Self Help

A useful look at some diverse scientific advice that can help you change your life in under a minute, and guides you toward becoming more decisive, more imaginative, more engaged, and altogether more happy.

Is our search for happiness futile? Or are we just going about it the wrong way? Oliver Burkeman argues that there is, in fact, an alternative path to contentment and success that involves embracing the things we spend our lives trying to avoid - uncertainty, insecurity, pessimism and failure.

Do you constantly talk with your friends about your partner and your relationship? If your partner doesn't answer a text quickly, do you become anxious? Or do you check up on your partner online to know about their every move?

If so, you might identify with having an anxious attachment style and find yourself more prone to insecurity, jealousy and co-dependency. But there is plenty you can do to feel stronger and more secure within yourself and improve the quality of your relationships.

Expert psychotherapist and couples' counsellor Jessica Baum has over ten years' experience helping her clients discover the mutually supportive relationships they deserve. In Anxiously Attached, she shares the groundbreaking research and practical tools you need to understand your core attachment patterns and form healthier and more fulfilling relationships.

In this book you will learn how to:
- Create boundaries to safeguard your sense of self in relationships
- Communicate to your partners what you need to feel safe and secure in the relationship
- Develop a secure sense of self-worth and emotional stability

Full of psychological insight, useful exercises and real-life case studies of people who learned how to connect on a deeper and more secure level, Anxiously Attached is an essential roadmap to finding and sustaining love.

Sharpen your instincts in a world full of uncertainty and risk. The training to become a fighter pilot is among the most competitive and difficult in the world with fewer than one-in-a-thousand succeeding. Pushing a cutting-edge jet to its limits at over 1,000 mph means that every split-second decision can have catastrophic consequences. Throughout his high-pressure career in the cockpit of the world's most advanced and expensive weapons systems, Hasard Lee learned to master skills at the apex of decision-making theory and practice.

Now he shares gripping firsthand accounts from his time as a fighter pilot, and distills what he's learned into a powerful ACE Helix framework that can be used in business and in life, revealing how to: - LEARN BETTER AND FASTER - CULTIVATE MENTAL TOUGHNESS - DEVELOP THE SKILLS TO QUICKLY ASSESS, CHOOSE, AND EXECUTE - AND MUCH, MUCH MORE These combat-tested techniques have already benefitted CEO's, astronauts, CIA agents and many others, and now The Art of Clear Thinking will enable anyone to perform at their peak.

In Atlas of the Heart, Brown takes us on a journey through 87 of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. As she maps the necessary skills and lays out an actionable framework for meaningful connection, she gives us the language and tools to access a universe of new choices and second chances - a universe where we can share and steward the stories of our bravest and most heart-breaking moments with one another in a way that builds connection.

Over the past two decades, Brown's extensive research into the experiences that make us who we are has shaped the cultural conversation and helped define what it means to be courageous with our lives. Atlas of the Heart draws on this research, as well as Brown's singular skills as a researcher/storyteller, to lay out an invaluable, research-based framework that shows us that naming an experience doesn't give the experience more power, it gives us the power of understanding, meaning and choice.

During his twenty years as a Navy SEAL, Commander Rich Diviney was intimately involved in the world-renowned SEAL selection process, which whittles exceptional candidates down to a small cadre of the most elite optimal performers. But Diviney was often surprised by which recruits washed out and which succeeded.

Someone could have all the right skills and still fail, while recruits he might have initially dismissed would prove to be top performers. The seemingly objective criteria weren't telling him what he most needed to know: Who could be part of the world's most elite military unit? 

Eventually, he cracked the code. Through years of observation, Diviney learned to identify a successful recruit's core ATTRIBUTES, the innate traits for how a person performs as an individual and as part of a team. That same methodology can be used by anyone in their personal or professional lives.

Emotional empowerment expert Sarah Prout shares how to Be the Love you believe you deserve, and how to do it by embracing lessons such as overcoming comparison traps, finding freedom in forgiveness and accepting that making choices is how life happens, but living with your choices is how growth happens. These lessons are illustrated by Prout's own raw, personal stories that range from humorous to harrowing.

By following the seven pieces of advice and trying them in your own life, you will create radical and magical inner transformation, and inner transformation will lead to outer results, whether that's within your career, relationships, or something as simple as your own self-confidence as you walk down the street. 

Do you want to achieve success in your personal and professional endeavours? The first step is to see a reality where success is possible. Only when we choose to believe we live in a world in which challenges can be overcome, in which our behaviour matters, and in which change is possible can we summon all our drive, energy, and emotional and intellectual resources to make that change possible. In Before Happiness, Shawn Achor, former Harvard professor, and bestselling author of The Happiness Advantage introduces a groundbreaking new theory about success and human potential.

Achor shows how a positive mindset is the best predictor of motivation, engagement and performance in the workplace and in your personal life and offers five practical, actionable strategies for creating this mindset that will make us more successful at work and at home: 1)Add vantage points - how to select the most valuable reality. 2)Map to success - mapping success greatly increases the chance you will get there. 3)Finding the X Spot - proven techniques for harnessing your cognitive abilities. 4)Boost the signal by cancelling the noise - how to cancel negative noise. 5)Positive Inception - how to spread positive reality to others. Backed by science, great stories, and research-based strategies, by the time you finish this book, you will have a complete understanding of exactly how to create a better reality and magnify the volume of happiness and success in your life, and equally important, transfer that positive reality to others.

We all love stories. They make us feel, help us connect, relate to one another, and make sense of our lives. Bill Beswick is a storyteller who has 20 powerful life lessons to share from his work with his clients at the top of their fields to help us all overcome our fears, boost our performance and achieve success. 

Leading sports and performance psychologist, Bill Beswick, sees sport as a story of human connection. When faced with physical challenges, pressure and fatigue, the mind is the athlete and the body is simply the means. Changing Your Story explores how the way we think and feel is vital for releasing positive energy and improving our performance. Beswick's 20 lessons will bestow resilience and guide you through the process of harnessing the full power of your physical abilities. 

This is a book about change. Bill Beswick's advice is guaranteed to equip you with new, more efficient ways to think. Through his powerful storytelling, he will help you let go of a negative mind-set and embrace a much stronger, positive and determined one. Anything is possible when you realise it's never too late to switch direction and change your story.

Do feelings of self-doubt consume your everyday activities? Do you face some situations with fear and trepidation? Professor Steve Peters shares his successful mind-management programme that has been used to help elite athletes and senior managers alike to conquer their fears and operate with greater control, focus and confidence.

Ben Williams was struggling with drug addiction and battling suicidal thoughts when he saw an advert for the Royal Marines Commandos that changed his life forever. Serving ten years in the Commandos, he learnt important lessons about purpose, integrity, motivation and teamwork. Leaving the Commandos because of injury, Ben set up a coaching business that has helped high-performance companies and professional sports teams like the England Football Squad, coaching them in the build-up to their outstanding performance at the 2018 World Cup.

Now Ben is sharing his principles for success. In Commando Mindset, Ben reveals his process for achieving goals of any size to help you take your life to the next level.

Confidence is not something we either have or don't have - it can be built, and this straightforward guide will show you how. Renowned clinical hypnotherapist and anxiety expert Chloe Brotheridge has helped hundreds of clients with anxiety and low self-confidence, and in this book will use her own stories, scientific research, and the experiences of other women to show you how to: Feel more confident. Spend less time worrying and people-pleasing. Build self-belief. Reach your full potential. Assertively set boundaries for a happier, healthier you. The Confidence Solution reveals how everyone can follow their path to confidence.

In 2008, Katie Piper survived a brutal rape and acid attack which left her severely disfigured. Katie shares what she's learned from her most difficult moments to inspire and guide others, giving readers the tools they need to feel happy and confident.

The Confident Mind is a complete guide to self-belief for professionals in any field: how to understand it, how to build it, how to protect it and how to apply it when your performance matters. Nathaniel Zinsser has spent decades helping Army elites, Olympic and top-tier athletes and business professionals overcome self-doubt so that they can perform to the best of their ability. In The Confident Mind Zinsser shares his a step-by-step logical approach to building confidence and breaks the process down into easy-to-practice steps that everyone can utilise. Zinsser dispels the notion that confidence is instinctive or elusive, and clearly describes the process of applying self-belief when it's time to step into the spotlight.

Throughout the book, readers will hear from champion athletes, army combat veterans and other elite performers and professionals to show how the reader can adopt the same mental strategies to control what can be controlled and to be unfazed by what can't.

Kick start your creativity and become an even more effective leader by getting outdoors. Here's how to ditch the boardroom and set off on adventures that might just change your thinking and enhance your leadership skills. Every successful business endeavour is born of a unique and innovative idea, and that in turn was born from the creative thinking of the people behind it. Then why is it the case that so many executives, founders and managers fail to actively develop and apply their creativity?

The Creativity Factor explores the scientific and practical evidence for entrepreneurial creativity, and explains the mechanisms, habits and techniques that help develop this skill. This uniquely holistic guide will provide you with a newfound awareness of your creative potential and how it can lead to business success.

'If I can go from obesity to the Olympics in four years, and then become a professional boxer, then anything is possible in your life.' DREAM BIG. FOCUS. CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Lawrence shares 40 short life lessons and explains what you should do to focus your mind on your goals, however ambitious they are, so you can make your pipe dreams real too.

As England manager, in one of the highest profile roles in the country, Gareth Southgate forged a unique management style, combining calm empathy with mental resilience, and courageous integrity with strong accountability. His leadership at England propelled the men's national team to its most sustained success
in fifty years, reaching the 2018 Fifa World Cup semi-final, the 2022 quarter-final, and the Uefa Euro 2020 and 2024 finals. In the process, Southgate revitalised and reshaped the national team's footballing identity.

In Dear England: Lessons in Leadership, Southgate reveals the defining moments that forged his leadership style, the principles that informed his biggest decisions, and the inner steel he developed that enabled him to perform under the most intense public scrutiny.

In Decisive, Chip and Dan Heath draw on decades of psychological research to explain why we so often get it very badly wrong - why our supposedly rational brains are frequently tripped up by powerful biases and wishful thinking. At the same time they demonstrate how relatively easy it is to avoid the pitfalls and find the best answers, offering four simple principles that we can all learn and follow.

In the process, they show why it is that experts frequently make mistakes. They demonstrate the perils of getting trapped in a narrow decision frame. And they explore people's tendency to be over-confident about how their choices will unfold.

Getting our voices heard can be a nerve-wracking and overwhelming task - particularly in a world where everyone seems to have something to say. The ability to present our ideas with confidence is now a coveted skill. Yet on stage, we become this other person: less funny, less engaging, less human. Mark Shayler draws on his own experience - from nervous speaker to charismatic compere - to guide you through the task of public speaking.

He takes a deeper look at what's holding you back, and will help you to: - Find your voice and the confidence to share it - Learn how to tell stories, not just share data - Stand and move around the stage comfortably - Leave the audience informed, entertained and uplifted Giving a brilliant talk is not about following a method. It's not about rules. It's about understanding what you want the audience to think, feel and do afterwards. Ultimately, it's about being more you.

Whether you want to leave a dead-end job, heal a relationship, grow a business, master your money, or just find two free hours in your day, Everything is Figureoutable will train your brain to think more positively and help you break down any dream into manageable steps.

Inside you'll learn: How to deal with criticism and imposter syndrome. Why it's crucial that you strive for progress not perfection. How to bounce back from failure. How to overcome a lack of time and money. You'll also hear triumphant stories of everyday people using the everything is figureoutable philosophy to transform their life. Everything is figureoutable is more than just a fun phrase to say. It's a practical, actionable discipline. And it's about to make you unstoppable!

We all need more hours in the day, as we spend more time than ever working, studying and caring. So what if we could reclaim an entire hour, every day, to spend on the things we love? With proven advice from over 300 busy contributors, The Extra Hour condenses the best strategies and secrets into just 190 pages, to instantly supercharge your productivity. Whether you're a time-poor student, a frazzled entrepreneur or burned-out at work, waste no time in discovering how to: cut time spent on emails in half, banish distracting thoughts for good, power-surf the web, and much, much more. This is the last productivity book you'll ever need. So, what will you do with your Extra Hour?

Ant Middleton thrillingly retells the story of his death-defying climb of Everest and reveals the concept of the Fear Bubble, showing how it can be used in our lives to help us break through our limits. An inspirational call to action, The Fear Bubble is essential listening for anyone who wants to harness their fears and conquer their own personal Everest.

We strive for success, but we are rarely happy. The more we try to win - putting on a brave face for work or family - the more we risk losing ourselves. And even reaching our goals can feel strangely hollow. The culprit? Fear. It makes us anxious, or shameful, or turns us into perfectionists. We pretend to be someone else while aiming for a status that's never truly satisfying. There is another way. A way to find our true voice, to win on our own terms.

In Fear Less, Pippa Grange shows all of us how, by starting to live with less fear, we can find our real passions and deeper fulfilment. Her simple manifesto enables us to replace stress with courage, and connect with the people around us on a far deeper level. 

We think that productivity is all about hard work. But what if there's another way? Dr Ali Abdaal - the world's most-followed productivity expert - has uncovered an easier, happier path to success.

Drawing on decades of psychological research, he has found that the secret to productivity and success isn't grind - it's feeling good. If you can make your work feel good, then productivity takes care of itself.

In this revolutionary book, Ali reveals how the science of feel-good productivity can transform your life. He recounts the inspiring stories of founders, Olympians, and Nobel-winning scientists who embody the principles of Feel-Good Productivity. And he introduces the simple, actionable changes that you can use to achieve more and live better, starting today. 

You are standing at a threshold - a place between the path you have been following and the choice to find another. You sense there is something more: more potential more to discover more to give to your life your relationships your work and to the world more of you but the way forward isn't clear. You're ready to find your own path. You're not alone. This is a guide to the conversation we need to start with ourselves to help you cross that threshold fulfil more of your potential and live authentically - to find your own meaningful path. Life coach Fiona Buckland expertly guides you through twelve key steps using client case studies affirmations motivational techniques and her own personal experience to keep us going on this journey.

With exercises and practices designed to bring you closer to understanding what's important to you in life you'll discover what has been getting in the way of putting it into action how to tackle those obstacles and take steps to bring about positive change. Learn how to... Separate From Your Old Scripts Start the Conversation Build Your Compass Raise Your Resilience Make Peace With Inner Critics Tell Your Story It takes inner work to make outer change. What you'll learn from this book you'll put into action and it will transform your life in ways you might not yet be able to imagine.

Do you find yourself plagued by anxiety or depression? Do you struggle with your body image? Do you often feel stuck in destructive and toxic patterns and cycles? Trained psychotherapist, Emmy Brunner, has the ultimate 11-step programme you need to identify, and overcome unresolved trauma negatively impacting your mental health and preventing you from being the happiest version of yourself. She will help you to: Identify and tackle your inner critical voice. Identify your own personal trauma. Find healthy coping strategies. Confront and overcome fear, worry and anxiety. Discover self-acceptance and overcome negative body image. Manifest your future and discover your spiritual self.

Using a combination of case studies, practical clinical advice from The Recover Clinic, and 11 simple recovery tools including meditation, vision boards, self-care tips, body-healing and future-self journaling, this book is guaranteed to help you take your first steps towards recovery. Whether you're struggling with depression, anxiety, an eating disorder, or low self-esteem, Emmy Brunner is here to help you manifest your future and guide you through the process of recovery.

Whether you want more social confidence in your day-to-day life, are hosting an event or appearing on a podcast, Find Your Voice will empower you to be bold, be present and captivate any audience. Based on decades of helping broadcasters, celebrities, teachers and top level professionals speak effortlessly in front of others, renowned voice teacher and communication expert Caroline Goyder will show you how to: Harness the full potential of your body, breath and voice, Genuinely connect to others in a dizzyingly distracted world, Stand out as calm speaker whatever the situation.

Imagine this: you've got a great idea and all you hear are the yes-buts. 'Yes but that's been tried before and it didn't work.' 'Yes but shouldn't we just let it sit for a while?' 'Yes but what if it doesn't work...' Stop saying 'yes but...' to life and to start saying 'yes and...' This international bestseller introduces the power of flip thinking to transform stuck-in-the-mud pessimistic 'yes but' thinking into an inventive curious 'yes and' mindset.

Berthold Gunster presents his fifteen flip thinking strategies that will transform your thinking away from limitations and threats and towards possibilities and opportunities. From disrupting (turn all the rules upside down) to flaunting (play up what you want to hide) and importing (get the enemy on board) to amplifying (focus on what works and do more of that) Gunster's strategies and stories will have you approaching even the most challenging problems at work home and at play in a whole new way.

What if you stopped trying to do everything, so that you could finally get round to what counts? We're obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, the struggle against distraction, and the sense that our attention spans are shrivelling. Still, we rarely make the connection between our daily struggles with time and the ultimate time management problem: the question of how best to use our ridiculously brief time on the planet, which amounts on average to about four thousand weeks. Four Thousand Weeks is an uplifting, engrossing and deeply realistic exploration of the challenge. Rejecting the futile modern obsession with 'getting everything done,' it introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing rather than denying their limitations. Drawing on the insights of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual teachers, Oliver Burkeman sets out to realign our relationship with time - and in doing so, to liberate us from its tyranny. Embrace your limits. Change your life. Make your four thousand weeks count.

In an uncertain world, we need hope and happiness more than ever. So what are the words that can help us find it? Let Michael Rosen take you on a quest for joy in his Dictionary of Delights, where each letter of the alphabet offers us a moment of daily enchantment, celebrating the magic of the small things that bring hope and happiness into our lives.

Perfect for dipping into whenever you need a boost, open this joyful compendium to discover a new vocabulary of delight that will lift your spirits and brighten your day

Do you long to have deeper, more meaningful connections with your loved ones? Do you want to resolve conflicts with friends and work effectively with colleagues? Having good relationships - from partners and family to your friends or colleagues - is the key to thriving. Research shows it impacts your health, well-being, financial security and happiness. But how do you get there? Leading psychologist Janet Reibstein shows you step by step how to 'learn' relationships, so you can make even the most difficult interaction a positive one.

With case studies, practical advice and centred around four essential skills, Good Relations shows you how to harness healthy, successful relationships. You'll master how to communicate clearly, develop empathy and make crucial repairs when things go wrong.

Everyone wants to feel at home and at ease with themselves. We all want to be able to face any situation, both in life and at work, without feeling daunted, intimidated or stressed. But no-one wants to be labelled over-confident, arrogant or smarmy, or to get caught up in their own hype. So how can you feel authentically, properly confident - without the cringe, and without pretending to be something you're not? Happy high status is a new way of thinking about confidence and how you relate to yourself.

It's how actors and comedians enhance their presence on stage and screen. And in this inspirational guide, Viv Groskop explains how we can access it at any time to lend strength and energy to our interactions, big and small. Drawing on research, practical tips and lessons from the worlds of comedy, film, television, politics and sport, this is a masterclass in how to project status, minimise self-doubt and move effortlessly through life. All, crucially, with no risk of anyone thinking that you are your own biggest fan.

What is it that makes a hero? In the course of his distinguished career Admiral William H. McRaven has met some truly exceptional people, from the men and women he served alongside in the Navy SEALS, to inspiring doctors, scientists, politicians and philanthropists. Drawing on stories of their incredible compassion, humility, courage and capacity for hope, Admiral McRaven has distilled the Hero Code - the ten lessons that make ordinary people capable of extraordinary things.

This book will show how we can all persevere to rise above our failures, use humour as a source of strength and inspire trust through integrity, as well as offering practical advice on rising to the occasion and becoming our best selves. The result is a heartfelt tribute to real heroes and the perfect guide for anyone wanting to overcome barriers, lead by example or reach for their ultimate dream.

High Performance reveals the methods the world's most remarkable athletes, coaches and entrepreneurs use to excel.

From taking responsibility for your situation to finding your 'trademark behaviours', thinking flexibly to crafting a high performance culture, Jake Humphrey and Professor Damian Hughes identify the eight crucial steps to becoming the best 'you' possible.

Along the way, they draw on cutting-edge research to explain why these methods work - and how we can all use them. Anyone can learn the secrets of high performance.

Who am I? What am I doing? How ought I to live my life? Stoicism teaches us to acknowledge our emotions, reflect on what causes them and redirect them for our own good. Whenever we worry about how to be happy, we are worrying about how to lead a good life. No goal seems more elusive.

Massimo Pigliucci explores this remarkable philosophy and how its wisdom can be applied to our everyday lives in the quest for meaning. He shows how stoicism teaches us the importance of a person's character, integrity and compassion. Whoever we are, we can take something away from stoicism and, in How to be a Stoic, with its practical tips and exercises, meditations and mindfulness, he also explains how relevant it is to every part of our modern lives.

Part memoir, part manifesto, Elizabeth Day reveals that failure is not what defines us; rather it is how we respond to it that shapes us as individuals. Because learning how to fail is actually learning how to succeed better. Inspired by her popular podcast, this is a funny, painfully honest and insightful celebration of things going wrong.