Sunday, January 04, 2009

Top Ten All Time Personal Development Books 2008

Regular readers will know that I am not one of those people who disparage all personal development or "self-help" books.

Sure, Aristotle, Sartre, Marx and Darwin were more original and profound thinkers than those that feature in the self-help section

of your local book shop - but how readable and  practical are their great works?
The best self-help books distill this wisdom into understandable and practical advice -making it as simple as it can be, but no simpler.

This year you will see that whilst the top few classics remain much the same as last year, there are some new entries lower down the chart.

The new entries cover mindfulness, relationships, and changing habits - all very important topics. The recommended books on them provide

accessible and well-researched introductions. Hope that some of these books are of use for you.

1. The Seven Habits of Highly effective People Stephen Covey (1)

2. Man's Search for Meaning Viktor Frankl (2)

3. The Feeling Good Handbook David Burns (3)

4. Overcoming Low Self-Esteem Melanie Fennell (4)

5. The Conquest of Happiness Bertrand Russell (5)


6. The Mindful Way Through Depression Mark Williams, John Teasdale  et al (-)

7. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff -and it's all small stuff Richard Carlson (6)

8. The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work   John M. Gottman & Nan Silver (-)

9.   Changing for Good  James Prochaska et al(-)

10. How to Win Friends and Influence People Dale Carnegie (9)


Bubbling Under

 Emotional Intelligence Daniel Goleman (7)

The Consolations of Philosophy Alain de Botton (10

 The Art of Happiness Howard Cutler and the Dalai Lama (8)

Happiness - Mathieu Ricard (-)

The How of Happiness Sonja Lyubomirsky (-)

Of course this list just reflects my personal opinion  - what self-help books have inspired you most in 2008?

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