Is Self Help Books a Waste of Time?
We see the world, not as it is, but as we are or, as we are conditioned to see it— Stephen R. Covey
Self help books are often seen as a waste of time by many people. I used to believe this myself, but I’ve since changed my mind. While self help books may not be for everyone, I think they can be beneficial if you find the right one for you.
I’m definitely not the first person to write about this topic, and I’m sure I won’t be the last. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth talking about. In fact, I’d say it’s more important than ever given how popular self help books have become in recent years. So, is self help really a waste of time? Or can it be helpful? That’s what I want to explore in this post.
There are two types of readers: those who read anything and those who don’t. The flavor of reader varies according to time, experience, and overall life circumstances. As a person gets older, changes in reading taste occur.
When we are going through hard times in life, we don’t want anyone to tell us what we’re making wrong or the impact of continuing to make the same mistake.
Let’s assume that if you’ve never been heartbroken in your life, someone tells you how it feels, and you laugh at them. You’ll always be smiling when someone loses their pet if you have never had any pet in life.
Self-help books are the instructions in the world. If you don’t want to read, that’s your call, but there is a use for them, so people read self-help books to find their way out.
Recently I heard: Why does it feel more depressed to read self-help motivational books? It feels as such because the easy fix solution we are looking for in self help books during tough times does not make sense.( We believe that our situation is unique, and no one else has ever experienced what we are going through.)
It is not logical to say that self-help books are a waste of time because ONLY some people have this experience when reading these kinds of books. This kind of reasoning is wrong for two reasons:
1 – If we were to believe in something only if we are convinced, that would be illogical.
2 – The power of belief is not measured by logic.
Many people feel the opposite way when reading self-help books; the books work for them. For instance, many entrepreneurs read self-help books because they believe in their business ideas and see them through. A person has to try it first before saying that the method failed. If you do not give up in the face of adversity, you would see for yourself if something is true or not.
Self-help books may sometimes fail to achieve what they are supposed to accomplish because their readers will always make half-hearted self-improvement attempts. At first, i thought is it was because the reader’s mind had not been prepared or ready for this book? Or, after reading that self-help books, you feel like a loser and end up thinking that you are lucky enough to read such a good book.
Life is not only about learning from one’s own mistakes. It will be difficult to live a thousand years and make errors in order to learn from them. It’s a personal choice whether or not to read self-help books. However, life is about trial and error, and making error can be costly and deadly.
When you’re going through a hard time, would you want to go it alone or seek for help in order to move forward rather than feeling stuck? Find some autobiographies if you don’t like self-help.
Read : The Best Autobiographies Ever Written
Read : 100 biographies to read in your lifetime
As time goes on, I have noticed some statements from friends who say:
“I read self-help books, but I just do not see any improvement in my life.”
Self-help books are only useful if you think it is useful. It can never be something that will help you 100% of the time without your effort. There is no shortcut if you want to escape the “mediocre” trap. You have to work on yourself.
Self-help books are of no use if the person is too lazy to study or too comfortable in his life that making a change seems scary. Self-help books only give us some guidelines and ideas; they can never do all the work for you.
If I was not convinced with my everyday life, my book reading would be much more than an hour. If you are only looking at the part where self-help books do not help us or do not help us 100%, it would be useless to read these kinds of books.
The secret lies in having the right mindset when reading any book. The following components should be kept in mind:
1 – Do not let your emotions interfere with your reading.
2 – Read books that you think can benefit you, and read them for yourself, not because others recommend them.
3 – We should indeed be wary of what we read, but if we believe something can help us, then we should read it and give it a try, instead of giving up immediately after reading the first few chapters.
4 – A good self-help book does not only provide you with some outside knowledge; we should also apply that knowledge to our daily life and let it reflect in our actions. If you find yourself thinking: “It’s too difficult to change, that’s why I am reading this book,” then you are probably reading the wrong book.
5 – The key to self-improvement is patience and perseverance; those who believe in themselves and can see their dreams through will not give up so easily.
6 – After reading a self-help book, we should think about what we have learned and how we should apply this knowledge to our daily lives.
7 – Be careful of what you read, but also do not let your emotions get the better of you because it will only lead you to miss out on many great opportunities that are out there for us.
8 – If a self-help book does not work for you, do not discard it as a failure. It might not be suitable for you after all, but that does not mean that the book is useless to everyone else on this planet.
Belief is a powerful thing. If we believe in something, we will follow through on our own accord without putting too much thought into it. Belief is important because it will motivate us to keep moving forward. If we believe in our dreams, then finding the right self-help book should not be difficult for us; on the other hand, if we do not believe in it, the chances are that something is missing. To summarize:
1 – A good book will motivate you to change, while bad books will make you feel like it is too difficult to do anything about it.
2 – Do not let small obstacles stop you from moving forward. Instead of looking for easy-outs, find the motivation within yourself that drives you forward.
3 – We should not always rely on others to help us resolve our problems because the solution might lie within us.
4 – To truly benefit from a self-help book, you have to believe in the knowledge that it provides and apply it to your daily life. If you do not want to change your life, no matter how many self-help books you read, they will be useless because the only person who can change you is yourself.
5 – It does not matter if we fail in our attempts, as long as we believe and try to make a change; eventually, we will get there.
6 – We need to understand ourselves before deciding what direction we want to take in life. Only then can self-help books help us as much as they should.
7 – We should not blindly believe in self-help books; we should read them and then apply them to our daily life and see if it benefits us or not. We will find the right book for us at the end of this journey if we do this.
8 – Try and find a self-help book that suits you and your life; otherwise, there is no point in reading one.
9 – Do not be afraid of making mistakes; they will only serve to make you stronger.
10 – If the world is not changing for us, we should change our world instead of expecting others to do it for us.
I’m sure at some point in your life, you’ve read a self-help book. They’re everywhere these days, and for a good reason – we all want to be our best selves! But do self-help books work? Or are they a waste of time? In my opinion, they can be helpful…but only if you apply the advice to them. Otherwise, they’re just sitting on your shelf collecting dust. So if you’re looking to change your life, don’t just rely on self-help books – take action and make it happen!
I’m looking for books that can assist me, whether it’s in the self-help category, autobiography, or books that teach me a new skill. It all helps.
Reading about other people’s experiences may assist you in your own life.
Read : The Pros (and Cons) Of Reading Self-Help Books
I think it’s important to remember that self-help books are just that–books. They’re written by people, for people, and sometimes they hit the mark, and sometimes they don’t. If you’re reading a book and it isn’t resonating with you, put it down and find another one. Don’t feel guilty for not following every piece of advice in a book or for not being able to change your life overnight. The most important thing is that you’re trying. And if you keep trying, eventually, you’ll stumble on something that works for you.