02 Feb 30 Self Development Books to Help You Create Your Best Year Yet
Written by Prabjit Chohan-Patel
When it comes to self development books, there’s never been more choice than now. In fact, there’s so much literature out there, it’s almost overwhelming.
At SHE, we’re no strangers to personal development recommendations that deliver new perspectives, sharpen your understanding and help you work on what matters for your business, your relationships, the inner you, and even just this thing called life. So this month’s blog is yet another self development gift from us to you.
BUT before we get to the treat below, first dear reader, a little pep talk.
We’re calling time on the whole “New year, New you” thing…
Because Truth: Each one of us is an amazing living, breathing library of our own stories, our experiences, triumphs and defeats – those elements that make us uniquely us and the many lessons we’ve learned along the way (often without knowing it).
This is what it is to be human.
Not models that malfunction and need throwing out each December to be replaced with a brand new one in January. You don’t need to become a new you.
However…consciously striving to slightly improve the already pretty awesome version of yourself…? Now THAT’S something to get behind!
Because here’s another truth: being human also means being an ever-evolving work in progress. This is especially accurate if you’ve chosen an entrepreneurial life.
(A wise woman once said “you can’t develop your business without developing yourself”.)
So, if you’re looking for greater balance, meaning, business growth, kick-ass inspiration or to simply understand your world or the people around you better – but don’t quite know where to start – we’ve done the work for you. Again, we’ve carefully curated a selection of great reads on: business, communication, money, mindset, relationships, midlife and inner work.
So, put your phone away, stick a do not disturb sign on your door and feast your eyes on SHE Malta’s latest list of self development book recommendations.
BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Top Picks
1 The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber
Why most small businesses fail and how to turn them around.
Gerber provides a step-by-step guide to building a successful business, focusing on systems and processes rather than just entrepreneurial passion.
A staple for business owners: Gerber dismantles the myth that great technical skill equals business success. Instead he shows how systems, roles and strategic thinking transform small businesses into sustainable ventures.
A modern approach to entrepreneurial experimentation with businesses and products.
Ries teaches founders to test assumptions, iterate quickly and validate ideas with real customers — valuable for anyone launching or scaling a business. The book provides practical advice on how to create and manage successful startups in an age of uncertainty.
3 Start Something That Matters – Blake Mycoskie
Mycoskie shares the story behind TOMS and the rise of purpose-driven entrepreneurship.
The book argues that business can be both profitable and socially impactful, without traditional barriers to entry. It offers practical insights on launching ventures aligned with values. Less about systems, more about mission-led action.
4 The $100 Startup – Chris Guillebeau
“This book is more than a ‘how to’ guide, it’s a ‘how they did it’ guide that should persuade anyone thinking about starting a business that they don’t need a fortune to make one.” – John Jantsch
This description by Jantsch (author of Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine) nails it! Guillebeau went looking for what actually works in the real world for low-budget entrepreneurs, listening to and witnessing the case studies of diverse founders. His book shows you how to turn skills and passions into income streams without huge upfront costs,
If you love hearing inspiring yet practical examples of people, tiny ideas, small beginnings, this one’s for you.
5 Hug Your Customers – Jack Mitchell
A human-centred approach to customer service, emphasising the power of personal connection and delight.
Particularly useful for service-based founders looking to differentiate through culture and care. Mitchell argues that genuine warmth and attention aren’t “soft skills” but commercial advantages, showing how loyalty is built through everyday interactions rather than grand gestures.
FINANCIAL LITERACY, MONEY PSYCHOLOGY & RISK
Top Picks
6 Same as Ever, Timeless Lessons on Risk, Opportunity and Living a Good Life, Morgan Housel
The important events that will shape the future are inherently unpredictable. Instead, we should be asking a different question: What will be the same ten years from now? What will be the same one hundred years from now?
Housel focuses on the patterns in human behaviour that don’t change, even as technology and markets do. Through short, reflective essays, he explores risk, uncertainty, incentives, and long-term thinking. The book blends financial psychology with life philosophy, arguing that understanding human nature matters more than predicting trends.
Northrup reframes money as a relationship, shaped by values, emotions and self-worth rather than rules or discipline alone.
Drawing on personal experience, psychology and feminine leadership principles, she challenges hustle culture, scarcity thinking and productivity-driven ideas of success. Unlike traditional personal finance books, this is not about budgets, investments or financial rules — it’s about changing how women emotionally relate to money in the first place. Blending reflective exercises with a softer, cyclical approach to earning and spending, Northrup encourages women to work with their energy rather than against it – particularly relevant for those unlearning guilt, overwork and fear around money.
8 The Richest Man in Babylon – George S. Clason
Timeless personal finance fundamentals and wisdom told through parables.
Providing core principles on saving, investing and financial discipline, this book is intended to resonate with readers new to money management or seeking foundational habits to establish and ensure long-term wealth.
Also recommended
9 Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill
With over 100 million copies sold worldwide since its 1937 publication, this foundational mindset book has cemented its status as one of the best-selling self-help books of all time.
Based on Hill’s study of successful individuals, the famous business bible examines the power of desire, faith, persistence, and goal-setting. Though decades old, many of the principles of Think and Grow Rich for long-term personal and financial growth still resonate.
10 Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny – Suze Orman
A woman-focused guide to financial confidence, literacy and security, delivered in Orman’s characteristically direct style.
Addressing money through the lens of women’s independence, protection and long-term stability, this book combines clear financial guidance with an emphasis on informed decision-making and self-reliance. Where Northrup addresses the relationship with money and mindset shift, Orman’s book is more action-focused. Though acknowledging certain emotional barriers, her emphasis is on taking control by understanding your finances, protecting yourself, and making smart money decisions. A practical, instructive and empowering read.
COMMUNICATION & RELATIONSHIPS
Top Picks
11 Crucial Conversations – Pattersen, Grenny, McMillan, Switzler
A practical framework for navigating high-stakes conversations with clarity and respect.
Essential for leaders, founders and anyone whose success depends on relationships. This book teaches structured dialogue for emotionally charged moments, helping readers build influence without conflict.
12 Who Deserves Your Love – KC Davis
With radical honesty and a compassionate touch, this book helps readers distinguish between love that nourishes and attachments that drain.
Davis tackles our most common – and toughest – questions about love and relationships with warmth and insight. This practical guide explores how vulnerability and trauma shape our connections. Packed with lists and diagrams, it helps you discern who truly deserves your time – a guide to finding love and being loved – exactly as you are.
INNER WORK, HEALING & EMOTIONAL WELLBEING
Top Picks
13 How to Meet Yourself – Nicole LePera
This superb workbook is the companion to LePera’s best-selling book How to Do the Work.
One of the most thoughtfully compiled books I’ve ever seen, LePera’s comprehensive book follows on from the hugely successful How to Do the Work, helping users actively apply its teachings. Readers are encouraged to drill down and understand self-limiting patterns, exercise compassionate self-observation, and literally do the work and benefit their lives.
14 The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery – Brianna Wiest
Exploration of self-sabotage as an unconscious attempt at self-protection rather than failure.
Wiest connects emotional patterns, trauma responses, and identity to the ways people block their own growth. The focus is on inner work, accountability, and transformation rather than tactics. It’s introspective and emotionally driven rather than research-based.
15 Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? – Julie Smith
A practical wellbeing manual that tackles the everyday issues that affect us all and offers practical, potentially life-changing solutions.
Written in short, bite-sized entries, this book is great for people looking for structured, actionable emotional tools. It’s organised into sections covering specific challenges and provides tools to help with managing anxiety, dealing with criticism, battling low mood, building self-confidence, finding motivation, learning to forgive yourself.
MINDSET, HABITS & BEHAVIOUR CHANGE
Top Picks
16 Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less – Greg McKeown
A concise, compelling guide to essentialism. Focus relentlessly on what matters and eliminate the rest.
A strong follow-on to McKeown’s core ideas about simplifying priorities. The book is especially relevant for women juggling competing demands, offering a disciplined framework for saying no without guilt and reclaiming time, energy and clarity. While written for a general audience, the book has particular resonance for women juggling competing demands, offering a clear framework for prioritisation, boundaries and intentional decision-making.
“Pippa Grange has something to teach all of us when it comes to letting go of perfectionism and anxiety, and living with open hearts rather than clenched fists. Fear Less is a total game-changer.’ Brené Brown.”
If we were truly free from fear, what could we achieve? We strive for success, but we are rarely happy. The more we try to win – putting on a brave face for work or family – the more we risk losing ourselves. And even reaching our goals can feel strangely hollow. The culprit? Fear. It makes us anxious, or shameful, or turns us into perfectionists. We pretend to be someone else while aiming for a status that’s never truly satisfying.
18 The Let Them Theory – Mel Robbins
How this could NOT be included? The book that everyone is reading (including yours truly) and talking about.
Robbins argues that many people waste energy trying to control others’ reactions and behaviour. The “let them” mindset encourages detachment from external validation and unnecessary conflict. The book is about boundaries, emotional regulation, and personal agency across several key aspects of life. Pragmatic, refreshing and confidence-building.
Also recommended
19 Everything Is F*cked – Mark Manson
A refreshingly blunt take on meaning, acceptance and prioritisation.
Manson blends humour with psychology to challenge conventional positivity and help readers focus on what truly matters. An deliciously irreverent exploration of hope, values and emotional decision-making in an uncertain world. Manson argues that modern anxiety isn’t caused by lack, but by misplaced beliefs about happiness, control and optimism. Drawing on psychology and philosophy, he challenges feel-good self-help and makes the case for grounded values, responsibility and acceptance rather than constant positivity.
20 Ikigai – Héctor García & Francesc Miralles
Ikigai explores the Japanese concept of purpose as the intersection of meaning, joy, and contribution.
Through cultural observation, interviews, and lifestyle insights, the book links longevity with intention and community. It’s gentle, reflective, and philosophical rather than prescriptive. More about orientation to life than achievement.
21 Manifest(o): Unlock the life you deserve and find contentment in your everyday – Candice Braithwaite
Believing that you deserve abundance is the route to inviting it into your life. But what if your experiences so far have demonstrated the exact opposite?
What does Manifesting look like if you’re not white, thin, traditionally pretty, or able-bodied? Candice has learnt to manifest the hard way and can teach you to do the same. Focusing on the four pillars of Wellness, Wealth, Love and Happiness, Candice’s customary no bullsh*t candour will guide you towards the life you desire and show you that manifesting can be for everyone, not just those to whom the universe has already been kind.
22 Tiny Habits: Why Starting Small Makes Lasting Change Easy – BJ Fogg
If Charles Duhigg and James Clear’s ‘habits classics’ weren’t enough for you, you might want to add this one to the list. Written by a pioneer in behaviour design, Tiny Habits shows how small behaviour shifts lead to big results — ideal for readers who want practical tools to transform routines.
23 You Become What You Think – Shubham Kumar Singh
A contemporary guide to the power of mindset, this book explores how our thoughts shape daily experience, habits, emotional wellbeing and relationships.
Singh distils ideas from psychology, neuroscience and personal insight into accessible, bite-sized practices designed to increase self-awareness and intentional living. It’s particularly useful for readers newer to self-development who want practical tools for mental clarity and growth
OUR WORLD & SOCIAL INSIGHT
Top Picks
24 Men Explain Things to Me – Rebecca Solnit
Exquisitely written with grace and energy, this collection of essays is a sharp cultural analysis on gender and voice.
It has become a touchstone of the feminist movement, inspired the term ‘mansplaining’, and established Solnit as one of the leading feminist thinkers of our time, inspiring everyone from radical activists to Beyonce Knowles. From rape culture to mansplaining, from French sex scandals to marriage and the nuclear family, from Virginia Woolf to colonialism, Solnit delivers a fierce and incisive exploration of the issues that a patriarchal culture will not necessarily acknowledge as ‘issues’ at all.
25 Noise – Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony & Cass Sunstein
How noise (random variability in human judgement) distorts decisions, even among experts acting in good faith.
Drawing on behavioural science, it shows how inconsistency affects hiring, medicine, justice, and business. Unlike bias, noise is harder to see, but just as costly. Co-author of Freakonomics calls it “an absolutely brilliant investigation of a massive societal problem that has been hiding in plain sight.”
Also recommended
26 Freakonomics – Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
Assume nothing. Question everything! This is the message at the heart of this rule-breaking, iconoclastic book that turned everyone’s view of the world upside-down and became an international multi-million-copy-selling phenomenon.
Now updated 20 years after its release, this atypical self-help book is worth reading for its provocative insights that sharpen curiosity and critical thinking.
WOMEN, IDENTITY, POWER & LIVED EXPERIENCE
Top Picks
27 The Heroine’s Journey, Woman’s Quest for Wholeness – Maureen Murdock
Murdock reframes the traditional hero’s journey through a female lens.
The Heroine’s Journey offers a map for women seeking psychological wholeness beyond cultural expectations, in a society where she has been defined according to masculine values. Drawing on cultural myths and fairy tales, ancient symbols and goddesses, and the dreams of contemporary women, Murdock illustrates the need for — and the reality of — feminine values in Western culture.
28 Revolting Women: Why midlife women are walking out, and what to do about it – Lucy Ryan
Professional women over 50 are faced with a triple-whammy of discrimination: they are not male, young, or linear in their career paths.
As a result, they are leaving corporate life and taking their career into their own hands. And with it, they take their abundant wisdom, energy and ambition. Drawing on new research by Dr Lucy Ryan that fills a longstanding data gap, this book shows that assumptions about declining midlife motivation and energy just aren’t true for women and reveals how you can retain and develop this invaluable talent pool with a better understanding of their challenges and a few simple changes.
Written with humour, fierce tenderness and practicality, Wise Power is a trailblazing guide to menopause, filled with nourishing wisdom and practical advice that restores the dignity of menopause.
It’s time to redefine this pivotal time of life that is often mistakenly viewed as a health crisis that is ‘suffered from’ or ‘coped with’, and misinformation and myths around menopause can leave you feeling ignored and misunderstood. Wise Power is the radical new story of menopause – illuminating its power and potential.
Also recommended
30 The Light We Carry – Michelle Obama
A reflective exploration of resilience, doubt and self-worth from a global figure.
Obama’s mix of personal story and insight makes this a meaningful read for women seeking grounded leadership and self-confidence. Her emphasis is on everyday courage and self-trust, offering reassurance rather than instruction
If you missed them before, remember to check out the superb (whopping 42!) recommendations we brought you in: https://www.shemalta.com/community/17-books-to-help-you-end-2024-and-start-2025-strong/
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