12 Self-Help Audiobooks to Become Your Best Self

I have been looking forward to sharing my 2020 self-help audiobooks list for a while but, with the world turning upside down and the start of confinement, my plans fell through. Like many of you, I stayed home juggling homeschooling, work and trying to make the best of the situation 🙂

With things settling in and school starting part time again, I got back to my writing routine and I am happy to finally be able to share this with you!

Why Audiobooks and Not Just Books?

So yes. Initially, this post was going to be all about books.

I am a book lover, through and through. I would happily spend half of my waking hours sitting in a cosy nook sipping tea and reading a good book.

Except…

Life doesn’t really allow us to do that, does it?

At least, not right now.

A question of priorities

At the moment, I consider myself lucky if I can get out for a 30 minute walk on my own.

So, let’s say that sitting around with a book doesn’t make the cut.

While I love working on my personal growth and development, there are other areas of my life that come first these days:

Health + Family
Work
Tidy house
Writing
….And then Personal Growth (reading, etc.)

I consider health to be the foundation of my life. If I don’t eat right or stay inactive for too long, other areas of my life will sooner or later fall apart. When I am healthy, I have the energy to be there for my family, perform well at work, and am in the right mindset to attend to other things and people in my life.

On the other hand, if I start putting my health on the backburner, I will eventually suffer from aches, pains and other challenges that will keep me so busy that everything else will fall apart. I won’t have the energy to look after my son, spend quality time with family and friends, do well at work and even less so work on personal development.

Family also comes at the top of my list followed by work and keeping a tidy and clean home. It’s basic hygiene and I can’t think straight in a messy house so this one is a no-brainer.

So, with trying to stay healthy, spending time with my family, keeping up with work, house chores and part time homeschooling (due to covid), there is no time left to read books.

This is where self-help audiobooks come in.

My love for audiobooks

Two years or so ago, a friend told me how he got hooked on audiobooks and how it had changed the way he learns. At the time, I didn’t think much of it. I even wondered why you would want to listen to audiobooks when you could simply read books.

Fast forward to 2019. I don’t remember how or when, but I know this is the year I realized how genius self-help audiobooks were.

They are key to my personal development journey because they allow me to keep learning even when I am busy. I listen to them on walks, runs, while doing chores or any other activity that doesn’t require brain power and allows me to focus on what I listen to.

There are quite a few other reasons why I am an audiobook convert:

They take no space: goodbye clutter
I learn faster: I can ‘listen’ to more books that I can read in the same amount of time
I can hit replay a hundred times on parts that are inspiring and transformative
They make my run seem easier 🙂
They inspire me: if the book is read by the author in a motivational manner, it uplifts and inspires me.

Now, that doesn’t mean I will never buy a proper book again. In fact, I am looking forward to quieter times so I can go back to reading. However, I know that I will keep using a mix of both self-help audiobooks and books in the future.

Self-help Audiobooks to Become Your Best Self

The audiobooks that are on this list are a mix of bestsellers and non-bestsellers. The best indicator of a qualitative listen for me are the reviews and ratings and this is what I have focused on.

I have selected books in five different areas.

I believe that the combined lessons learned from those 5 areas can help you become a well-rounded person and put you on your way to becoming a better version of yourself:

Simple Living
Purpose
Spirituality
Productivity
Empowerment (inspiration)

So without further ado, here goes the list.

Simple living Self-Help Audiobooks

Breaking Busy: How to Find Peace and Purpose in a World of Crazy – Alli Worthington

This book is right up your ally if you are exhausted by the demands of modern life and find yourself running everywhere and everyday; to work, to daycare, then home again to cook a rushed dinner before crashing down at night barely able to keep your eyes open in front of Netflix, only to start all over the next day.

In Breaking Busy, Alli Worthington, shares practical wisdom on how to break the cycle of busyness and find balance, peace and purpose.

This book will:

Help you to stop confusing busy for productive
Helps examine the motives that drive us to be meaninglessly busy
Allow us to ‘stop chasing what leaves you empty’ and start doing what you came here to do.
Help you find peace in a world of busy
Help you go from crazy busy to confident calm with a strong sense of purpose

The Minimalist Way: Minimalism Strategies to Declutter Your Life and Make Room for Joy

Even if my family and I have been practicing minimalism for a few years, there are always new things and strategies to learn and new people to be inspired by.

The Minimalist Way is the number one best seller in the ‘hoarding’ category for this year. The reason I picked it is because the author takes a much broader perspective on the minimalist lifestyle. This book has less to do with stuff and more with other areas of your life such as family, time management, finances and more.

Zen: The Art of Simple Living : 100 Daily Practices from a Japanese Zen Monk for a Lifetime of Calm and Joy

Western minimalism actually stems from zen buddhism principles, so it only makes sense that we would want to learn about simple living from zen monks themselves.

This book is an easy and quick ‘listen’ for whoever is looking for simple, gradual ways to simplify their daily lives and achieve a calm mind, rebalance and remember what truly matters in life.

Atomic habits : An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

‘Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results’ is the tagline of James Clear’s acclaimed book Atomic Habits. In his book, James Clear reveals the amazing power of small habit stacking and how life changing the compounding effect can be.

A no nonsense, practical book with real life stories, research and great tools on how to ‘form good habits, break bad ones and master the tiny behaviors’ that lead to incredible results.

Spirituality Self-Help Audiobooks

The Warrior’s Meditation: The Best Secret in Self-Improvement, Cognitive Enhancement, and Stress Relief, Taught by a Master of Four Samurai Arts

I have been meditating for five years but have never read / listened to an (audio)book on the topic because I have never found one worth reading.

However, I feel like it’s time to shake things up a little. I am ready for a new meditation routine and I am hoping to be inspired by Richard Haight’s.

I was drawn to the Warrior’s Meditation for three reasons:

the great review from top contributors.
The simplified version of a meditation that can be done anytime, anywhere.
The fresh and interesting perspective on the benefits of meditation

The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself

This audiobook takes you on a journey beyond yourself and into the power of your untapped consciousness. In his book, Michael Singer shows you how to center yourself in the present moment to find inner peace and achieve happiness and self-realization.

Through this audiobook, you will:

Understand your relationship with your thoughts and emotions
Learn that you are not your thoughts and that there is, therefore, no reason to let them control your life.
Get tools to free yourself from emotional and energetic patterns that limit your consciousness
Get tools to center yourself in the present moment and let go of the past
Learn how to achieve inner peace, joy and self-realization

Purpose Self-Help Audiobooks

The path made clear

Have you ever wondered what you came here on earth for? Do you have this nagging feeling that there is more to life? Are you desperately searching for your life’s purpose?

Then this might be the audiobook for you.

The premise of The Path Made Clear is that ‘there is no greater gift you can give or receive than to honor your calling. It’s why you were born and how you become truly alive.’

Oprah takes us on an inspiring life-changing journey to discover our life’s purpose so we can fulfill your destiny and live an elevated life filled with meaning.

Believe Bigger: Discover the Path to Your Life Purpose

Believe bigger is another audiobook I have been wanting to listen to.

With her own personal journey as the backdrop, Marshawn Evans Daniels takes us on a journey of courage to find our life’s purpose through adversity and challenges.

In this book, you will:

Learn how to reclaim your life and find your higher purpose through adversity
Understand how life’s challenges happen for a reason and are there to redirect you
Learn about the five stages of divine reinvention
Learn how to become more resilient and confident

Productivity + Success Self-Help Audiobooks

The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life

Recently, I have been looking for ways to get more done in less time and I have chosen this book in the hope that it would help me do just that.

“Hal Elrod is a genius and his book The Miracle Morning has been magical in my life. What Hal has done is taken the best practices, developed over centuries of human consciousness development, and condensed the ‘best of the best’ into a daily morning ritual. A ritual that is now part of my day.” — Robert Kiyosaki, bestselling author of Rich Dad Poor Dad

Thousands of people have been using the Miracle Morning technique to transform every area of their lives and ‘wake up to their full potential’.

The miracle equation

This is the last book from the same author as the Miracle Morning, Hal Elrod, sharing his miracle equation to achieve long lasting success.

He used this exact formula himself to overcome life-threatening health challenges, near financial collapse and achieve greatness beyond what you ever thought was possible.

Empowerment Self-Help Audiobooks

Unlearn: 101 Simple Truths For a Better Life – Humble the Poet

This book compiles 101 short, accessible and inspiring lessons ‘for reaching our full potential’.

It reminds us to look at the bigger picture and see life through a different lens.

‘Unlearn’ includes empowering advice such as:

‘Fitting in is a pointless activity
Don’t trust everything you feel
Killing expectations births happiness
Comparisons are killer
Baby steps add up
You decide your worth’

Unfu*k Yourself : Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Life – Gary John Bishop

The title gives away the premise of the book that is to ‘get out of our own head’ so we can finally lead the life we were meant to have.

But how do we do that?

Gary John Bishop shows us the way with his ‘BS-free self-empowerment guide with an honest, tough-love approach’ to help move past our self-beliefs and limitations and ‘wake up to the miracle we are’.

I hope that these self-help audiobooks will be bring more calm, joy and purpose into your life this year. Enjoy the listen!