Pick Up One of These Self-Help Books for Women to Help You Slay Self-Doubt

Therapy is for everybody, including therapists themselves! Psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb found herself in the opposite chair after a personal crisis brought her to take her own professional advice and seek help.

One of Amazon's current best-selling books, this warm, funny, and thought-provoking self-help book for women is all about the author's own self-help journey.

More: Our All-Time Favorite Reads From Oprah's Book Club

Life comes at you fast — that's why this self-help book for women is such a game-changer. Written by lawyer and art historian Amy E. Herman, it's all about tuning in to the everyday details that you're likely to completely overlook.

Ranging from awe-inspiring to potentially life-saving, the tips in this book will help you identify the hidden clues that'll provide a richer picture of your life.

While birth control is an indispensable part of many people's daily lives, the hormones that they administer (or the lack thereof) can affect more than just the reproductive system. 

Editor Bridget Clegg highly recommends this book from evolutionary psychologist Dr. Sarah E. Hill, which sheds insight and tons of data on how birth control hormones can have an impact on mood and memory.

"This book isn’t technically self-help," she says, "but it opened my eyes to a ton of science that has helped me evaluate health decisions I’d made kind of blindly in the past. The author explains both the nitty-gritty biology and chemistry of birth control pills, and illuminates some hidden personal and social consequences, too."

Ready to turn your year around? This self-help book for women from motivational speaker Cyndie Spiegel provides 365 days of exercises, affirmations, and lessons to teach users the power of positivity. The book's actionable teachings are rooted in positive psychology and neuroscience, as well as cognitive behavioral methods — so nothing woo-woo here! 

If you want to rekindle the optimism in your life, this book demonstrates that shifting your mindset doesn't happen overnight, but it is possible.

It doesn't matter who you are or how successful you know yourself to be — we all have our internal doubts from time to time. Rachel Hollis is here to help. This best-selling book is laid out in chapters based around the insecurities and lies that she once believed to be true about herself, then she brilliantly breaks them down.

Part autobiography and part self-help book for women, this humorously wise book is a balm to the soul.

If fear has been the driving motivation in your life, Gabrielle Bernstein's book can help put faith back into the big picture. 

Chock-full of spiritual insights, this self-help book for women (which readers of any, or even no religious background can find applicable) is grounded in timeless wisdom, but it's aimed at the modern reader trying to get in deeper touch with their authentic self.

If you can't help but roll your eyes at the phrase "self-help," Mark Manson's best-selling, straight-talking book dispenses practical advice, sans any sugar-coating. His book makes the argument that putting a good spin on the pitfalls of life is belittling and ineffective. He advocates toughening up, understanding that failure will happen to you, and getting intimately familiar with your shortcomings, so you can focus on what you truly want to excel at.

This top-rated book, written by a New York Times investigative journalist, explores how understanding and identifying our daily habits can greatly help us optimize how we want to spend our time, and also prevent us from continually falling for common marketing ploys. 

From case studies of how companies successfully rebrand themselves to insights from neuroscientists into how habits actually form in the brain, this book demonstrates that trying to make a lasting, positive change might be more doable than we think.

While it's true that not all introverts are shy, all shy introverts could probably benefit from picking up Jessica Pan's Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come. In this memoir, Pan details her journey from anxious wallflower to reluctant social butterfly, when she begins to realize that her naturally introverted tendencies are isolating her from others.

Though activities like talking to strangers, hosting parties, and traveling alone may seem fun and adventurous to naturally extroverted folks, they were major challenges that helped Pan learn (not without a few pitfalls along the way!) that living a more open life isn't about pretending to be someone that you're not, but about engaging more fully with the world on one's own terms.

As one reviewer puts it, "this book will make you laugh and make you want to be braver." 

Real talk: When we're having a bad day, we go straight to Jonathan Van Ness' Instagram for that refreshing burst of joy and self-celebration that we can't seem to find anywhere else on the internet. However, the Queer Eye star doesn't ignore or shy away from the darkness that he's experienced in life — in this forthcoming memoir, he takes readers right through it.

Though his experience of growing up gay in the Midwest was far from idyllic, it was where he began to express himself unapologetically. JVN's message to self-love seekers is that though it isn't always easy, living your truth will set you free.

We would've never guessed that Shonda Rhimes, creator of some of the most well-known shows and iconic characters on TV, was once a super-shy introvert. For someone whose work is so bold, she seriously detested the limelight, declining any invitation to speak or appear in front of an audience.

Until she was called out on it, she never realized that she was living her life attached to the word "no." While her heart was in the right place in valuing her alone time, she was turning down so many opportunities to challenge herself and push out of her comfort zone. 

The Year of Yes is a memoir illustrating Rhimes' year of commitment to personal growth, and the valuable lessons she gleaned from putting herself out there.

Dear Sugars, the long-running advice-column-turned-podcast written and co-hosted by Steve Almond and Cheryl Strayed, aired its final episode in September 2018, but its deeply thoughtful and wise advice continues to resonate with readers. 

For those wishing to go deeper into the Dear Sugars archive, this collection of Strayed's columns, published in 2012, offers uplifting words going through tough times as a self-help book for women, reminding readers that though life may be challenging, it is beautiful, too.

There's no doubt that we're living in a time where our online avatar speaks more loudly than our actual selves. It's led us to a deeply divided place, where every topic feels like an "issue" and every viewpoint is an antagonistic one. Dr. Brené Brown asks readers in her book, Braving the Wilderness, to reacquaint themselves with their own personal point of view. 

Reviewers have noted that the universal lessons of this book are no less poignant. It's an emotional read for those who feel caught up in an image-focused world, and it can help ground you back into your true beliefs.

For the multi-hyphenates out there who are a wife, mom, manager, friend, household bookkeeper, and active community member, there can come a point where juggling all of these roles can feel seriously overwhelming and energy-zapping. Who better than Emily Ley — creator of the best-selling Simplified Planner — to help you transform the craziness into a game plan that works for your lifestyle?

Her book, A Simplified Life, illustrates multiple organization methods and strategies for clearing out the literal clutter and streamlining the obligations, so you're truly getting to have (and enjoy!) it all.

What do you do when you get to the apex of your career, and instead of living your best life, you feel unsatisfied and stuck, or perhaps even depressed? It might be time to make mindfulness a major priority. The book Material Girl, Mystical World expounds on author Ruby Warrington's transformation from fashion journalist to modern-spirituality guru, and details the steps she took along the way to lead a more awakened life.

It's a perfect intro to anyone who's ever been curious about how an alternative spiritual practice can help you regain your footing in a world that seems totally out of control.

Whether it's pride or shame that holds us back from seeking support from others, it can feel like such a revelation to finally realize that people are willing to help if you're brave enough to ask for it. In this book, singer/songwriter Amanda Palmer explores her philosophy behind giving what you can to someone and asking for nothing in return, and why this is such a radical concept in our modern society.

We're in the midst of a fitness revolution. It's no longer about "beach bodies" and "thigh gaps" and all of the toxic messages that women have been fed about staying thin and trim at all costs. Fitness coach Nia Shanks believes that fitness should always be fun and personally fulfilling. This book breaks down her practical, accessible approach to diet and exercise and, most importantly, enjoying the entire journey!

It's easy to fall into a food rut, but Kris Carr's beloved Crazy Sexy Diet will help you reframe your diet so that you're only eating and enjoying the good stuff, without ever feeling deprived. With a focus on vegetarian cuisine, Carr calls on numerous experts in the food and wellness space to illustrate her plan for holistic, mindful eating.

Humans are complicated, self-sabotaging, and highly contradictory creatures, and Heather Havrilesky is an advice columnist who actually acknowledges and embraces that. 

This collection of letters (some new, some republished) from her "Ask Polly" column from The Cut range from grieving daughters to aimless college graduates to husbands on the verge of cheating, and in each one she lays down comforting, caustic, and occasionally rambling words of wisdom. Though the situations in each letter are vastly different, they all have a way of being strangely universal at the same time.

Marie Kondo's best-selling text on tidying up your entire home addresses the emotional connection we have to the things that we own — and not just sentimental feelings, but those of guilt and sadness as well. Whether you're trying to cull the mountains of clutter, or you're a self-identifying neat freak, there's serious wisdom to be gleaned from the KonMari Method.

In a world of instant feedback, viral sensations, and social followings the size of entire countries, trying to start your own creative pursuits can seem like a fruitless, even foolish, endeavor.

In her book Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert argues that there's no divine permission slip or entry interview into a creative life, but that we must summon the curiosity and the courage to pursue it, in whatever way makes sense. This joy-tinged text is encouraging, warm, and seriously inspiring.

An enduring favorite, this book is an invaluable resource to anyone who wants to identify the skills that can make them a more effective leader and communicator. In business and in life, the habits extolled in this text are applicable for boosting virtually anyone's natural charisma.

Author Gretchen Rubin noticed that she was letting life pass her by, and she wasn't paying attention to the things that really matter the most. 

In this self-help book for women, she dedicates a year of her life to enhancing her quality of living and kept track of her adventures along the way — in hopes of inspiring readers to find more fulfillment in their own lives.