How many books did you read? And how many of them were self-help books?
Self-help books have gained enormous amounts of popularity in the last couple of years.
That’s why there are so many nowadays.
But I think it’s important to stick with a couple that holds a lot of value, especially in 2023.
- You’ll need something that teaches you something about life.
- It needs to be practical.
- It needs to be quick and not 1000 pages long.
Here are five self-help books that you should read in 2023.
1 — The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
Do you sometimes feel like you care too much about other people’s opinions? Then this book might be something for you.
In “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck”, you’ll learn that sometimes it doesn’t matter to “not care” about certain things. Because you will be disappointed sometimes.
And that’s okay.
“You and everyone you know are going to be dead soon. And in the short amount of time between here and there, you have a limited amount of fucks to give. Very few, in fact. And if you go around giving a fuck about everything and everyone without conscious thought or choice — well, then you’re going to get fucked.”
2 — Discipline is Destiny
Ryan Holiday built his entire writing career around the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (a book that we’ll see at the end of this list).
He has researched the lifestyle and philosophy of Stoicism.
This book is about Discipline, and how (in relation to stoicism) you can apply it in your daily life. Holiday makes stoic rules very easy to comprehend in his books.
“You don’t have to always be amazing. You do always have to show up. What matters is sticking around for the next at bat.”
3–12 Rules for Life
Jordan Peterson’s goal is to inspire and help young people.
The philosopher tries to explain morality and how you can become a better version of yourself. If you want to learn how to take responsibility and decide your own path in life? Read “12 Rules for Life”.
Because it really is An Antidote to Chaos
“You can only find out what you actually believe (rather than what you think you believe) by watching how you act. You simply don’t know what you believe, before that. You are too complex to understand yourself.”
4 — The Courage to be Disliked
This is the best book I’ve read this year.
Knowing how to have courage is important. It’s not possible to become happy without knowing how to deal with disappointments.
In the book, Kishimi talks about Adlerian theory.
Very interesting to read about. It’s about traumas and the past, it contradicts Freud’s theory by saying that we’re not the way we are because of our past. Everything is possible from now.
That’s the main point of the book.
If you’re interested in that, you should definitely read it.
“The courage to be happy also includes the courage to be disliked. When you have gained that courage, your interpersonal relationships will all at once change into things of lightness.”
5 — Meditations
Meditations. Perhaps the most popular book in the Stoicism scene.
Ryan Holiday has created an entire business schema around Marcus Aurelius’ lessons for life.
It teaches you the things in life that are really important.
Things that we don’t talk about enough if you ask me. Wouldn’t it be good to start talking about discipline, purpose, death, change, and many more?
“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.”
It’s a really good guide to calming yourself down in this chaotic world that we call 2022.
Final Takeaways
2023 is almost here.
I’ve read way too few books. My plans were to read at least 25 books for 2022 and at the moment I’m still stuck around 8.
It’s a fundamental thing that I can’t sit down and read. Even though it feels amazing while I’m doing it. I learn so much from these books and I should pick up a new book again.
That’s why I’m going to try and read more books in 2023.
Are you too?