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This post contains of the 7 best and greatest self-help books of all times to read before launching your blog.

Blogging is business, someone once told me.

Just like you don’t jump into a business niche without prior knowledge related to the subject, you don’t jump into a blog website without knowing what you are doing.

So I write a blog on lifestyle content, motivation, and happiness; though recently I started a blog series named My Formula for Changing The World, and it’s a topic that had interested me to a personal level.

I mean, I wanted to change the world.

Everyone does.

We all want to do something phenomenal, something otherworldly, something that could resonate with everyone and tell them more about us and what we think of the world.

So, for that reason, I started the blog.

And I already knew that it takes a lot more than courage and determination to start a blog. I mean, of course, that’s a given. If you want to give something, you have to take it from somewhere first.

So you want to give knowledge? You take knowledge.

You take correct knowledge, more importantly. Accurate knowledge.

For that reason, I decided that I would spend all my free time studying these 7 self-help books, that might be common and so famous that everybody already knows about them, but I’ll tell you which parts I liked the most and which parts really helped me get deeper knowledge of the world and its values and its working systems.

Top 7 Self-Help Books

Here’s what you are going to read about:

1. Start With Why, by Simon Sinek

I am an author.

I have been an author since I was twelve years old.

There came a time in my life when I was going through writer’s fatigue, which is, a burnout for the writers. It is far from writer’s block, because writer’s block, as it always seems, is curable. But when I was going through writer’s fatigue, I had almost lost all hope of ever being a writer, because I wasn’t sure if I could get out of this burnout state or not.

I prayed, I begged God, I wanted continuous support and hope from everyone and I wanted to just have someone showing me the solution.

At that time, this book came around.

I mean, it was always there. But that time I picked it up from the bookshelf and went through it, read everything, and took the knowledge that Simon Sinek had to give.

And towards the end, I realized that I was healing.

It helped me get out of writer’s fatigue, in a way, and I would seriously never forget this. I was so moved by the last chapters that I broke down crying, not because they were emotional or something like that; but because I was just realising what I had done to myself.

Like, I had messed myself up.

This book helped me remember my ‘why’.

I always knew it, but it was just getting shadowed by the material achievements, just as Simon Sinek described it.

Anyway, I again aligned myself and my mindset with my ‘why.’

Why had I started writing in the first place? That was something for me, and me only, I wouldn’t share it with the world. But I would say that this book helped me know what was going wrong and how to make it right.

So, there, hundred points. Totally recommended.

2. The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, by Eric Jorgenson

Like, wow.

I read this whole book in 2 days, had profounding realisations from every chapter, and all in all, it was great. He divides the book in two parts; the first one deals with getting us wealthy, and the second part deals with getting us healthy and happy. That’s the loose description.

I so admired Naval Ravikant’s extensive knowledge and understanding of human behavior and how we think, that I just wanted to keep this book with myself at all times and show it to people and then when they ask for a sneak peek, I’d tell them to go buy their own copies because no, I wasn’t giving it away.

It also in a way brought me out of the writer’s fatigue too, because in the happiness section — the part 2 of the book — all Naval Ravikant says is how life is short and you need to be happy at what you do, and you need to enjoy the journey.

One thing I especially liked about this, was how he said that you need to work, and chase the journey, and not the destination. Like, you shouldn’t count your achievements and progress, nor monitor them so closely, because if you do, you’ll run out of patience before success arrives.

This book was wow.

It was in an easy-to-read format, full of Twitter threads that Naval Ravikant had posted, and precise knowledge that he gave away.

At the end of the book, too, he provides an extensive list of book and blog recommendations we should read next.

I think it was great.

Anyone who wants to be healthy, and wealthy, and happy, should definitely read this book. It’s not something you need to read step-by-step or page-by-page.

Anytime you’re feeling low? Just pick up the book and start.

3. The Mountain is You, by Brianna Wiest

Oh my god.

This was like a healing journey.

Though I know that my mountain isn’t in front of me yet, I mean, as Brianna Wiest says, the mountain is, technically, us.

But I just feel like I haven’t reached that stage yet where I feel like I’m being pushed back by a mountain.

But the way the author describes it, definitely makes me wary of the time when the mountain will arrive and I’ll have to face it.

In this book the author describes how we are the ones who hold ourselves back, and it’s always us, who are hesitant for the new change and new development in our lives, and if we just start not being afraid of those developments, then we’ll see a true change in ourselves.

I think this book is really important too.

Like, it basically saves you from your own self, on the dark night when you’re lonely and depressed; it saves you by already warning you ahead of time how something like this might happen.

I recommend this book.

Go get it right now.

And keep it yourself for whenever you need someone to tell you that it’s okay and it’s happens to everyone and you’re going to survive it.

Brianna Wiest will tell you that.

4. Think Like A Monk, by Jay Shetty.

Okay, the first page had me hooked.

I remember a quote being there that just told me, that yeah, I’m taking this book home. Here’s the money, take it or leave it. I’m taking this book home.

It was blow-your-mind-type-of-great.

I’m not what I think I am. I’m not what you think I am. I’m what I think you think I am.

-Charles Horton Cooley

Blew your mind?

It did mine.

Like, whoa.

That person who said this was some fella who had an understanding of us humans and knew how to put it to words.

So, as Jay Shetty promises in the introduction of the book how this isn’t some conversion book, like, he won’t force us to give up on material desires and possessions and live the life of a monk with a shaved head.

No.

He actually does the opposite and he provides the readers with a motivation and purpose in life. It’s so important that many people don’t even focus on it anymore.

In addition to it, we all want peace in life too. 

The noise is sometimes too much, even if it’s our favourite song, and sometimes — no strings attached — we just want quiet.

We have to find that quiet in our own selves. I mean, we can’t go off to live in the mountaintops. No, I won’t recommend that.

Nah, just nah.

I won’t recommend going to live in the mountain or becoming a monk or wearing robes.

I would totally recommend reading this book, though.

5. Steal Like An Artist, by Austin Kleon

I’ve lost count of how many places I have recommended this book.

It’s so awesome, you know.

So interactive, so visual, so black and white. So great.

So, Austin Kleon provides a pretty good summary of how this world works and how you can stay creative and artistic in every walk of life. No matter if you’re an artist or not.

This book is for all. Because in a way, if we want to live our life happily and excitedly, then we all should read this book. It’s so great.

I read this book and on a page Austin Klein said, “learn to code.” And you should know how much I like this author by how that exact moment I decided that I was indeed going to learn coding (even though I am an author) because there was just something about learning everything and being fluent in every work.

I wanted that.

So I decided to adopt each one of the 10 practices he’s spoken about in this little great book, and I started seeing the changes in my life, because I did not just do work to complete it.

I started doing work so that I could enjoy it, so that I could make fun out of it.

So that I could enjoy myself.

Oh, and one very important lesson I learned from this book, was how to steal.

So, that’s helpful.

6. Keep Going, by Austin Kleon.

Yes, this book delivers the exact same message we all need to hear some time or the other in our lives — how to keep going.

Even when you’ve reached the end of the rope, even when you’ve been tired and beaten up and frustrated, even when life looks horrible and all, how to keep going?

That’s a very important discussion. Because we all should keep going, you know.

Just. Keep. Going.

It brings wonders, I must say, when people don’t give up.

So this book contains 10 ways we can convince our sweet hearts and our stormy minds to keep working, and keep pushing, and keep holding on, even when we’re on the verge of losing all will.

Just. Keep. Going.

7. How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie.

I think this book is a given. It does not even need to be featured here.

But I need to say here that I particularly featured this book in this blog post because it is a great guide for improving your personality and your behavior when you’re facing strangers. It basically revolves around how to make strangers your friends.

And as a blogger starting out, I really knew that I was going to meet all kinds of strangers on the internet and I had to make them my genuine, sincere friends to really grow my brand.

For that reason, I had to bring a friendly and causal tone in my writing voice.

To bring that in my writing voice, I had to bring it in my reading voice, and my speaking voice. So, to practice the type of nonchalant, sweet, friendly blogger that I wanted to become, I read this book and started to act like them: the person who makes friends easily and whose writing people really love to read because it looks like they’re talking to a friend. I don’t know if I’ve accomplished that yet, I sincerely hope so.

But for all the bloggers starting out, or maybe just for all the people starting in any field, this book is a treasure.

Conclusion

Okay, so these were the 7 books of self-help and lifestyle content that I, absolutely, treasured.

These were also the ones who helped me start my blogging career, and if truth be told, I still refer to them every once in a while.

Looking back, I feel grateful for the knowledge and the skills they provided me with, the will and the courage, and of course — the memories and experiences.

So what would be your top 7 books that you will read before starting out fresh in a career that looks demanding and scary, but really is, just a matter of skill and hard work?

My Blogging Journey

Blogging takes time. So, so much time. When I first started publishing my blog posts, I had no audience whatsoever. It was my own family and friends. And me, of course, because the software counted my own views too no matter how much I told them not to. That’s not the matter, though.

The matter is, that it takes time and will, and of course, belief to do anything. Blogging is no different.

I spent so much time, and of course, money, setting up my site.

And it felt like I would drown in this ocean of well- and professionally-designed blogs and websites that would just gobble me and my blog up.

And though I’m still striving, because we all always are, now I’m more in control of my website and my writing process than anytime before.

My Writing and Blogging Schedule

I wake up at 5:30 a.m. and take time out to write my novel. The rest of the day, I write and promote my blog. Sure, it’s time-consuming and sometimes my head hurts with all the overwhelming details, and oh my god — the different functions are awfully difficult to comprehend. But it’s all good.

I like it.

I like the journey, the sweat, the work, the toil, I like the way I’m awake early each morning, and half of the world is asleep.

I think it’s nice in its own way.

Let’s Trade Views and Self-Help Books’ Recommendations!

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