Top 16 Best Self Help Audio Books Updated 04 /2024

You might not be able to find the energy to do things when you're caught up in the pace of everyday life or stressed out. In the next time you need some inspiration, you can put the advice of the world's best personal development experts right into your ears with these carefully chosen listenings.

As you can see, we've put together a list of powerful choices that includes both new authors and well-known favorites from long-time listeners of the genre. If you want to learn more about how to improve your life, read on for the best self-help audiobooks.

Daring Greatly

By Brené Brown

Brené Brown, who has done a lot of research and has a lot of experience, talks about how vulnerability opens us up to strength and courage in our daily lives. It's hard to be vulnerable, Brown says, but it's also a good thing because it allows us to feel things like fear and grief, as well as things like empathy and love. Brown says that humans are wired to connect with each other. Daring to be open and honest with our family, friends, and coworkers strengthens our relationships and makes life better, especially in a world where feeling insecure and afraid has become second nature. She talks about her ideas with the enthusiasm and clarity that have made her TED Talks so popular.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

By Stephen R. Covey

Neither this best-selling book nor its author, Stephen R. Covey, are new to the self-help world. The 7 Habits of People Who Are Successful has been reviving the daily routines of successful people for years. Covey's advice is still as important as ever. Focusing on improvement through the measurement of goals, 7 Habits tells listeners how to set clearer, more attainable goals. When Covey writes and speaks, he gives each lesson a sense of excitement and drive that will make you want to put his advice into practice right away.

How to Win Friends & Influence People

By Dale Carnegie

Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends & Influence People was written more than 60 years ago, but it's still a best-seller and one of the most important self-help books of all time. When Carnegie talks about how to do something, he doesn't talk about what the person wants to do. Instead, he talks about how to do it. Improve your social skills and become more friendly, and any goal can be easier to reach. One of the things you'll learn when you start listening is how to effectively network your way to almost anything you want. This is the book that Warren Buffet says changed his life, and you'll learn how to do the same. Authoritative narration by the late Andrew MacMillan makes How to Win Friends and Influence People easier to read than ever before. The book opens up a way for success in both business and life.

Big Magic

By Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling book, Eat, Pray, Love, helped a lot of women find their own way to self-discovery. In her book, Big Magic, the best-selling author talks about a subject close to her heart: the mysterious nature of inspiration. People should face their fears, be curious, and follow their dreams, Gilbert says in her own voice. She gives her own unique perspective on the creative process. Big Magic is a beautiful book that also has a lot of practical advice in it. Gilbert talks about how to have the right mindset and habits if you want to live your most creative life.

The Four Agreements

By don Miguel Ruiz

One of Oprah Winfrey's favorite books and a best-seller on the New York Times bestseller list is The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. It's a collection of ancient wisdom that has been updated for today's world. Ruiz gets his advice from the teachings of the Toltecs, the people who lived before the Aztecs. The Toltecs had a lot of personal freedom and were happy with what they had. As you listen to this audiobook, you will learn that your life is based on the different agreements you make. This is true even though these agreements are made with ourselves, other people, or even a higher power. They all affect how much freedom we have and what we do with that freedom. A well-known actor, Peter Coyote, narrates each agreement with wisdom, eloquence, and grace. Coyote worked with Ken Burns on eight of his films, and fans of Burns might recognize him from that work.

The Power of Now

By Eckhart Tolle

In his best-selling book, Eckhart Tolle talks about how to live in the moment so that you can have the best life you can. This is what he does. He wants people to stop thinking about the past and the future when they try to solve problems. Instead, he wants them to fully focus on the present. The Power of Now is narrated by the book's author and gives listeners a simple and easy-to-follow question-and-answer format that gives them help and guidance. You'll learn about positive thinking and meditations and practices that you can use to improve your mindfulness and start living in the moment. This listen is a surefire way to start living a more mindful, meaningful life.

Man's Search for Meaning

By Viktor E. Frankl

Viktor E. Frankl, a world-renowned psychiatrist, spent years in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. He was able to get through it. These horrifying events, combined with his rigorous and immersive scientific training, give him a unique perspective on life's most difficult questions that other people don't have. A psychiatrist named Frankl used this theory to make a new kind of therapy called logotherapy, which he used himself to come to terms with the trials and cruelties that he had to deal with. He called it "logotherapy." In Man's Search for Meaning, Frankl talks about how people can use questions about meaning to think about their own lives and get a better sense of what it's like to live. Simon Vance, a Hall of Fame narrator, effortlessly leads listeners through all of Frankl's most complicated ideas, all of which are based on the author's main theory: The main thing that drives every person is their search for purpose and understanding.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

By Mark Manson

It's not a good choice if you want to listen to a book that celebrates the power of positive thinking and affirms that you're a great person. Mark Manson, a popular blogger and best-selling author, has a very different idea about how to find happiness and success than most people do. He makes a strong case for being honest with yourself about your own flaws based on academic research. He says that when we accept our flaws and fears, we can stop dreaming and running, figure out what's important, and start to find the courage, creativity, and joy we want. Roger Wayne, a well-known audiobook narrator and actor, reads this listen's hard-hitting, uplifting message without any editing.

The Alchemist

By Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist is a work of fiction, but many people think it's the best self-help book because it tells a story full of inspiration and encouragement. In this story, we follow Santiago, a young shepherd from southern Spain, on his journey to Egypt to see the Great Pyramids. Santiago meets a lot of interesting people on his way, and each of them gives him different advice. At the end of his trip, he meets an alchemist who is both mysterious and wise. Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons reads The Alchemist with reverence, vibrancy, and incredible range. It's a refreshingly new parable in a genre that tends to be literal. It's worth listening to for its entertainment value and beautiful prose alone, but it also gives people a few things to think about.

The Magic of Thinking Big

By David J. Schwartz Ph.D.

As Jason Culp reads David Schwartz's self-improvement guide, listeners can benefit from its advice no matter where they are in their career or life. Schwartz's guide has been used by millions of people since 1959. Schwartz thinks that great things don't happen because you have a lot of talent. Instead, they happen because you have a lot of great ideas. The Magic of Thinking Big encourages people to think outside the box when it comes to abilities and experience, which puts limits on their expectations. Instead, they learn about the incredible power of ambitious thinking. Listeners will learn how to get rid of their fears, build confidence, believe in their abilities, and, in the end, do something great.

Thinking, Fast and Slow

By Daniel Kahneman

People like Malcolm Gladwell and Steven Pinker, who are big thinkers, have been inspired by psychologist Daniel Kahneman for years. With Thinking Fast and Slow, Kahneman finally makes his knowledge available to anyone who wants to learn from him, for the first time. As the narrator, Patrick Egan gives you a comfortable, easygoing voice with lots of different tone and inflections to keep you interested and focused on every academic detail in this book. Kahneman's study breaks down the two main types of thinking in the human brain: fast and slow. It does this in simple terms. The author goes on to look at how these two systems work together to affect our behavior, beliefs, relationships, intellect, and more. This makes for a great study of pop psychology and science.

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