I feel like there is a subgenre of modern reading: books for your twenties. It is not an advertised genre but so many self-help books seem to be targeted at twenty-somethings.
Self-help can be super hit or miss, and to be fair self-help is an umbrella term because self-help can be about professional life, dating, finding yourself, dealing with shit, and much more. I try not to read too much self-help otherwise I spiral and feel like I am doing everything wrong. However, I have 4 self-help books that every twenty-something should read and that I will probably read again.
1. 13 Things Mentally Strong people DON’T Do By: Amy Morin
This is my #1 rec and it will be for a long while. Amy Morin is a psychologist and her theory is it is much easier to break habits than build new ones. She starts each chapter with a true story from when she was a therapist and uses that story throughout the chapter to describe a characteristic that mentally strong people don’t do. My favorite part of this book is that she is brutally honest with the readers. So many self-help books dance around topics and at some points, I just want to yell, “Just tell me what to do!”. I also love the application that is used from her experience.
2. 13 Things Mentally Strong Women DON’T DO By: Amy Morin
If you read anything I just wrote above, that applies here too. Except this book is geared towards women which I love. She explains how to stand up for yourself in the workforce which I think every woman needs to hear. Side note Amy Morin has a podcast (The Mentally Strong Podcast) and it is phenomenal. If you can’t get enough of the books, this woman is so smart and I want to be friends with her.
3. The Subtle art of Not Giving a F@$% By: Mark Manson
This is another self-help book that is brutally honest with the readers. He is borderline ruthless, but sometimes that’s what people need. I definitely needed this book as a chronic people pleaser. He talks about doing your own thing and not giving a fuck what other people think. This book will make you want to live the life you’ve always wanted. This book is pretty light-hearted too. It makes reading a self-help book not so grueling.
4. Girl Wash Your Face By: Rachel Hollis
Rachel Hollis is a CEO and blogger (very fitting since this is going on a blog). Throughout the book, she goes through 20 lies and debunks these lies. This is another brutally honest book. It seems like it is geared towards mid to late twenty-year-olds as it mentions motherhood and marriage. Nevertheless, she hits a lot of good topics such as how to not hold yourself back from greatness. This book uses a lot of humor which makes it enjoyable and easy to get through.
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