If you are a woman in your 20s, it is time you embark on your journey to self-development. But are you wondering how to accomplish it? The best way is through self-help books. They are a miraculous way to give you a new, fresh perspective towards life, and undoubtedly, the easiest way towards personalized growth and self-love.

Women across the world have been victims to several invincible challenges that they fear telling people around them. Self-help books give insights that empower them to transform their life beautifully. Women feel better, they feel confident, and more importantly, they start loving themselves a little more — an absolute force to be reckoned with.

Here is a list of the most popular, 16 best-selling books centered around self-love and help. These must-read books contain pearls of wisdom and knowledge that women should make a part of their reading list before they near their 20s.

The #1 international best seller

In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg reignited the conversation around women in the workplace.

Sandberg is chief operating officer of Facebook and coauthor of Option B with Adam Grant. In 2010, she gave an electrifying TED talk in which she described how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their careers. Her talk, which has been viewed more than six million times, encouraged women to “sit at the table,” seek challenges, take risks, and pursue their goals with gusto.

Lean In continues that conversation, combining personal anecdotes, hard data, and compelling research to change the conversation from what women can’t do to what they can. Sandberg provides practical advice on negotiation techniques, mentorship, and building a satisfying career. She describes specific steps women can take to combine professional achievement with personal fulfillment, and demonstrates how men can benefit by supporting women both in the workplace and at home.

Written with humor and wisdom, Lean In is a revelatory, inspiring call to action and a blueprint for individual growth that will empower women around the world to achieve their full potential. 

“Author and poet Cleo Wade will make your day with her inspiring and uplifting outlook on life” (People) and she returns with another moving collection of poems, mantras, and illustrations encouraging you to remain hopeful and harness your inner power and create change through self-care and social justice.

If you are ready to be a part of building a society rooted in love, acceptance, justice, and equality, Where to Begin is the ultimate inspirational guide. Building on the wisdom of Cleo Wade’s national bestseller Heart Talk, this heartfelt collection will help you stay connected to hope during difficult moments and remind you that no matter what, you still have the power to show up and effect positive change.

Remember, your big life is made up of a collection of all of your small moments. Our big world is a made up of a collection of all of our small actions. This book is about where to begin.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • This on-point guide to growing up by Instagram sensation Mari Andrew features “achingly vulnerable and completely relatable watercolor illustrations about relationships, heartbreak and the struggles of urban life” (The Washington Post).
 
In the journey toward adulthood, it is easy to find yourself treading the path of those who came before you; the path often appears straight and narrow, with a few bumps in the road and a little scenery to keep you inspired. But what if you don’t want to walk a worn path? What if you want to wander? What if there is no map to guide you through the detours life throws your way?
 
From creating a home in a new city to understanding the link between a good hair dryer and good self-esteem to dealing with the depths of heartache and loss, these tales of the twentysomething document a road less traveled—a road that sometimes is just the way you’re meant to go.

In his mega bestseller, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman, the renowned psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think.

System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. The impact of overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning our next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems shape our judgments and decisions.

Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and selected by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 2011, Thinking, Fast and Slow is destined to be a classic.

A special 25th anniversary edition of the extraordinary international bestseller, including a new Foreword by Paulo Coelho.

Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations.

Paulo Coelho’s masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago’s journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams.

“A new role model.”— The New York Times

In The Universe Has Your Back, New York Times best-selling author Gabrielle Bernstein teaches readers how to transform their fear into faith in order to live a divinely guided life. Each story and lesson in the book guides readers to release the blocks to what they most long for: happiness, security and clear direction. The lessons help readers relinquish the need to control so they can relax into a sense of certainty and freedom. Readers will learn to stop chasing life and truly live.

Making the shift from fear to faith will give readers a sense of power in a world that all too often makes them feel utterly powerless. When the tragedies of the world seem overwhelming, this book will help guide them back to their true power.

Gabrielle says, “My commitment with this book is to wake up as many people as possible to their connection to faith and joy. In that connection, we can be guided to our true purpose: to be love and spread love. These words can no longer be cute buzz phrases that we merely post on social media. Rather, these words must be our mission. The happiness, safety, and security we long for lies in our commitment to love. ”

When readers follow this path, they ’ll begin to feel a swell of energy move through them. They will find strength when they are down, synchronicity and support when they ’re lost, safety in the face of uncertainty, and joy when they are otherwise in pain. Follow the secrets revealed in this book to unleash the presence of your power and know always that The Universe Has Your Back.

#1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER.

Join the self-love revolution with Instagram visionary Vex King. This limited-edition hardback includes inspirational messages, beautiful illustrations and universal wisdom to help you manifest positive vibes.

Vex overcame adversity to become a source of hope for thousands of young people, and now draws from his personal experience and his intuitive wisdom to inspire you to:

– practise self-care, overcome toxic energy and prioritize your wellbeing
– cultivate positive lifestyle habits, including mindfulness and meditation
– change your beliefs to invite great opportunities into your life
– manifest your goals using tried-and-tested techniques
– overcome fear and flow with the Universe
– find your higher purpose and become a shining light for others

With additional messages and brand new illustrations, this new gift edition of Good Vibes, Good Life will empower and inspire you to change the way you feel, think, speak, act and live your life.

From a New York Times best-selling author, psychotherapist, and national advice columnist, a hilarious, thought-provoking, and surprising new book that takes us behind the scenes of a therapist’s world—where her patients are looking for answers (and so is she).

One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose of­fice she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.
 
As Gottlieb explores the inner chambers of her patients’ lives — a self-absorbed Hollywood producer, a young newlywed diagnosed with a terminal illness, a senior citizen threatening to end her life on her birthday if nothing gets better, and a twenty-something who can’t stop hooking up with the wrong guys — she finds that the questions they are struggling with are the very ones she is now bringing to Wendell.
 
With startling wisdom and humor, Gottlieb invites us into her world as both clinician and patient, examining the truths and fictions we tell ourselves and others as we teeter on the tightrope between love and desire, meaning and mortality, guilt and redemption, terror and courage, hope and change.
 
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is rev­olutionary in its candor, offering a deeply per­sonal yet universal tour of our hearts and minds and providing the rarest of gifts: a boldly reveal­ing portrait of what it means to be human, and a disarmingly funny and illuminating account of our own mysterious lives and our power to transform them.

“I believe we can change the world. But first, we’ve got to stop living in fear of being judged for who we are.”

Rachel Hollis has seen it too often: women not living into their full potential. They feel a tugging on their hearts for something more, but they’re afraid of embarrassment, of falling short of perfection, of not being enough.

In Girl, Stop Apologizing, #1 New York Times bestselling author and founder of a multimillion-dollar media company, Rachel Hollis sounds a wake-up call. She knows that many women have been taught to define themselves in light of other people—whether as wife, mother, daughter, or employee—instead of learning how to own who they are and what they want. With a challenge to women everywhere to stop talking themselves out of their dreams, Hollis identifies the excuses to let go of, the behaviors to adopt, and the skills to acquire on the path to growth, confidence, and believing in yourself. 

Following the success of Lean In and Why Women Should Rule the World, the authors of the bestselling Womenomics provide an informative and practical guide to understanding the importance of confidence—and learning how to achieve it—for women of all ages and at all stages of their career.

Working women today are better educated and more well qualified than ever before. Yet men still predominate in the corporate world. In The Confidence Code, Claire Shipman and Katty Kay argue that the key reason is confidence.

Combining cutting-edge research in genetics, gender, behavior, and cognition—with examples from their own lives and those of other successful women in politics, media, and business—Kay and Shipman go beyond admonishing women to “lean in.”Instead, they offer the inspiration and practical advice women need to close the gap and achieve the careers they want and deserve. 

“Solid gold wisdom that has the power to change your life for the better” from the author of The Book of Awesome Women—includes journaling prompts (Varla Ventura, author of Wild Women Talk About Love).

#1 Bestseller in Popular Culture, Quotations, Women’s Studies, Love & Marriage Humor, Self-Esteem, LGBT, and Trivia

We all need reminders. You don’t leap out of bed knowing you are amazing and about to have an incredible day. All of us have a lot of demands, pressures, to-dos and responsibilities. We find ourselves rushing around, working hard to please others. Often we find ourselves at the back of our own bus, having made everyone else happy but our own damn self. Then you go and beat yourself up about it. Let’s stop that, shall we?

In Badass Affirmations, positive living and affirmation queen Becca Anderson reminds you that you are pretty darn great. She will help you heal scars from bad childhoods and relationships and stop the self-defeating scripts that loop through your unconscious brain. Even nice moms and dads perpetrate parenting errors that leave marks on our souls. But, we can overcome with the right mix of badass affirmations. Every day and in every way, you can learn the art of self-affirmation.

When Maggie Smith, the award-winning author of the viral poem “Good Bones,” started writing inspirational daily Twitter posts in the wake of her divorce, they unexpectedly caught fire. In this deeply moving book of quotes and essays, Maggie writes about new beginnings as opportunities for transformation. Like kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending broken ceramics with gold, Keep Moving celebrates the beauty and strength on the other side of loss. This is a book for anyone who has gone through a difficult time and is wondering: What comes next?

YOU ARE A BADASS IS THE SELF-HELP BOOK FOR PEOPLE WHO DESPERATELY WANT TO IMPROVE THEIR LIVES BUT DON’T WANT TO GET BUSTED DOING IT.

In this refreshingly entertaining how-to guide, bestselling author and world-traveling success coach, Jen Sincero, serves up 27 bitesized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, sage advice, easy exercises, and the occasional swear word, helping you to: Identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that stop you from getting what you want, Create a life you totally love. And create it NOW, Make some damn money already. The kind you’ve never made before.

By the end of You Are a Badass®, you’ll understand why you are how you are, how to love what you can’t change, how to change what you don’t love, and how to use The Force to kick some serious ass.

A fun and inspirational exploration of female divinity throughout history that will help you understand and celebrate your inner goddess—from the bestselling author of The Soul Searcher’s Handbook and “goddess-messenger-girlfriend who may just lead you to your inner guru” (Katie Silcox, New York Times bestselling author).

Evolution of Goddess is a practical introduction to the goddess realm, digging up the histories of long-forgotten myths of goddesses of love, war, death, the sun, the moon, and more. With this clear-eyed and spirited book, you can finally become familiarized with goddesses from a wide range of cultures throughout history, including the mermaids of the Atlantic, the empresses of ancient Egypt, the wise women of the Middle Ages, right up to the modern-day goddesses who walk amongst us today as humble light workers, educating and inspiring.

Through a goddess assessment, you’ll uncover your own goddess archetype and be given rituals, meditations, and exercises to tap and embolden your own feminine superpowers. Imbue your life with healing, invigorating goddess energy, and discover ways to harness your new empowerment to improve the world. Now is the time to reconnect with the strength and holistic spirituality of our ancestors—to trace the evolution of the Goddess.

This book is like a hug from a friend when you need it most: It’s both a reminder that it’s normal to feel things deeply and a companion for actually feeling better. With tons of empathy and a touch of humor, artist Carissa Potter offers wisdom on how to move through difficult emotions with practical steps to kick-start the process—ranging from soaking in a tub and having a good cry to talking to houseplants or hosting a private dance party. Illustrated in a vibrant eye-catching palette, this boldly authentic book is full of genuine support for pushing through life’s tough times or whenever a little love is needed.

Put a stop to self-sabotage and overcome your fears so that you can gain the confidence you need to reach your goals and become your own best friend.

Too many people seem to believe that they are not allowed to put themselves first or go after their own dreams out of fear of being selfish or sacrificing others’ needs. The Self-Love Experiment rectifies this problem. Whether you want to achieve weight loss, land your dream job, find your soul mate, or get out of debt, it all comes back to self-love and accepting yourself first. Shannon Kaiser learned the secrets to loving herself, finding purpose, and living a passion-filled life after recovering from eating disorders, drug addictions, corporate burnout, and depression.
    Shannon walks you through her own personal experiment, a simple plan that compassionately guides you through the process of removing fear-based thoughts, so you can fall in love with life. If you want to change your outcome in life, you have to change your daily habits and perspective. Shannon takes you on this great journey into self-love and true self-acceptance.