25 Best Self Help Books for Men (To Read in 2024)

Here are the Best Self Help Books For Men as recommended by 16 experts.

Discover how to better your relationships, business, self-actualization, and more!

The most recommended self help book for men is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey.

Self help books are like different choices on a menu. 

Some aren’t that good, some are good, but not for you, some you need to be in the mood for, and with some, you taste something different every time you try it again.

With that being said, I still love The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz. Each time I read it I take away something new or something resonates more with me.

You Are a Badass®: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero is one that I really enjoyed recently. 

Believing in oneself in leaning into fear and doubt is such a challenge for so many people.

The newest one I’m reading is The Coaching Habit Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier. 

I’m always working on improving my leadership skills, but lately, I’ve been very focused on being a better listener.

She Comes First: The Thinking Man’s Guide to Pleasuring a Woman by Ian Kerner . This book is a straightforward, thoughtful, and trusted source for pleasuring women. 

Every man should read this book in order to take responsibility for pleasing the women sexually in their life.

That’s Not What I Meant!: How Conversational Style Makes or Breaks Relationships by Deborah Tannen. This is one of the best books out there regarding the communication differences that can cause conflict between genders.

Reading this book will create a greater understanding of communication styles and empathy for your partner and women.

The Essentials: your one-stop-shop for life improvement and success with women by Benjamin Ritter.

This pocketbook is all you need to know to get and stay motivated when it comes to meeting new people and succeeding with women. Short and sweet, and packed with tidbits of wisdom.

A staple in my personal library has been The War Of Art by Steven Pressfield.

This book is an amazing kick in the pants to help us realize our patterns and how we get stuck in ruts when we’re not pursuing our life’s “true work” as Pressfield refers to it.

This book is the perfect catalyst for self-development – whether it’s taking your business to the next level, your relationships to the next level, or your relationship with yourself. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi will recenter a reader’s belief system around the notion that they should measure personal success by the skills and abilities they learn and master, instead of objects they acquire.

An extraordinary book for people who want to learn how to experience life, instead of how to obtain something in life.

The best self-help books are the ones that teach you invaluable and scientifically proven facts of how the human mind works.

Daniel Kahneman doesn’t tell you what you should do, but once you finish the book, you’ll have many more mental tools to know what you can do, in almost any situation.

Dr. Covey deep penetration into success on all levels makes this a timeless classic.

This book stresses the importance of developing your depth of character to give you the strong foundation you need to always choose and higher, and always the more profitable road in the long run.

This character strengthens you instead of simplistically going for the personality route that is thoroughly bombarding you in the media.

As I like to say, “It teaches you to nourish your glow instead of polishing the glitter.” It is good to have a pleasing personality but it is better to be and have character. The other personal developments are equally important for you develop as a success especially as a man.

This is another timeless classic to develop your personality. However, it is imperative you read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People first so you come from a place of purity and honesty.

It sounds corny but after treating over 10,000 patients in my 30 years in private practice (including the rich and famous and poor and not famous) I see the proverbial proof in the pudding and karma is very, very real.

If you use the tools in this book to manipulate people you will get in trouble – Dantes’ Infernos here and now.

If you use it to communicate what you know to help others as you help yourself, you will be richly rewarded for avoiding the pseudosweet smell of deception.

This book completely changed my life around a few years ago; from being in debt and a job I was miserable in; to now running my own business with over $1m in investment.

It was written nearly three decades ago, so some of the content may feel dated or even clichéd – however, those things are only clichéd because they’ve since been re-hashed over and over by other self-help books and gurus.

This book works because it’s about making a lasting change to your life – attitude and not just about short-term tactics. If you want to read one of the true originals and make a serious improvement to your life – this is the place to start.

In today’s busy world, even the simplest of tasks can sometimes slip through the cracks.

Atul’s book on creating and maintaining checklists is a quick but thoughtful read that illustrates the importance of staying organized.

More importantly, it illustrates how the simplest approach to tackling tasks can help even the most experienced professionals succeed not just in the workplace but in life as a whole.

Separated, divorced, widowed, or never married? In other words, aging alone.

One of the first truths is that one in three Boomers is. Millennials also follow this trend; more than half of the 73 million millennials are single and have never married.

This book answers the question, “Who’s got my back?”. Think about where you are now and imagine what life will be like in the years ahead.

You’ll need to be financially savvy, including knowing your housing options and where to turn for help. It is imperative for solo agers to be protected, smart, and realistic.

This is where the worksheets are extremely helpful; so are the websites and checklists. There’s a lot of help inside “Who Will Take Care of Me When I’m Old?”

This book is beautifully written and I love the simplicity of the wisdom that Michael is pointing to.

Realising that we are only ever living in the feeling of our thinking in the moment is completely life-changing.

As a man, this particularly resonates with me because it avoids the need to label each and every emotional state. Instead, all we experience is simply created by thought and by knowing that we can free ourselves from so much unnecessary stress.

This is a MUST read – and I don’t say that lightly.

The author, Lewis Howes, is an incredibly successful podcaster, best-selling author, and former pro football player.

In this book, he breaks down how men are always wearing masks in society to disguise themselves and be who society thinks they should be and act like. It’s a very raw and vulnerable look into how men are judged in society.

It also provides tangible steps for men to overcome these masks and accept themselves for who they are. Plus, it gives tips on how women can better communicate with men to achieve better relationships.

The author is the founder and CEO of Onnit which is a lifestyle brand and one of the fastest growing companies in the world. Aubrey shares his own experiences in life to help other men get the most out of their mind and body.

This is an empowering handbook that helps men optimize their time every day, both at work and in life. He provides workout tips, daily habits, and tons of other success rituals to help men get out of a rut and start living an incredible life.

The author was recommended to me by a friend and after listening a lot of podcast from him i decided to buy the book.

This book will change how you think about working. You will realize how easy it is to set up your own online business and travel the world by working with just your laptop (I am doing it, so it is possible).

I read this book a few months after the first one because it was recommended by Tim Ferris on his podcasts a few times.

Even though it is an old book it does not lose validity through time. This book will teach you how to set first your goals, not dreams but goals, and start working with them and for them.

It is not that old like the first two but it is more real. It will teach you how to face reality and fears without so much fake positivity. He’ll let you know that struggle is real and how to get meaning from that.

As a training therapist, this book has been profound for my own personal growth.

The One Thing is a reminder, especially being a very busy man, that I have the capability of doing many things in life, but that doesn’t mean I need to do them all at once. I know this to be true for many men.

This book immediately taught me the power of starting and finishing one task at a time, without the guilt trip for not doing anything more or less.

Furthermore, it teaches the power of saying no and focusing on becoming an expert in your field, something many men can resonate with.

The author also breaks down the amount of time to truly spend on molding your competence in a specific area of interest.

Lastly, he shares the secret in getting what you want by asking yourself this question, and I paraphrase: What is the one thing I need to do right now that will make my tomorrow easier?

Give it a read, and give it a shot.

A favorite self-help book which every man can appreciate and learn from is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.

This book gives great insight into how to approach both personal and professional issues.

Through advice and stories, Covey helps individuals learn how to live a life of service, dignity, and fairness.

One of his key pieces of advice, Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood (Step 5), is a rule that can help you in virtually every area of your life.

The art of war on the mean streets of Southside Queens to the cutthroat boardrooms of the music industry, rap star 50 Cent approaches success with the stealth of a ninja and a keen understanding of motivations steeped in selfishness, fear and machismo power.

The famous rapper, working with best selling author Robert Greene, together create a powerful book of keys to combat, confront and overcome fear in all its manifestations.

The gritty on-the-street experiences of 50 Cent demonstrate that at our cores, we all yearn for the same things and share many of the same fears, a valuable reminder that will surely keep the male reader on point.

Related: Best Robert Greene Books

Cernovich writes from not only a bullied experience, but from a warrior’s perspective of ‘getting serious’ through exercise training and mental awareness.

He confronts body issues, self-worth and fear from a distinctly male perspective that is not often represented in self-help books.

This book may be the intellectual, thinking man’s answer to Walking Tall. He offers many solutions to overcoming difficult situations and how to snap into more suitable mindsets that will put goals into much closer reach.

A no-nonsense approach to getting your stuff together.

Lucio focuses on issues that both deceive and weigh heavily on men, perception and the expectations imposed on them by others.

The book takes on a philosophical and sociological approach steeped in reason in order to grasp, then overcome our self-imposed failings. Men may appreciate the no-exit approach to this self-help book and be eager for the challenge.

The book also gives a welcome opportunity for men to see how their hidden talents have been obscured and offers an opening to pursue their dreams in a fresh and energetic way that leaves little room for negative influence.

Connecting with what the author calls Creative Self Expression, the individual is then in a position to answer hard questions like, “What is my purpose?” and to finally understand how he controls the meaning and rewards offered in his life.

My favorite part about “Thirty Before Thirty,” is the ability the reader has after finishing the book to answer a Q&A session that asks them intimate questions like, what they want to accomplish in their life, who they want to thank in their life, what skill they think they have that they can use to help their communities, and so on.

“Thirty Before Thirty,” is meant to inspire the reader through the 30 stories shared in the book but also motivate the reader to actually accomplish what they haven’t accomplished in their lives, that they would like to.

Those featured in the book, like Jose Hernandez from Mariachi Sol de Mexico, a sports broadcaster, a neurosurgeon, and many others, give their advice and tips on how the reader can get there.

Everyone has a friend who has grieved the death of a family member, or gone through a divorce, or been diagnosed with cancer or who has even lost their job.

But not everyone knows what to do or say to that friend when something like this happens. Now they do.

“How Can I Help?“ gives specific tips and suggestions of what you can do and say that will help your friend when he or she needs it most.

For men, in particular this can be most challenging, but this easy to read guide can help them find the perfect words and do the simplest of things that can help someone they care about get through these difficult times in life, feeling loved and supported.

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Why are Self Help Books Good