Self Help Books.

[The Q]

Ok, I will admit--I love them. BUT, you really have to weed through the crap to find some good ones. So, I wonder if anyone can recommend self-help or spiritual (not necessarily religious) books on self-improvement?

ADQ

[Sweet Tart]

The Four Agreements

I forget the author :lol

Amazing book :yep

[cassandra]

I loved 5 Love Languages - helped me to see who I am and who my family is more clearly.

5 Star Families was great.
Power of Intention is good but you have to weed through a lot of crap within it.
I am working my way through some books I have been reading and am looking forward to Authentic Happiness. Looks like a great read. I have heard good things about it.

BTW this is one of my favorite book genres as well.

[Zanoog]

The Traveler's Gift by Andy Andrews

This really helped a young woman I know, and I've used it as a tool to coach with.

Most all time favorite:

A Pocketful of Miracles by Joan Borysenko - It's fantastic!

[The Q]

The Four Agreements

I forget the author :lol

Amazing book :yep

Don Miguel Ruiz? Or something like that I think.

My mom likes that one as well.

ADQ

[The Q]

I'm actually reading a book called "Buddha is as Buddha Does" right now. It's a Buddhist book, but is applicable to anyone of any religion. I am really enjoying it.

ADQ

[bbrown]

The best book I've ever read in this genre was Getting Things Done by David Allen. It's a time management book on the surface, but it's really about getting control of your obligations. His basic premise is that each thing you agree to do but forget weighs down your psyche. It's that nagging feeling that you're forgetting something that makes life so stressful. By writing everything down in a trusted system, you can remove those unspoken obligations and leave your mind free to focus on the task at hand or what have you. I found that to be very insightful and true. To the degree that I have followed his system, I have been more productive and less stressed than when I fall of the wagon. There's a whole subculture on the Web dedicated to GTD (http://www.google.com/search?q=gtd).

Martin Seligman's books (Sandi specifically mentioned Authentic Happiness but Learned Optimism and The Optimistic Child were great too) were the genesis of the positive psychology movement, an offshoot of cognitive psychology. Speaking of that, Aaron T. Beck's Love is Never Enough is easily the best relationship psychology book I've ever read and possibly the best self-improvement book as well.

I liked Nathaniel Branden's more philosophical works on self-esteem like The Psychology of Self-Esteem and Honoring the Self, but a lot of his stuff has degenerated into popularization.

I am a huge fan of the genre, so I read very widely. I'll try to take a gander upstairs at the library for any treasured volumes that escape my memory right now.

Bill