John Hawkins: 10 Best Self-Help Books All-Time

In November, I was speaking to a man in his twenties about my book. 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know I was delighted to discover that he had received a major promotion. I asked him whether reading my book was a factor in it. He replied, “yes.” I then asked him if there were any other things I could do to help him. He said yes. “Tell me where I can get more books like that one!”

This is possible because I have read many books in my lifetime. All told, it’s over 1500 or so and an awful lot of them are classics in the field of self-help/psychology. While I haven’t finished every self-help book hyped up in recent years, I have read the majority of them.

It is worth noting, however, that these books have a very uneven quality. Some people have great information, but they are not good at explaining it. Some go off on strange tangents. Many of them cover the exact same subject matter. That’s not always a bad thing because sometimes you don’t fully integrate an idea into how you live until you’ve come across it multiple times, but I don’t see a need to recommend books covering the same concepts over and over again.

All of that said, I would be merely giving you a short list of “good” This list could easily include 50+ self-help books. I want to make sure you get the most bang. Here are my top 10 self-help books. You might not find enough of these books, so I’ve also included honorable mentions. Enjoy!

Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical Order)

Leadership Gold: Lessons I’ve Learned from a Lifetime of Leading John Maxwell

Man’s Search for Meaning Victor Frankl

The Purpose Driven Life Rick Warren

Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable Tim Grover

Rhinoceros Success Scott Alexander

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck By Mark Manson

Think and Grow Rich Napoleon Hill

Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers Tim Ferriss

10) Be Your Future Self Now by Benjamin Hardy: This book is my newest and most influential. This is a well-written book edited to achieve maximum impact and spends a great deal of time exploring the concept of what your life would be like if you focused on being yourself, not just for the you in the mirror, but for the you that’s going to be here in ten years.

9) Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds David Goggins “Inspirational” doesn’t quite cut it when it comes to describing this book. Former Navy SEAL and ultramarathoner David Goggins will literally expand your belief about what it’s possible for a human being to accomplish. This book will change your perception of what it is possible to accomplish. “If he could do what he did, I could be so much more than what I am.”

8) No More Mr. Nice Guy Robert Glover This book is a clear and unambiguous representation of men and will benefit them more. As if I were doing an a “top 10 self-help books for women,” this book wouldn’t be on it. The thought processes Glover discusses in his book are applicable to both sexes. There are an awful lot of women who make the same mistakes as the men he’s addressing in the book. One of those men was me. Granted, I had started fixing them by the time I read Glover’s book, but this spoke to me because when I was just getting out of high school, I was EXACTLY the sort of guy Glover was trying to help in the book. 

7) Winning Through Intimidation Robert Ringer This is NOT a book on how to intimidate people. It’s actually about all the different ways society, businesses and people intimidate YOU. Ringer shares these lessons through his wild stories about real estate that will help you better understand people. This book will help you see beyond a lot the BS in life.

6) The Compound Effect Darren Hardy This book, which is #10 on our list of top books, takes a simple concept and goes in great detail about it. It gives you a framework to change your life. Your life will change if you follow the advice in this book.

5) Looking out for #1 Robert Ringer: It’s funny that Robert Ringer doesn’t get a lot of play in the self-help world these days, but he’s one of the OGs of the field as evidenced by the fact that only he and Tony Robbins managed to put two books on this list. Ringer, a hyperrationalist, offers a variety of critical insights into the way the world works.

4) Unlimited Power Tony Robbins This book pales in comparison to Awaken the Giant WithinThis book is my favorite self-help work. It’s one of those situations where you really don’t give Scottie Pippen the credit he deserves because he’s on the same team as Michael Jordan. This is absolutely a wonderful book that adds some depth to the concepts in Robbins’ masterpiece that we’ll be getting to shortly.

3) How to Win Friends and Influence People Dale Carnegie It’s hard to believe that a book written in 1936 is still the best book ever written about how to get along with other people, but it is. This book changed my life. It was the first of many times I read it in high school. If you want to make more friends and be better at getting along with people (and who doesn’t), you should read this book.

2) The 4-Hour Work Week Tim Ferriss Although I didn’t manage to get down to a four-hour work week, I wish I had. However, this book had a profound impact on my life. It changed how I managed my time and how I managed my company back then.

1) Awaken the Giant Within Tony Robbins I’ve been a fan of Tony Robbins for my entire adult life and I have given this book to at least a half dozen people over the years. The only thing I can think of is the Bible And arguably, Atlas ShruggedThis book is unlike any other. It can change your life. Over the years, Tony Robbins’ philosophy has changed just a bit, but I just went to a $500+ per head event he put on and 95% of it lines up perfectly with this book. This book is worth reading. What are you waiting for?

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