Ever read a story where the protagonist lives a simple, relatable life yet manages to have courage in times of hardships? Each despair, twist, and turn also helps you live the journeys and become mentally stronger with every book.
Sure, you may not get into the same problems. But these are the books that teach you how to be resilient, distinguish you from the people who steal success from hardworking people, and prepare you for the unexpected.
Let’s dive straight in!
Books that can make you mentally strong
Here, I’ve rounded up ten books that can make you mentally strong and be the ideal version of yourself.
1. 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do By Amy Morin
Every book becomes special because of this author. Amy Morin is a psychotherapist, weekly psychologist, and business columnist for Forbes. Her contribution earned her name by helping thousands, if not millions of people to overcome obstacles and be mentally strong. In this book, she talks about how taking control of your thoughts can transform your life and actions.
The best part? Each of the tips mentioned is highly actionable and practical. This helps anyone like you and me to follow the easy solutions to be aware of the upcoming challenges.
2. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance By Angela Duckworth
As John C. Maxwell said,
“Motivation gets you going, but discipline keeps you growing. That’s the Law of Consistency. It doesn’t matter how talented you are. It doesn’t matter how many opportunities you receive. If you want to grow, consistency is key.”
Grit is one of the best books you can read about going beyond your comfort zone to be mentally strong and stay consistent with your efforts. It allows people to preserve long-term success and find a passion that is likely to stick with them forever.
Coming to the author, Angela Duckworth, is a psychology professor from Pennsylvania who is also a White House Advisor. She has shown unprecedented success in staying ahead of her grit game and securing good long-term assets. This book is an amalgam of scientifically backed research and psychology to help you answer all of those swarming questions and elevate mental strength.
3. Dare to Be Kind: How Extraordinary Compassion Can Transform Our World by Lizzie Velasquez
The first to be mentally strong is to recognize and acknowledge your flaws and then gain the self-confidence to live with them.
This is especially needed when challenges knock us off our feet, but you stand up every time for the sake of hope and confidence.
If you have ever heard of Lizzie Velasquez, I’m sure you must be interested in her inspiring story. It will surely leave you with a head high with confidence, temperate your sense of entitlement, surround you with positive thoughts, and help sculpt your life in the right direction.
This is the path where you not only live confidently in yourself but gain empathy and kindness for others as well.
Also Read: 10 Powerful Books Every Feminist Should Read
4. It’s Not About You: A Brief Guide to a Meaningful Life
When you push yourself out of the bubble where you think everything is about you, that’s when you start to make a change. From the author of the bestselling book StrenthsFinder 2.0, this is an inspiring memoir to help you live a happy and sustainable life.
Where most people think helping is a selfless act, it actually makes a significant in your personal life as well. Once you realise that and start to do good for others, you begin to get aware of the problems around you. This will eventually act as a purpose for your existence.
After being diagnosed with a rare genetic condition at the age of sixteen, Tom drove himself out of himself and went on the pursuit of providing meaningful life to others.
The result? He is now known as the best self-help author living today.
In the book, you will get to see him answers one of the greatest questions of his life: What can I put into the world?
5. The Inner Game of Tennis – The Ultimate Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance
The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey is one of the classics that helps breaks down complex concepts into easy and understandable ideas to make you mentally strong as you read the book. Gallwey was a tennis player where he learned how mental training is equally important as physical training to combat any challenge that comes your way.
He is now a business coach and the best-selling author where he applies The Inner Game approach to tackle a myriad of obstacles for not just him but for others as well. He convincingly argues that the tension between our conscious and unconscious minds can affect our performance. Besides that, he offers advice on how you can enhance your natural ability to be strong.
6. How the World Sees You: Discover Your Highest Value Through the Science of Fascination
Do you want to be mentally strong and liked by everyone you need? If yes, this book is for you. It uses some of the proven ways you can build strong relationships and live your life to the fullest.
The author believes you will never be able to stay true to yourself nor improve unless you know who you are and the things you lack in. Therefore, this books goes in-depth on the 49 archetypes (personality traits) to help you discover a wide range of unknown facts about yourself and for others. This is an easy read which compels many people to begin reading this particular book.
7. The Book of Mistakes: 9 Secrets to Creating a Successful Future
By using a collection of stories, Skip Prichard shares his wisdom to turn any mistake into a lesson. Later, use it to achieve the success you’ve always desired. Remember mistakes are inevitable.
What you do after that distinguishes happy and unhappy people in the world.
Therefore, instead of running away from mistakes, the book teaches you to gain mental toughness to turn things around in your favour and use it as a weapon rather than a weakness.
The 9 secrets mentioned are a few of the unknown practical advice that is easy to understand, implement, and backed up by examples to properly grasp the idea.
8. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
No matter what your goals are, Atomic Habits is armed with just the right strategies to help you achieve them.
Jame Clear is one of the leading experts who excel are breaking bad habits and using good habits to ace any hobby or goal you want in life. He believes that if you have trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you but the system. For example, you fail to keep up with your new year’s resolutions because you have the wrong system for change.
In the book, James offers some of the best ways you can create a better system to rise above the obstacles and arrange a proven strategy to take you to the heights you have been longing to reach.
9. Notes to Myself: My Struggle to Become a Person by Hugh Pratherh
First published in the 70s, Hugh Pratherh wrote a novel with thought-provoking questions and ways on how to have that meaningful conversation with your deeper self. The book brings light on building mental toughness and accept yourself regardless of the flaws and takebacks.
10. Didn’t See That Coming: Putting Life Back Together When Your World Falls Apart
If you are going through emotional trauma like the death of a loved one, loss of a job, or perhaps a severe rejection, Rachel is there to help. Didn’t See That Coming: Putting Life Back Together When Your World Falls Apart is all about making you realize that the future is never rearranged for you and how to overcome this pain in the healthiest way possible.
You can either decide to stick with the pain forever or change your life for good. Sure, in these times, transformation may seem impossible, but courage is when you don’t let the hardships dominate your regular life. She mixes humor and life stories to help you embrace the difficult moments of life.
