There are a lot of fluffy, feel-goody, “you can do it!” self-help books out there. There are far fewer books that take a realistic look at pain, trauma, setbacks, and failures and then honestly discuss how to cope with them in a way that doesn’t make you feel like a cheerleader at a high school pep rally.
I’ve written before that I sometimes conceive of this rarer style of personal development as “Negative Self-Help” — a more gritty and raw approach to improving yourself. When I wrote my books, I wrote them with this approach in mind. Life sucks. Deal with it.
I’ve put together a list of other “Negative Self-Help” books here. These are the books that refuse to tell you that everything is going to be hot sprinkles and gravy. In fact, most of them are going to tell you the exact opposite: that life is difficult, setbacks are inevitable, and we must somehow endure and find meaning in that difficulty.
Here are some of my favorite books that help you grow from your pain.
The Wisdom of Insecurity
by Alan Watts
