for now, intimately honor any emotions stirred, thoughts widened or senses awakened even subtly through engaging life’s journey consciously moment to moment. That is enough. May the spirit of inquiry and possibility sown through mindful self-examination continue to blossom hope, meaning and connection into full flourishing even beyond what conscious thought can fathom now. The essence of inner freedom exists beyond words – let these prompts but point the way.

We have many other writing prompts on our site that may be helpful. If you found this helpful, please leave us a comment.

Related posts:

• Creative Writing Prompt: Writing Prompts that end the world: Name that Virus
• Daily Writing Prompts for November
• 150 Romance Writing Prompts
• 50 fantasy writing prompts to inspire
• Apocalypse Writing Prompts 

About Richard

Richard Everywriter (pen name) has worked for literary magazines and literary websites for the last 25 years. He holds degrees in Writing, Journalism, Technology and Education. Richard has headed many writing workshops and courses, and he has taught writing and literature for the last 20 years.  

In writing and publishing he has worked with independent, small, medium and large publishers for years connecting publishers to authors. He has also worked as a journalist and editor in both magazine, newspaper and trade publications as well as in the medical publishing industry.   Follow him on Twitter, and check out our Submissions page .

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