Best Books on Self Confidence
Are you looking for self-confidence books to help boost your self-worth and self-esteem and achieve goals for yourself in life?
If so, you’ve come to the right place.
I’ve listed 10 self-confidence books that deserve a look. I also mention who each book is right for to help you make your decision.
Are you planning to buy physical books? Or do you prefer digital or audio versions?
If you like reading your books on an e-reader, be sure to check out the free 30-day trial with Kindle Unlimited .
Kindle includes access to a wide library, particularly of indie titles. It’s best if you’re interested in expanding your reading repertoire.
And if you like audiobooks, a free 30-day trial with Amazon’s Audible might be right up your alley!
You can listen to your very first audiobook for free! Audible includes lots of top-name titles, so it’s a good choice if you like to listen to popular picks.
Pick whichever book you like from this list, and then select the Audible version if available and sign up for your free trial.
If you can’t decide, I like Amy Cuddy’s book Presence (and it’s a favorite with my readers too).
These are the books you should definitely think about investing in to build your confidence!
1. The Self Confidence Workbook by Barbara Markway and Celia Ampel
The Self Confidence Workbook: A Guide to Overcoming Self-Doubt and Improving Self-Esteem
Barbara Markway, PhD is a licensed psychologist and has long been writing about social anxiety since she experienced it herself.
This book offers a 5-step program that uses goal setting and evidence-based strategies such as mindfulness, acceptance, and self-compassion.
How to Double Your Social Confidence in 5 Minutes"
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- How to use "Conversational Threading" to avoid awkward silence
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- Busting the myth that you have to get a "more interesting life" to be more interesting"
Through reading this book, you will learn what it means to be confident and how confident you are right now.
This book will be perfect for you if you want one that is written by someone with social anxiety who knows exactly what you are going through and how to fix it.
2. You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero
You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life
The “in-your-face” of self-confidence books, You Are a Badass is written by Jen Sincero, a success coach who provides insights and exercises to help you change your confidence about your life.
The book is designed to help you figure who you are, love parts of you that can’t be changed, and make changes to get the life you want.
This book is for you if you like a bit of humor, badassery, and in-your-face type writing while working on your self-confidence.
3. The Self Esteem Workbook by Glenn R. Schiraldi
The Self-Esteem Workbook by Glenn R. Schiraldi dives into topics like brain plasticity, mindfulness, compassion, and forgiveness.
It discusses how relying on external factors for self-esteem and confidence can be dangerous, and that the key to self-worth is to see yourself as inherently worthy.
You’ll also learn about how exercise, nutrition, and sleep affect your level of self-esteem.
This book will be helpful if you like to know all the nitty-gritty details of what can influence your self-esteem.
4. The Self-Esteem Workbook for Women
The Self Esteem Workbook for Women
The Self Esteem Workbook by Megan MacCutcheon, LPC provides an action plan to build self-esteem and confidence with a 5-step program for women.
This book helps with topics specific to women like raising kids and body image and uses strategies like acceptance and self-love, tests, checklists, and journaling.
This book will be most useful if you are a woman living with low self-esteem.
5. Self-Esteem by Matthew McKay and Patrick Fanning
This book by Matthew McKay, PhD, and Patrick Fanning is unique in that it uses acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques.
The book focuses on how your thoughts can influence your self-esteem, regardless of whether things in your life are going well or going poorly.
In other words, you can raise low self-esteem by changing how you interpret your life.
This book will be most helpful if you struggle with negative thinking and putting yourself down even when things are going well in your life.
6. Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
Daring Greatly by Brené Brown is all about how life is about being vulnerable and daring greatly even if you fail.
Dr. Brown argues that being vulnerable is not a weakness but rather a form of courage and that it can bring purpose and meaning to your life.
In other words, you build confidence not by winning or losing but just by trying; having courage.
This book is for you if you feel afraid to step out of your comfort zone due to a lack of self-confidence.
7. Make Your Bed by Admiral William H. McRaven
Make Your Bed: Little Things that Can Change Your Life… And Maybe the World
Make Your Bed by Admiral William H. McRaven is based on a speech he gave to the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin during Commencement and that subsequently went viral.
In his speech, he talked about the Navy SEAL training he had received and the ten principles he learned that helped him throughout his life.
This book offers practical advice and wisdom and will be a good choice if you are looking for inspiration on how to get started toward your journey of building self-confidence.
8. The Charisma Myth by Olivia Fox Cabane
The Charisma Myth: How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism
The Charisma Myth by Olivia Fox Cabane dissects what charisma is and how it can actually be learned based on scientific research.
This book is a good option if your lack of self-confidence centers mainly around interacting with other people and how you present yourself.
9. The Confidence Code by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman
The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance–What Women Should Know
The Confidence Code by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman is designed to help women build confidence mainly so that they can excel in their careers.
If you are a woman who lacks self-confidence about your job or career prospects, this book may interest you.
10. The Power of Self Confidence by Brian Tracy
The Power of Self Confidence by Brian Tracy is all about how your self-confidence determines the goals that you set for yourself in your life and how persistent you are in achieving them.
This book will interest you if you are looking to set big goals in your life and want to be able to step out of your comfort zone to achieve them.
11. Presence by Amy Cuddy
Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges
In Presence, Harvard professor and social psychologist Amy Cuddy writes about how to use simple techniques to perform confidently in high-pressure situations.
Cuddy argues that being present at any moment requires us to make a better impression on ourselves rather than to worry about how others perceive us or what they think about us.
If your self-confidence issue is related to social anxiety, this book is worth reading!
12. The Alter Ego Effect by Todd Herman
The Alter Ego Effect: The Power of Secret Identities to Transform Your Life
In the Alter Ego Effect, Todd Herman writes about how successful people adopt an alter ego that allows them to unlock their inner confidence.
Herman teaches you how to create an alter ego for yourself and how to call on this alter ego when needed.
He argues that the alter ego is not a mask, but rather unlocking the confident person that is hidden inside you.
13. Captivate by Vanessa Van Edwards
Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People by Vanessa Van Edwards
In her book Captivate, Vanessa Van Edwards writes about secrets on how to be captivating and build connections with people.
For example, you’ll learn the predictable map for working a room at a networking event, how to read facial expressions and predict emotions, and how to make conversations enjoyable for others based on the words that you use.
Finally, if you have trouble with social anxiety and would like to access free resources, be sure to sign up for my FREE resource library at the top or bottom of this page!
Which of these books do you think you’d most like to read? Let me know in the comments.
Related Articles about Self Confidence
- 22 Self Confidence Quotes
- Best Self Love Books for Social Anxiety
- 12 Signs of Low Self Esteem
WANT TO REMEMBER THIS? SAVE 13 BEST SELF CONFIDENCE BOOKS TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!
Self Confidence Books: The Ultimate List
Here are some of my favorite social anxiety tools
Thanks for reading! I hope you found some helpful tips. Since this site is about social anxiety, I wanted to also share some tools I use that I hope you’ll find helpful. Some of these are affiliate links, so if you decide to try them, I’ll earn a commission. However, I only recommend things I have used myself and would recommend to a friend or family member.
Social Anxiety Masterclass: The Social Anxiety Masterclass is my signature course where I walk you through everything I know about how to manage social anxiety.
Audible Subscription: I recommend a lot of self-help books on this site, but I actually prefer an audiobook subscription over print books! My favorite subscription service is Audible because it has all the best-sellers and they stay in your digital library forever (even if you end your subscription). You can sign up for a free trial and listen to your first two books for free.
Online Therapy: For online therapy, I have personally used and like the service offered by Betterhelp. It's easy to get started from the comfort of your home. You'll even get a discount on your first month of therapy when you use my link.
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