This was a lunch topic with work colleagues. None of us could think of a self-help book that we had read and actually found helpful. Anyone have any more positive experiences?
Consider Your Options. It is a must have read for anyone who has to deal with stock options and/or AMT. I recommend giving it to your SV entrepreneur kiddos who get paid in options and RSUs. Or send them to the Fairmark site. 
Specific to relationships, very specific to my type of relationship: “Too Good to Leave, Too Bad to Stay”; and “Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men.”
“Your Money or Your Life” by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin changed how my H and I view money and it’s effects on our lives. Basically, we learned from it how to properly value time over things. It crystalized things we had sort of thought, in a much, much more focused way. I’d call it life-changing.
I just asked my H the question, and he named it right away. We read the book about 20 years ago.
I liked Gretchen Rubin’s book Better Than Before, with tips and tricks for developing better habits. I liked her book called Happier at Home, too. Wasn’t so crazy about her first book.
I generally don’t like self-help books but I like her conversational style and I thought she had some good tips.
Oh, and a very, very useful, practical guide to projecting confidence in public speaking situations is The Confidence Code by Cara Hale Alter. I highly recommend it.
“Clutter’s Last Stand” by Don Aslett. I bought it years ago and when ever I feel like I need to get rid of some stuff I re-read parts of it.
My sister loved “Spiritual Divorce” by Debbie Ford. She bought extra copies to give to friends in need and they all found it helpful too.
“The Art of Crossing Cultures” by Craig Storti. Good tools that I return to time and again when I face new situations.
The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler. I have read it many times and will read it again many times.
Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman is kind of the scientific version, also a good read.
- Forgiveness by Sidney Simon. 2) The Spirited Child. I read it when my son was 4 and cried at the preface...wonderful book. 3) The Millionaire Next Door
1comes closet to what I think you mean..and it did help.
I don’t know either are considered a self-help book, but The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande really helped me in my work. Stanley Turecki’s The Difficult Child helped me understand and cope with my first born.
@conmama I think Your Spirited Child was my favorite book about bringing up kids.
I also liked How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk
And I liked George Wootan’s Take Charge of Your Child’s Health: A Parent’s Guide to Recognizing Symptoms and Treating Minor Illnesses at Home
I’ve read all the clutter/organizing books out there. Never found any that would stick.
I’m nuts about Brene Brown’s “The Power of Vulnerability”. I listen to it on MP3, and it’s in her voice which is nice. But I’ve also read it. I go back to it again and again. Some real gems in there.
Harville Hendrix book “Getting the Love you deserve”, while it isn’t a be all and end all book, had useful things in it, about who we love and why and what can happen in relationships. It did help in a tough time.
For raising kids, there was a series of books whose title escapes me, that talked about what kids were like at each age, it kind of helped us understand the phases of what our kid was going through.
Here’s another that saw me through the teen years…Yes, Your Kid are Crazy!
@musicprnt I think you mean the “Your ___ Year Old” series. Here’s a link to one of them. http://www.amazon.com/Your-Six-Year-Old-Louise-Bates-Ames/dp/0440506743 I had those just about memorized.
Allen Carr’s “Easy Way to Stop Smoking”. This book was the lightbulb moment for me and it enable me to stop smoking cold turkey over 20 years ago. No other self help book I’ve read has even come close.
CORRECTION to my earlier post: the book I recommend is called THE CREDIBILITY CODE by Cara Hale Alter (not the Confidence Code).
Get Out of My Life, but First Could You Drive Me & Cheryl to the Mall: A Parent’s Guide to the New Teenager
saved,my.life.