Supercharge Your Resolutions: A Goal-Setting Toolkit for 2025

9 New Books on the Science of Reaching Your Goals

It’s officially mid-January, and so a fair time to check in on your New Year’s resolutions. How’s it going? Have you set clear intentions and installed some new habits? Could you use a little help staying on track? If so, you’ll want to take a look at the nine excellent reads below, which offer up clear guidance for setting and achieving your goals.

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Big Goals: The Science of Setting Them, Achieving Them, and Creating Your Best Life

By Caroline Adams Miller

Packed with practical advice and real-world insights, Big Goals will inspire you to dream bigger and work smarter―whether you’re aiming for personal transformation, career advancement, or organizational success. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Caroline Adams Miller, in the Next Big Idea App

The Choice Point: The Scientifically Proven Method to Push Past Mental Walls and Achieve Your Goals

By Joanna Grover and Jonathan Rhodes

Merging mindfulness, motivational interviewing, and cognitive behavioral therapy into a user-friendly model—the first non-academic book of its kind—The Choice Point grants us control of the decisions that define us. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-author Jonathan Rhodes, in the Next Big Idea App

MicroSkills: Small Actions, Big Impact

By Adaira Landry and Resa Lewiss

MicroSkills is built on one core, easy-to-learn principle: every big goal, complicated task, healthy habit, and, yes, even what we think of as character traits, can be broken down into small, learnable, skills that can be practiced, and incorporated real-time. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by authors Adaira Landry and Resa Lewiss, in the Next Big Idea App

Optimal: How to Sustain Personal and Organizational Excellence Every Day

By Daniel Goleman and Cary Cherniss

Based on research of how hundreds of people build the inner architecture of having a good day, Optimal sketches what an optimal state feels like, and shows how emotional intelligence holds the key to our best performance. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-author Daniel Goleman, in the Next Big Idea App

Hyperefficient: Optimize Your Brain to Transform the Way You Work

By Mithu Storoni

Drawing on the latest research, a University of Cambridge-trained physician shows us how to seamlessly shift our brains into the best gear for the tasks we need to be doing, so we can perform at our best throughout the day, every day. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Mithu Storoni, in the Next Big Idea App

Never Play It Safe: A Practical Guide to Freedom, Creativity, and a Life You Love

By Chase Jarvis

An award-winning photographer argues that we don’t need gimmicky new life hacks or productivity gadgets. We already have what’s necessary—all we need is to learn to leverage it. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Chase Jarvis, in the Next Big Idea App

Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts

By Oliver Burkeman

A map for a liberating journey toward a more meaningful life―a journey that begins where we actually find ourselves, not with a fantasy of where we’d like to be. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Oliver Burkeman, in the Next Big Idea App

The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius

By Kendra Adachi

A bestselling author brings her signature Kind Big Sister Energy to a practical time management book for people weary of productivity but eager to live a good life. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Kendra Adachi, in the Next Big Idea App

The Happy High Achiever: 8 Essentials to Overcome Anxiety, Manage Stress, and Energize Yourself for Success―Without Losing Your Edge

By Mary Anderson

A game-changing road map for ambitious people to transform chronic stress and anxiety into sustainable happiness and success. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Mary Anderson, in the Next Big Idea App