5 Self-Help Books 2025 (Backed by Science)

Every year around this time, people ask me the same question: what self-help books should I be reading? My name is Dr. Karin Nordin, and I am a PhD expert in mindset and behavior change. There are a lot of self-help books out there. I am pretty good at parsing out what’s actually based in science, what’s going to be helpful, and what you should completely ignore. Here are my top five self-help books 2025 has to offer.

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One Thing to Ask Yourself Before Picking Your Self-Help Books 2025 List

Before I get into the list, I want you to very critically ask yourself something. Are you reading self-help books as a form of enjoyment — as a form of joy, as something you like to do for fun? Or are you reading them because you think they’re going to bring you a result?

One of the things our clients stumble into by accident is procrastination learning. They learn more about project breakdown instead of actually breaking down the project they need to tackle. They read more about eating healthy instead of going to the fridge and cutting up vegetables. If that’s you, take a hard look at yourself right now. You don’t need any more information. You need to take action.

If you are that action-oriented person who’s ready to stop learning and start applying, our Change Academy is a great next step for self-help super fans who feel like they know it all but aren’t actually using what they’ve learned to make progress in their own lives.

Book 1: How to Have a Good Day — Caroline Webb

I picked this one because it’s actually a little less science-heavy than the majority of books I tend to recommend. It’s not written by a PhD-level scientist or author — which is another thing I tend to emphasize. What I absolutely love about this book is how it walks you through a normal day in your life. It gives you lots of tools, tips, and tricks you can actually take action on. She provides some pretty good citations and studies to back them up.

A lot of action-oriented books do the action part really well. But they don’t have the science to back it up. Or they cherry-pick specific studies that support their point without looking at the full body of research. This book does a really good job at evaluating years of scientific research and arriving at a single conclusion that’s going to help you. Highly recommend checking this one out.

Book 2: Deep Work — Cal Newport

Cal essentially overviews the science of how we establish focus and flow in our lives. This is a great book for those who are really looking to improve their efficiency at work and change things about their workflow.

That said, this is a better fit for people who have a lot of control over their workday and work practices. If you work somewhere without control over your environment or schedule, this might not be the best book for you. A lot of what Newport tells you to change — some people quite frankly don’t have the autonomy to change in their workspace.

The other thing is that this book is extremely dense scientifically. If you prefer a narrative-style self-help book, this is not going to be the one for you. If you want to read about economics research from the 1990s and how it impacts focus, this is definitely your book.

A Practical Tip for This One

As someone with a PhD who regularly reads high-level scientific research, I still found this dense. But it was valuable at the same time. This is a great book to Google. Many people have done overviews of it. You can get the gist of the actionable stuff without wading through all the science.

Book 3: Subtract — Leidy Klotz

This book is fascinating. It’s similar to Essentialism, which I talked about in my top five self-help books for 2024. What makes Subtract interesting is that it gives us the science on why it’s so difficult to pare down our lives.

The author talks about the cognitive neuroscience of subtraction. Our brains find it difficult to take things away. They find it very, very easy to add things instead. If you’re working on doing less, or if you struggle to figure out why you can’t pick one thing and stick with it, this might give you the scientific insight you’re looking for.

The other really interesting thing about this book is that it encourages you to take on less — because the author also talks about the power of doing less and why doing less in some cases is actually going to make our brain work better. If you’re looking for some motivation to simplify, downsize, and pursue less, I highly recommend checking this one out.

Book 4: Know Thyself — Stephen M. Fleming

I really liked this book, even though it leans heavily on the science side. It’s actually about the science of metacognition — how we as humans think about ourselves.

A Note Before You Pick This Up

This is an extremely existential book. If you’re already going through an existential crisis — if you’re questioning your life or who you are — this might not be the book to read right now. It will probably make that whole situation a lot more intense. However, if you’re in a place of genuine curiosity about yourself, and you’re willing to have your perceptions challenged, I would highly recommend it.

The other thing I love about this book is how it explains what makes humans human. It covers how our brains work fundamentally differently from any other animal species. If that’s the kind of stuff you’re interested in, this book is a great choice for you.

Book 5: Three Word Rebellion — Michelle Mazur

This last recommendation is aimed at my coaches and business owners in the audience. There are two reasons I really like this book.

Number one, it’s an extremely simple concept that really explains why certain pieces of marketing work. It helps you take who you are as a coach or business owner and distill it down into a really distinct message. That clarity is incredibly powerful for communicating with an audience.

The other reason I really love this book is that there are actually tons of spots for you to write in it. I don’t personally write in my books, but the activities in this book I have actually done. They are extremely powerful. It’s not a book that’s going to leave you with all science and no action. It is very, very action-forward — and that’s something I definitely appreciate.

If you’re looking for my top five self-help books of all time, definitely check out my Top 5 Self-Help Books for 2024 — those are my OG favorites and I’d recommend reading those ones first. These self-help books 2025 picks are a great next step. You can also browse my full recommended reading list on Amazon here.