Hey everyone,
I’m in my early 20s and honestly feel like I’m at rock bottom. Lonely, broke, unhealthy, dealing with strong social anxiety and an inferiority complex that makes me scared of almost everything. My dreams of becoming a content creator, traveling the world, and helping people feel like they’re slipping away. I have insane procrastination and laziness — I even pay for a gym subscription every month but never go. My attention span is terrible right now; reading a book feels like my brain is exploding after a few pages.
I know I need to fix myself — build discipline, beat procrastination, improve my mental health, regain confidence, and actually start taking action toward my goals. But I don’t know where to begin.
I’m looking for book recommendations that helped you with:
• Procrastination & building habits/discipline (especially when motivation is gone)
• Depression and negative self-talk
• Social anxiety & inferiority complex
• Rebuilding focus and attention span
• Motivation for creative work (like content creation)
• Overall self-improvement for young guys feeling lost
If you’ve been in a similar place and a specific book actually helped you move forward, please drop the title and a quick reason why it worked for you. Any other advice is also welcome, but books are what I’m focusing on right now.
Thank you — really appreciate any suggestions. Feels good just writing this out.
by MantKing
3 Comments
Atomic Habits, by James Clear
I was in a very similar place a while back, also in my 20s, feeling aimless, and unsure of how to fix what seemed to be an insurmountable number of problems. I wound up reading like, twenty-something self-help books over the course of a year. There were several I enjoyed, but the one I consistently recommend is *Atomic Habits.* It’s the obvious and cliche answer, but its popularity is justified.
The second and third place books aren’t really self-help, but both *Spark* and *Dopamine Nation* gave me a lot of opportunities to reflect on my own lifestyle, as well as the motivation to make change.
Remember that you don’t have to fix things all at once. Just keep trying to make things a little better every day.
Just advice been throught this and therapy is very very important. It doesnt matter if you struggle to maintain habits, just stick to never missing therapist appointment. Also I have actually read books but it doesnt help the way therapy does.