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Original poster

To ask what is the best self-help book you've ever read and how it changed your life?

91 replies

Flamingo1980 · 20/07/2016 13:15

I'm needing a big kick up the bum and to make big, permanent and positive changes in my life and so looking to you gorgeous people for your experiences and recommendations.
I'm currently reading 'The chimp paradox' which is brilliant but when I finish it I would like more books to get me on the right path.
What do you recommend?

OP posts:
freakinthemorning · 20/07/2016 13:18

Probably not what you're after unless you have an abusive shit of a DP, but Lundy Bancorft's Why Does He Do that changed my life forever.

If I ever met that man I would hug him for a long, long time.

OhStacey · 20/07/2016 13:21

7 habits is supposed to be good.

He's just not that into you changed my dating habits and it's called a break up because it's broken always helped me move on.

LuciaInFurs · 20/07/2016 13:22

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway. It gave me the confidence to try online dating and I met my DH and we've been married a year now. I keep meaning to read it again.

youshouldcancelthecheque · 20/07/2016 13:22

Its really old but "Feel the Fear and do it anyway" is very good, I cant remember entire content but I left my partner of 11 years after reading it, this was 16 years ago and I still use the phrase "Feel the fear and do it anyway" as a bit of a mantra. Will find a link

youshouldcancelthecheque · 20/07/2016 13:22

www.susanjeffers.com/home/detailtemplate.cfm?catID=2234

BursarsFrogs · 20/07/2016 13:24

Not sure if it really counts as selfhelp, or will help you, but Reasons To Stay Alive by Matt Haig is great for anyone struggling with depression. I wouldn't say it's changed my life, but it's helped me go on. :)

user1468312125 · 20/07/2016 13:27

I guess it depends what you're looking for, but I liked A Woman in Your Own Right by Anne Dickson. Read it years ago and some of the lessons in assertiveness have been really helpful in my life. How to say "no" especially.

Northumberlandlass · 20/07/2016 13:32

Feel the Fear is a good one - definitely helped me through some dark times.

macromolecule · 20/07/2016 13:44

Reinventing Your Life by Jeffrey E. Young and Janet S. Klosko really did help change my life. I was a mess and it helped me to untangle the threads of what was wrong.

Can I have two? Later on, Loving What Is by Byron Katie changed the way I think about absolutely everything.

biggles50 · 20/07/2016 13:54

Healing back pain by dr John sarno, the power of now by eckhart tolle, your erroneous zones by wayne dyer and the game of life and how to play it by Florence scovel shinn. All but the first are uploaded on YouTube and free to listen to. John sarno has to be my own personal hero. Happy reading/listening.

biggles50 · 20/07/2016 13:57

Oh you asked how it had changed our lives. Well dr Sarno is responsible for helping in the "cure" of two decades of chronic neck pain. I'm now pain free. The other books helped with living in the moment but now that the pain has gone I'm better at appreciating all that I have.

biggles50 · 20/07/2016 13:59

If you're looking for a kick up the bum listen to Brian Tracy, again all free on YouTube.

RNBrie · 20/07/2016 14:09

Feel The Fear here too. Changed my life!

TheNaze73 · 20/07/2016 14:40

The Good Psychopath's Guide to Success

JellyBellyKelly · 20/07/2016 15:01

Too Good to Leave, Too Bad to Stay

Helped me see a toxic relationship for what it was. Left DP, went on to meet DH.

I truly believe without that book my life would have turned out very differently

Original poster
Flamingo1980 · 20/07/2016 15:11

The good psychopaths guide to success?? Explain please!!

OP posts:
Winterbiscuit · 20/07/2016 15:22

Another vote for "A Woman in Your Own Right". It's quite old now but still very relevant.

boldlygoingsomewhere · 20/07/2016 15:22

Women Who Run With Wolves- Clarissa Pinkola Estes - made me think about how to be authentically myself as a woman and consider ways in which I'd been 'tamed'.

Flourishing- Maureen Gaffney Read it when I was having a terrible time at work - bullying culture and lots of gaslighting. It really helped me to understand that it was not my fault and how organisations and people can flourish.

Chikara · 20/07/2016 15:42

Susie Orbach, "Fat is a Feminist Issue" -read it when it was first published in1978. Changed my life. I still tend to gain weight but I no longer eat compulsively in the way I used to and I understood that I wasn't mad, evil or totally lacking in any control at all. At the time the book was pretty ground breaking I think - much of what it said has since become commonly understood - but then....!

Vanillafox · 20/07/2016 15:46

Jason Vale's 'Slim for Life' is amazing. I lost 3 stone in 3 months after reading it and have kept it off easily. Not a traditional 'self-help' book but it was a game changer for me.

cjt110 · 20/07/2016 15:47

Placemarking. I could do with some stress, anxiety type books

MsStricty · 20/07/2016 15:48

Another one for "Women Who Run With The Wolves" by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. It's an odyssey, and I pick it up and read it in increments, and have done so, off and on, for over 10 years - but I always seem to find the right section just when I need it the most.

RortyCrankle · 20/07/2016 15:58

Louise L Hay's 'You can Heal Your Life'. It helped me in many ways.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 20/07/2016 16:02

Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez

It really made me think about why I work, am I defined by my job and why I spend.