20 Best Self-Help Books Every College Student Must Read

James Clear’s Atomic Habits is one the most widely known books in the self-help genre for good reason!

The primary premise that Clear presents in this book is that you do not need to make massive changes to see huge results. In fact, making small changes to your daily routine over time is more sustainable and effective than making a large change all at once.

“If you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll be thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done. Conversely, if you get 1 percent worse each day for one year, you’ll decline nearly down to zero. What starts as a small win or minor setback accumulates into something much more.”

James Clear

The book Why We Sleep by Dr. Matthew Walker focuses solely on the habit of sleep. 

A good night’s sleep is one thing that many college students struggle to consistently achieve. Whether it be pulling all-nighters before an exam or staying up too late with friends, sleep can be a constant struggle in college.

That’s why I believe it is crucial for every college student to read this book!

Throughout this book, Walker presents the results of many experiments completed within the scientific community that prove the importance of sleep. 

“Humans are not sleeping the way nature intended. The number of sleep bouts, the duration of sleep, and when sleep occurs has all been comprehensively distorted by modernity.”

Matthew Walker, PhD

Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is an extremely well-known book in the self-help genre.

I’ll admit that I was very skeptical of this book going into it, but it turned out to be one of my favorite books on this list!

It focuses on the concept that our perceptions affect how we see the world. Therefore, we need to change ourselves, and our perceptions, in order to change any given situation.

“If I really want to improve my situation, I can work on the one thing over which I have control – myself.“

Stephen R. Covey

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg is another incredible book that brings together many different scientific studies to define a simple structure for developing and maintaining habits.

In this book, Duhigg suggests that we have the power to “program” ourselves to continue good habits and stop bad through what he refers to as a Habit Loop.

“This process within our brains is a three-step loop. First, there is a cue, a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use. Then there is the routine, which can be physical or mental or emotional. Finally, there is a reward, which helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future: THE HABIT LOOP.”

Charles Duhigg

The book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman is a different take on your standard productivity and time management book.

Burkeman asks us to leave the hustler mindset, where we try to use every available second towards something productive and denounce ourselves if we procrastinate, behind.

“There is an alternative: the unfashionable but powerful notion of letting time use you, approaching life not as an opportunity to implement your predetermined plans for success but as a matter of responding to the needs of your place and your moment in history.”

Oliver Burkeman

This book emphasizes that time is scarce. Everyone has approximately four thousand weeks to live, and we often get so wrapped up in optimizing every detail of our lives that we forget to do the most important thing: ENJOY IT!

Cal Newport’s Deep Work forces us to re-evaluate how we approach tasks.

People will often complete what Newport refers to as “shallow work” which is a task that we complete while distracted and is usually something that isn’t new and can be easily repeated.

In order to produce new ideas, master your skills, and ultimately provide value through your work, you must participate in “deep work”.

This means you actively choose to focus on demanding tasks that push your limits and allow you to master skills rather than shallow tasks that are simply easy to check off the list.

“What we choose to focus on and what we choose to ignore—plays in defining the quality of our life.”

Cal Newport

Shawn Achor’s The Happiness Advantage emphasizes the principle that happiness drives success not the other way around.

Many people believe that they will become happy once they are successful, but in reality, happiness or positivity ultimately drives success by allowing you to be more creative, resilient, and motivated.

“Constantly scanning the world for the negative comes with a great cost. It undercuts our creativity, raises our stress levels, and lowers our motivation and ability to accomplish goals.”

Shawn Achor

In this book, Achor discusses seven principles of psychology that show how positivity can lead to success as well as some tips to become a more positive, resilient person.

The book The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz, Ph.D. emphasizes the power of our thoughts.

Ultimately, we need to think big in order to improve in any area of our life.

“Those who believe they can move mountains, do. Those who believe they can’t, cannot.”

David J. Schwartz, Ph.D.

You often do not need to be the smartest person in the room or extremely unique to achieve your goals.

You just need to believe you can!

If you want to learn how to stop defeating yourself through your own mindset and unlock the power of thinking big, I highly recommend you read this book!

The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga teaches you how to let go of the expectations of others and your past traumas in order to accept yourself for who you are and achieve happiness.

“A way of living in which one is constantly troubled by how one is seen by others is a self-centered lifestyle in which one’s sole concern is with the ‘I’.”

Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga

This is an extremely profound book that uses the theories of famous philosophers to teach you how to master self-care and self-forgiveness.

It presents a way of thinking that is extremely freeing and helps you develop the courage to eliminate the limitations you put on yourself based on the expectations of others.

Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck is another widely popular self-help book. This book is far from your standard self-help book where the author raves about a positive mindset and belief that we can do anything.

In fact, Manson does quite the opposite. 

“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 f*cks to give. Very few, in fact. And if you go around giving a f*ck about everything and everyone without conscious thought or choice—well, then you’re going to get f*cked.”

Mark Manson

Jen Sincero’s You are a Badass isn’t necessarily the book that will blow your mind with scientific research like some of the other books on this list, but it is the perfect book if you need a confidence boost!

“We are all perfect in our own, magnificent, f*cked-up ways. Laugh at yourself. Love yourself and others. Rejoice in the cosmic ridiculousness.”

Jen Sincero

Everyone on this planet has the potential to be great, but our biggest obstacle is often our own self-doubt. Sincero teaches methods to overcome this self-doubt and gain confidence in yourself.

I highly recommend this book if you have been feeling down or are doubting your abilities to accomplish your goals.

The Art of Happiness is a collaboration between psychiatrist Dr. Howard C. Cutler and The Dalai Lama which addresses everything from how to resolve everyday problems that are limiting your happiness to how to remain peaceful during extremely challenging times.

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

Dalai Lama XIV

This book brings Eastern spiritual traditions to a Western audience stuck in the hustler mentality and introduces principles to achieving a more balanced, happier life.

Everyone’s purpose in life is to achieve happiness, and Western culture often brings us to believe that happiness is not attainable unless we achieve ultimate success.

The Comfort Book by Matt Haig is equivalent to a warm hug from a friend, a breath of fresh air.

“Your worth is you. Your worth is your presence. Your worth is right there. Your worth isn’t something you earn. Your worth isn’t something you buy. Your worth isn’t something you gain through status or popularity or stomach crunches or having a really chic kitchen. Your worth is your existence. You were born with worth, as all babies are, and that worth doesn’t disappear simply because you have grown a little older. You are a human, being.”

Matt Haig

This book is a collection of short sayings, notes, and stories that Haig himself describes as a mess, but it is absolutely perfect if you are going through a rough moment and need some hope.

Dale Carnegie is most famous for his book How to Win Friends and Influence People, but I actually preferred his book How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.

Similar to his other books, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living is full of case studies, stories, and tips. This particular book focuses on ways that we can reduce worry in our lives in order to reduce anxiety and depression.

“The best possible way to prepare for tomorrow is to concentrate with all your intelligence, all your enthusiasm, on doing today’s work superbly today.”

Dale Carnegie

The book is broken down into four sections where Carnegie (1) explains some facts about worry, (2) provides basic techniques for analyzing worry, (3) suggests methods for breaking the habit of constantly worrying, and (4) discusses seven ways to build an attitude that will ultimately lead to peace and happiness.

Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why emphasizes the principle of understanding WHY we are doing any given thing.

Ultimately, your “why” is your purpose for doing something. If you don’t have a “why”, it is more difficult to stay motivated and lessens your chances of success.

“Working hard for something we do not care about is called stress, working hard for something we love is called passion.”

Simon Sinek

This book can help you to reshape how you think about your goals by making you consider why you want something.

WHY do you want to start exercising? WHY do you want that job? WHY do you want to wake up at 5am?

The book How Will You Measure Your Life? applies proven business theories to how you can achieve greater fulfillment in both your personal and professional life.

People will often still feel unfilled even after achieving remarkable accomplishments in their careers because their achievements do not align with what really makes them happy.

“If the decisions you make about where you invest your blood, sweat, and tears are not consistent with the person you aspire to be, you’ll never become that person.”

Clayton Christensen, James Allworth, and Karen Dillon

This book describes how you can ensure happiness and success in your career, relationships, and life by clearly defining what’s important to you.

Brianna Wiest’s The Mountain is You emphasizes the fact that the greatest saboteur in our lives is ourselves.

We all have the ability to be successful and happy, but we will often not allow ourselves to reach our full potential due to self-limiting beliefs.

“It’s not whether or not you ‘feel’ like putting in the work, but whether or not you do it regardless.”

Brianna Wiest

College can be a difficult time to feel confident so this book is perfect to help you break free from any hesitation or anxiety about following your passions.

The Daily Stoic is a series of 366 short messages on stoicism which is an ancient Greek school of philosophy based on wisdom and practicality.

This book is easily digestible either by reading one passage per day or by taking it all in at once.

“It may take some hard work but the more you say no to the things that don’t matter, the more you can say yes to the things that do.”

Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman

No matter how you are feeling, this book has the power to change your perspective, open your mind, and help you find positivity in any situation.

With its organization into 12 monthly themes, you will find yourself diving deep into actionable thought patterns that can change your perspective on life.

In his book, Talking to Strangers, Malcolm Gladwell discusses how well humans can accurately assess other’s thoughts and feelings.

The short answer is: we can’t.

In general, humans are very bad at reading other’s thoughts and emotions and telling whether or not someone is lying. We often think we are good at it though which leads us to pass inaccurate judgements on others.

“Don’t look at the stranger and jump to conclusions. Look at the stranger’s world.”

Malcolm Gladwell

During college, you will meet tons of new people, and this book is incredibly insightful on how to interact with strangers to avoid passing negative judgments. Therefore, this book can help you to develop more positive, fruitful relationships with those you meet.

Thinking, Fast and Slow is an extremely insightful book from Nobel Prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman which dives deep into how we think.

Kahneman introduces two systems for thinking:

• System 1: fast thinking
• System 2: slow thinking

System 1 is intuitive and requires little mental energy while System 2 is reserved for more complex tasks or issues.

Therefore, we often default to System 1 and delay in switching to System 2 which can lead to mistakes or misunderstandings.