Books like The Happiness Trap

01

Full Catastrophe Living

Jon Kabat-Zinn · Health

Full Catastrophe Living is Jon Kabat-Zinn's foundational text on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), the eight-week clinical program he developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1979.

Both dig into mindfulness.

02

Radical Acceptance

Tara Brach · Religion & Spirituality

Tara Brach, a psychologist and Buddhist meditation teacher, wrote Radical Acceptance as a response to what she calls the trance of unworthiness — the pervasive background feeling that something is fundamentally wrong with us, that we are not enough.

Both dig into mindfulness.

03

Man's Search for Meaning

Viktor E. Frankl · Psychology

Man's Search for Meaning is Viktor Frankl's account of his years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and the psychological theory he developed from that experience.

A kindred self-help read.

04

The Mindful Way Through Depression

Mark Williams · Health

The Mindful Way Through Depression is a clinical self-help book by four researchers — Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal, and Jon Kabat-Zinn — who developed Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, a treatment program with strong evidence for reducing depression relapse.

Both dig into mindfulness.

05

Lost Connections

Johann Hari · Health

Lost Connections is Johann Hari's argument that depression and anxiety are not primarily chemical imbalances in the brain but responses to social and environmental conditions — disconnection from meaningful work, close relationships, the natural world, a secure future, and status that feels deserved.

A kindred self-help read.

06

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

Mark Manson · Self-help

Mark Manson's argument is that the relentless pursuit of positivity is itself a source of misery.

Shares acceptance and values with The Happiness Trap.

07

First Things First

Stephen R. Covey · Self-help

First Things First is Stephen Covey's full-length development of the time management principles he introduced in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, particularly the distinction between urgency and importance.

Both dig into values.

08

Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It

Kamal Ravikant · Self-help

Kamal Ravikant wrote this book quickly after hitting what he describes as rock bottom — a period of serious illness, professional collapse, and psychological despair.

Both dig into mindfulness.

09

Off Balance

Matthew Kelly · Self-help

Off Balance opens with a provocation: the concept of work-life balance is a myth, and chasing it makes people less satisfied rather than more.

Both dig into values.

10

The Future of Happiness

Amy Blankson · Self-help

The Future of Happiness tackles a question that most positive psychology books sidestep: how do you cultivate well-being in an environment designed to capture your attention and monetize your anxiety?

Both dig into mindfulness.

11

The Miracle Morning

Hal Elrod · Self-help

The Miracle Morning is Hal Elrod's account of how a structured early-morning routine transformed his life after a near-fatal car accident left him with brain damage at age twenty, and subsequently saved him from near-bankruptcy during the 2008 financial crisis.

Both dig into mindfulness.

12

The Willpower Instinct

Kelly McGonigal · Self-help

The Willpower Instinct is based on Kelly McGonigal's popular ten-week science of willpower course at Stanford University's Continuing Studies program.

Both dig into mindfulness.