People's thoughts on self help books??

[Simplify]

Hi,

I have a live hate relationship with self help books. As said in unscripted I am now aware of the manipulative nature of the industry these days with the book being the major part of a much larger sales funnel.

Also self help can become somewhat of an addicyion. Better than watching TV but addiction nonetheless.

Especially books on happiness or selling a dream can be prett harmful long-term as you strive for self improvement rather than self acceptance.

I have cut my vices periodically from.my life with the help of books until I found that the books themselves had become somewhat of a vice and a way for me to feel good about myself while not taking action.

Now I am evaluating how to integrate books back into my life. I tried reading fiction again but I just can't get into it because I want to learn something when I read.

I am also considering a period of 6 months where I don't read any self improvement books.

Interested to hear people's opinions on how books play a role in your life (talking about life improvement books) without becoming a source of procrastination or creating an addiction to constant growth which I feel may be counter productive.

I also heard a term recently called "daddy shopping" whereby you look at the self help authors as almost father figures for advice on how to live life. This really resonated with me and made me want to stop reading so much and form my own view of the world and come up with my own ideas about how to solve my problems in life. I guess asking for advice on this forum about self help books may also be a form of "daddy shopping" lol.

I am leaning towards the approach of solving problems myself initially and then reading books to learn technical details when I hit an obstacle along the way.

What role do books play in your process?

 

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[LuckyPup]

Hi,

I have a live hate relationship with self help books. As said in unscripted I am now aware of the manipulative nature of the industry these days with the book being the major part of a much larger sales funnel.

Also self help can become somewhat of an addicyion. Better than watching TV but addiction nonetheless.

Especially books on happiness or selling a dream can be prett harmful long-term as you strive for self improvement rather than self acceptance.

I have cut my vices periodically from.my life with the help of books until I found that the books themselves had become somewhat of a vice and a way for me to feel good about myself while not taking action.

Now I am evaluating how to integrate books back into my life. I tried reading fiction again but I just can't get into it because I want to learn something when I read.

I am also considering a period of 6 months where I don't read any self improvement books.

Interested to hear people's opinions on how books play a role in your life (talking about life improvement books) without becoming a source of procrastination or creating an addiction to constant growth which I feel may be counter productive.

I also heard a term recently called "daddy shopping" whereby you look at the self help authors as almost father figures for advice on how to live life. This really resonated with me and made me want to stop reading so much and form my own view of the world and come up with my own ideas about how to solve my problems in life. I guess asking for advice on this forum about self help books may also be a form of "daddy shopping" lol.

I am leaning towards the approach of solving problems myself initially and then reading books to learn technical details when I hit an obstacle along the way.

What role do books play in your process?

I think your (new) approach is a good one. Personal development should be a means to an end, not an end unto itself. For many "seekers," like wantrapreneurs, the means becomes the end. Moreover, ingesting information doesn't mean acquiring knowledge, much less applying said knowledge in a wise way, in the same way reading about business doesn't make one an entrepreneur. Our actions define us, not our thoughts.

Not to say that self-help and personal development material can't be of benefit. If your life has been devoid of positive mentors, self-help authors can be a proxy. However, unless you're shoring up some specific character issues, most self-help is the same regurgitated, general stuff and won't help with a specific hurdle/problem/issue.