13 Books About Developing Positive Habits (and Combatting Bad Ones)

Habits are what determine if you are successful at whatever is it that you do. They also can determine how much of a wreck your life can be if you pick up the wrong ones.

To develop a good habit that sticks is no easy task, but the ones that are really worth it take an extra measure of effort and hard work. But trust us, it’s all worth it in the long run. To learn how to develop good habits, here are the best books on the subject.

Who contributed to this article?

Mike Brodsky from Incremental Improvements

Miki Feldman Simon from IamBackatWork

Ryan Barnum from Achieving Family Goals

Rodney Brazil from Komalty Content Strategies

Linda Ruescher from Coping with Chronic Illness

Jen Blaske from Three Kids, Three Cats, and a Husband

Whitney Heins from Weaving Influence

Jon Rhodes from CBD Oil Facts

Kelsey Roadruck from House Method

Andrew Clark from Duckpin

Sophie Miles from elMejorTrato

Darleen Barnard from Fit4Health

Steve Levinson from Habitchange

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#1 Incremental Improvements: Change Your Life One Small Step At A Time by Mike Brodsky

The author shares ideas and strategies for making improvements in many aspects of one’s life. For those who have a hard time sticking with their resolutions, this book suggests many potential actions and behaviors that can help the reader to develop and implement new habits which can lead to better results. Lots of helpful ideas for personal development.

Before buying a book make sure to compare price and outlet, we have included links below to several large book outlets for different regions in the world:

Search for the audiobook here (Audible)

#2 The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

If you are going to read only 1 book about habits it should be THE POWER OF HABIT: WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO IN LIFE AND BUSINESS by Charles Duhigg. Duhigg does a great job in explaining how people form habits and why it is hard to get rid of them. The book is an easy read, providing the right balance between research in the field, and real life examples from both professional and personal settings.

Duhigg provides simple and practical tips on how to form new habits to replace the bad ones. Anyone wanting to make a change in their life can gain from reading this book.

Before buying a book make sure to compare price and outlet, we have included links below to several large book outlets for different regions in the world:

Search for the audiobook here (Audible)

#3 The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Decisions Into Massive Success and Happiness

Jeff Olson uses the angle that if you take small, simple actions on a daily basis, it will add up to giant rewards. Any goal you have, any habit you want to start or break–it may take longer than you want, but not as long as you think. Olson motivates and trains you to take the small, easy steps toward success. This book changed my entire philosophy about achieving goals… and for someone whose entire blog centers on goals, that says a lot!

Before buying a book make sure to compare price and outlet, we have included links below to several large book outlets for different regions in the world:

Search for the audiobook here (Audible)

#4 The Greatest Secret in the World by Og Mandino

I’m constantly reading books and research about productivity and leaving old habits behind. The Greatest Secret in the World stands out because Mr. Mandino is very upfront about the need to dedicate weeks of time practicing individual new habits. When you’re in marketing, as I am, changing your work rituals is very difficult.

I often try to master too many new ideas at once. This book insists that you take five weeks to work on each of the individual habits, and because of that, every single one has stuck with me.

Before buying a book make sure to compare price and outlet, we have included links below to several large book outlets for different regions in the world:

Search for the audiobook here (Audible)

#5 Habit Stacking: 127 Small Changes to Improve Your Health, Wealth and Happiness

Habits should serve you. If you have habits that do not serve you well, you can change them using the simple, positive methods in this book. Habit stacking groups small actions into a series which become habits that improve every area of your life.

Before buying a book make sure to compare price and outlet, we have included links below to several large book outlets for different regions in the world:

Search for the audiobook here (Audible)

#6 The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod

The book is a quick, easy read, but over half a year later, my morning routine is different because of it, even on the weekends. I now start my day with more clarity, and now I exercise every day, not just when I can get around to it.

Before buying a book make sure to compare price and outlet, we have included links below to several large book outlets for different regions in the world:

Search for the audiobook here (Audible)

#7 Master Your Motivation by Susan Fowler

Motivation is at the heart of everything we do and everything we want to do but don’t. Unfortunately, the ways we typically motivate ourselves don’t work. Relying on sheer determination eventually becomes exhausting–it’s not sustainable. And even setting goals can backfire–if you’re not setting them for the right reasons.

How do you change your habits? By learning the skill of motivation taught in this book. Susan Fowler leverages the latest breakthroughs in science to show us how to tap into optimal motivation. She finds that by satisfying three Cs—choice, connection and competence—we can achieve anything we want.

Through practical exercises and eye-opening stories, Susan shows us how to identify and shift the quality of our motivation. The skill to master our motivation is important–it may be our greatest opportunity to evolve, grow in wisdom, and be the light the world so desperately needs.

Before buying a book make sure to compare price and outlet, we have included links below to several large book outlets for different regions in the world:

Search for the audiobook here (Audible)

#8 The Power Of Habit by Charles Duhigg

This is a great book! It has a lot of interesting ideas about how habits are formed and how they affect our lives. It is well written and neatly organised. It is written in a way that practically anyone can understand.

The Power Of Habit is split into three sections. These are individuals, organisations and society in general. It is full of easy to follow examples to help explain the theories.

Importantly this book also discusses manipulation and how we can be fooled into thinking we have made our own choices. Armed with this knowledge, you can take more control of your own life.

Before buying a book make sure to compare price and outlet, we have included links below to several large book outlets for different regions in the world:

Search for the audiobook here (Audible)

#9 The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp

This book brings structure to creativity, which has a tendency to run wild, for a more sustainable practice.

Before buying a book make sure to compare price and outlet, we have included links below to several large book outlets for different regions in the world:

Search for the audiobook here (Audible)

#10 Okay Fine, I’m Grateful Inner-Truth Journal

This book is great because it’s simple and straightforward in what it wants you to do: write down whatever you’re grateful for each day. For me, committing to 5 minutes of journaling has helped me to start my days on a more positive note and put into perspective what is going well amid whatever chaos is swirling in my life.

Before buying a book make sure to compare price and outlet, we have included links below to several large book outlets for different regions in the world:

Search for the audiobook here (Audible)

#11 Eat that frog!: Twenty-one Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time. from Bryan Tracy

I strongly recommend this book because it is a highly efficient and very simple guide on how to let those things, that list of pending tasks that take away our sleep, stop being a problem and that we are the ones who manage to have it under control and not the other way around!

Through 21 excellent, enjoyable and original strategies, it will teach us how to enhance decision making and making sure that our productivity increases like never before.

Before buying a book make sure to compare price and outlet, we have included links below to several large book outlets for different regions in the world:

Search for the audiobook here (Audible)

#12 Mini Habits for Weight Loss by Stephen Guise

Although the title of this book is for weight loss, the principles are relevant in any area of our life. As Guise outlines, mini habits are really small habits where there really isn’t any excuse not to do them.. Examples would be, one push-up per day, one sit-up per day, read two pages per day, meditate for one minute, etc.

The idea behind a mini habit is that when you set the bar low and make the task easy enough to do even on a really busy day or when motivation is low, you will be more likely to perform the task. As you do this, you will accumulate a bunch of “mini wins” that will make you feel good about your progress and will help you to build up momentum.

When people try to make the habit too big or try to create several habits at the same time, they quickly feel overwhelmed and give up.

Before buying a book make sure to compare price and outlet, we have included links below to several large book outlets for different regions in the world:

Search for the audiobook here (Audible)

#13 Following Through: A Revolutionary New Model for Finishing Whatever You Start

Following Through offers a fresh and bold perspective on why we humans so often fail to consistently do the things we intelligently decide we should do. The book takes you off the hook for your follow through failures.

Poor follow through, the authors argue, is not exactly your fault — it’s the result of a design flaw in the normal human mind. The book explains how by understanding the design flaw and learning how to use follow-through strategies to work creatively around it, you can dramatically improve your ability to do whatever you intelligently decide you should do.

Before buying a book make sure to compare price and outlet, we have included links below to several large book outlets for different regions in the world:

Search for the audiobook here (Audible)

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