How to create good habits? How do you break old habits that don’t meet your life goals, and how do you make sure you pick the good ones to stick to?
I know, so many questions, and the answers aren’t always easy to find. There wouldn’t have been so many books written about those topics if they were.
Steve Marabolli once said that if the self-help books were working, it would have been a shrinking industry and not a growing one. Not every book is good enough or fits your needs well enough. Being picky about what you give your time to is so crucial nowadays that you are probably used to narrowing down your choices before investing your time and money in your next read.
Luckily for you, I’ve selected not just one but 10 of the best books about developing habits – their development and ways to stick to them. Ready to check them together?
10 Best Books On Building Good Habits
“If you get one percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done.”
Atomic Habits is one of the best guides out there if you want to learn how to break destructive behaviors and build new, better ones but don’t know where to start.
The best part is that this book breaks down this seemingly complicated matter into four easy, actionable steps. It emphasizes how small, everyday routines can lead to significant changes in your life over time.
James Clear also takes one step further and puts in the effort to shed some light on various habit-building myths that we are taught to believe but don’t do much to help us achieve our goals. Atomic Habits was the very first book on building habits that I read, and I can’t recommend it to you more!
“Never link your personal self-worth directly to your day-to-day performance.”
If you are a serial procrastinator (like me), The Now Habit is the one book you need to target this shortcoming specifically.
It offers a strategic plan to eliminate procrastination from your life for good best and rediscover motivation in all aspects of your life. The book also touches on the topic of enjoying your spare time without feeling guilty that you aren’t spending it on work – which is something that I have struggled with for a while.
Neil Fiore lays the foundations by explaining what procrastination is and reassuring the reader that they don’t procrastinate because they are lazy. More complicated systems in place cause that behavior, and Fiore is here to help us understand them and transform them into something better.
“Change might not be fast, and it isn’t always easy. But with time and effort, almost any habit can be reshaped.”
One of the top books on habits, The Power of Habit does a remarkable job of helping you understand the significance of habits in our day-to-day lives. It explains how you can change habits and what impact they have on your life and society as a whole.
Charles Duhigg does an amazing job of presenting useful insights regarding habits backed up by scientific facts. He knows just how much habits control our lives and has managed to reduce the whole process of how habits work to three single-step loops.
According to him, all it takes to change a habit is by tweaking one part of the loop – namely, the routine. I won’t give away too much of the book because I believe you should read it for yourself.
“The monkeys solved the puzzle simply because they found it gratifying to solve puzzles. They enjoyed it. The joy of the task was its own reward.”
One of the key companions to understanding how to change our habits for the better is to understand how motivation works. And what better source of information on the topic than Daniel Pink’s Drive?
The book takes a deep dive into what motivated humans throughout history and explains why nowadays, the conventional approach to motivation is outdated and doesn’t work.
You might think you have some knowledge regarding the intricacies of motivation but allow Pink to surprise you. In Drive, he shares his unorthodox view of motivation and manages to convey his point in an easy, straight-to-the-point read.
The best part of the book is how actionable it is – Pink gives the reader plenty of techniques to practice and test on themselves.
“No, my son, do not aspire for wealth and labor, not only to be rich. Strive instead for happiness, to be loved and to love, and most important to acquire peace of mind and serenity.”
Don’t be fooled by the name – The Greatest Salesman in The World isn’t a book about sales. It’s actually a book that shares the secrets of success with the reader, and these secrets often transcend into multiple aspects.
You should trust that Og Mandino knows what he is talking about – he had an amazingly difficult life. After losing everything, he managed to gather himself and transform into a thriving, acclaimed writer.
The simple messages he shares with the reader aren’t new or groundbreaking. Yet, Mandino manages to convey them in a way that emphasizes why they are essential and valuable in today’s society.
To me, this is one of the best books to improve yourself, as it doesn’t offer a blueprint of success but instead gently stirs you in a direction, which you have to explore and experience for yourself.
“But until a person can say deeply and honestly, “I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday,” that person cannot say, “I choose otherwise.”
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is often dubbed one of the best habit books ever written – and for a good reason.
It teaches the reader how to be effective both in their personal and professional lives by simply changing their view on how the world works.
The book presents merely 7 habits, which can transform your life if adopted in the right way. I bet it’s not just me who sometimes feels that life is a rollercoaster of confusing situations and seemingly overcomplicated scenarios.
And that’s just the thing that Stephen Covey emphasizes with this book – that sometimes we need to keep everything on a more basic level to clear our heads and enable ourselves to prioritize the right way.
“You know very well what the right choice is, yet you keep making the wrong one.”
Do you indulge in self-destructive behavior, even though you are fully aware that this isn’t the right thing to do? And even so, your brain somehow justifies these actions and gives you the green light to keep doing them. Rewire is just the book for you if you recognize yourself in this description.
It explains how to start breaking the cycle of bad habits by practicing more discipline and mindfulness. The book is written by an actual psychotherapist, so you can count on the information to be fact-checked and accurate.
Richard O’Conner gives a wide array of tools that can help you to understand your bad habits better and effectively change them. And even though the book is relatively short, it’s packed with helpful information.
So if you aren’t big on reading but still want to take action into transforming your life, Rewire may just be for you.
“It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently.”
Did you know that 45% of your behavior is based on pure autopilot? Well, it does – and Stephen Guise teaches us just how to take advantage of that fact best.
His system is simple – by setting yourself small goals, you start relying more on willpower than motivation. And that seems to be the key to success – many good mini habits make one successful you.
Mini Habits is a short, easy, and entertaining read that can transform your outlook on life, so if you pick it up, be ready to soak it all in.
“For most of us, though, the problem is not a lack of goals but rather too many of them.”
If you are looking for the perfect mix of scientific facts and practical uses when it comes to forming habits, then Willpower is just the book for you.
It explores topics such as self-control, improving and optimizing willpower, and what your first steps should be if you decide to tackle these for yourself.
According to John Tierney and Roy Baumeister, willpower is one of the cornerstones of successful habit building. And according to them, it isn’t such a difficult skill to master as well! So, if you want to train the willpower muscle, this book gives you the right tools to do so.
“You can increase your pleasure if you’re willing to do things that don’t feel good at first.”
Habits of a Happy Brain sheds light on the four neurotransmitters in your brain responsible for happiness. Loretta Breuning explains why it’s impossible for us to be happy all the time and how you can train yourself to take responsibility for your own happiness.
The book promises to help boost your happiness levels in mere 45 days. In my experience, it delivers on that promise. It’s a pleasant read, which offers a few practical activities, to create an actionable guide for feeling more happy and satisfied with life. This process often begins with forming better daily habits, so dive into the challenge and see what it does for you if you are up to the test.
Final Words
Which one of these books to develop great habits would be your first choice? If I had to choose once again, I would definitely go for Atomic Habits first and then jump to The Greatest Salesman In The World. These two are the perfect combination to start with, and then just go for whichever one speaks to your heart.
Also, don’t forget to check these life-changing 100 ways to improve yourself and live your best life.
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10 Best Books On Developing Habits
Blogger, dreamer, procrastinator, and lover of everything soul-touching. My mission is to make you laugh, provoke your thoughts, light up your day and inspire you to fall in love with life and yourself.
