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With the new year comes the promise of new beginnings and new opportunities. It’s a time when many of us think about what we want to achieve in the coming months—whether it’s career milestones, personal growth, or adopting healthy habits. The act of setting goals is a powerful catalyst for change, providing direction and purpose in a world that often feels overwhelmed. However, despite good intentions, navigating the path to our dreams can sometimes feel unclear. This is where proper guidance comes in. A well-chosen book can be a transformative companion on your journey, giving you both the inspiration and practical tools needed to turn goals into lasting change.
Featured image from our interview with Sanne Vloet by Michelle Nash.
10 Goal Setting Books to Promote Success in 2025
Ahead, we’ve selected a collection of 10 goal-setting books that offer unique ideas and actionable strategies to help you make 2025 your most fulfilling year yet. From building small, sustainable habits to mastering the art of designing a life you love, these books invite you to think deeply about your desires and the steps you take to achieve them. Whether you’re a seasoned goal-setter or embarking on this journey for the first time, these articles provide a combination of wisdom, inspiration, and new insights that will help you set goals that really work—and empower you to make them come true. .
Creating a Life That Matters by Rivka Goldstein & Manis Friedman
Creating a Life That Matters offers a fresh and thought-provoking take on goal setting. With wisdom and wit, Friedman explores the complexities of modern life—touching on relationships, parenting, and the search for purpose—while guiding readers to focus on what really matters. This book goes beyond practical goal-setting techniques, encouraging readers to cultivate peace of mind and lasting happiness as they face life’s challenges. It’s an encouraging reminder that achieving our goals is more than just being productive; it’s about creating a meaningful life full of connection and fulfillment.
New Happiness by Stephanie Harrison
This book is a transformative guide that redefines what it means to live a fulfilling and happy life. Challenging society’s outdated notions of happiness, Harrison combines years of research and heartfelt compassion to reveal the steps we can take to break free from perfectionism, loneliness, and self-doubt. With actionable advice and inspiring illustrations, she empowers students to accept themselves, cultivate meaningful connections, and discover their unique strengths. New Joy It provides a flexible framework for finding purpose and creating positive change—for ourselves and the world around us.
Designing Your Life: How to Create a Healthy, Happy Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
This book is more than just a guide—it’s an exchange of ideas. By reframing challenges as design opportunities, students are empowered to experiment, learn, and turn to a life that feels meaningful and aligned. Full of exercises and insights, Designing Your Life it’s perfect for anyone ready to take an intentional, creative approach to creating the life they’ve always imagined.
The 5 AM Club: Manage Your Morning. Elevate Your Life by Robin Sharma
Think of this book as a compelling blueprint for unlocking your full potential through early energy use. Drawing on decades of experience coaching high achievers, Sharma combines actionable strategies with inspiring stories about transformation and success.
From securing the quiet hours of dawn for self-growth to focus and creativity, this book delivers a science-backed formula for prosperity in a fast-paced world. Whether you aim to supercharge your brand or create a peaceful, purpose-driven life, The 5 AM Club is a guide to making the morning your strongest friend.
Essentialism by Greg McKeown
Essentialism redefines productivity with a counterintuitive but profoundly effective principle: doing less, but better. This book challenges modern thinking, encouraging readers to remove distractions and focus only on what matters.
With practical strategies and thought-provoking insights, McKeown presents “The Way to Prioritize,” a straightforward way to prioritize your time, energy, and choices. Whether you’re navigating the demands of work, personal relationships, or the chaos of everyday life, Essentialism It provides a framework for regaining control and achieving meaningful success by focusing on what is important and discarding the rest.
Win the Day by Mark Batterson
Mark Batterson equips students with a faith-inspired strategy for achieving ambitious goals by focusing on the power to transform everyday habits. Rejecting the paralysis of regret or fear of the future, Batterson’s seven habits offer practical, contagious steps to help students live with greater purpose and meaning.
From “Exploring the Script” to reframe your thinking to “Cloud Investing” to invest in tomorrow’s success, each practice is based on timeless wisdom and designed for immediate implementation. It is encouraging and supportive, Win the Day it’s a guide to embracing life one day at a time, unlocking the extraordinary with small, consistent actions.
Measure What Matters by John Doerr
In Measure What Matterslegendary venture capitalist John Doerr introduces readers to the transformative power of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), the goal-setting framework that has driven success at some of the world’s most influential companies, including Intel and Google.
With compelling back stories from leaders like Bono and Bill Gates, Doerr reveals how OKRs bring clarity and focus to organizations by aligning priorities, encouraging collaboration, and driving measurable results. Whether you’re leading a team, starting a startup, or just aiming to improve personal productivity, this system provides a blueprint for achieving your most important goals.
Mind Shift by Erwin Raphael McManus
Big Dream by Bob Goff
What happened to the life you once dreamed of? In Big DreamNew York Times bestselling author Bob Goff invites readers to rediscover the healthy dreams they’ve abandoned, buried beneath the fear, doubt, and weight of everyday life. Goff shares a practical, heartfelt guide to help you discover your purpose and take meaningful action in the life you’ve always imagined.
With warmth, humor, and understated wit, Big Dream it’s a call to stop getting used to being “good enough” and start chasing the life you were made for. This is your guide to a life full of passion, purpose, and excitement—because it’s never too late to dream big.
Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Finding More Happiness by Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey
You can find happiness. Build the Life You Want offers a transformative journey to greater happiness and fulfillment, regardless of your current circumstances. With a combination of science, wisdom, and practical advice, this book empowers you to take control of your happiness now. Using their experience and years of helping people turn ideas into action, Brooks and Winfrey guide you through the four pillars of happiness: family, friendship, work, and faith. With a focus on emotional self-regulation, they provide research-backed strategies to help you thrive, regardless of life’s challenges.