What is The Real Value of Self-Help Books?
There are thousands of books, and oceans of information available, on how to help one's self and solve one's problems, particularly around weight loss, spirituality, success, happiness, and money matters. In fact, there were 17 million self-help books sold in 2015 - that's almost 1,900 copies in the one hour it takes to have lunch.
Obviously, the self-help market is booming (worth $10 billion in America alone) as many people try to make sense of how they feel, improve the quality of their lives, or simply boost their opportunities for success. However, self-help seems to be mainly targeted at - and utilised by- women, with men keeping their distance from it. Self-help books have not really worked for them, perhaps because of the way they view such books.
Erroneously, many people, especially men, are inclined to believe that, if they are using a 'self-help' book, they must have some 'problems' which they need to sort out. They perhaps cannot afford professional counselling, and so turn to cheaper options. While that may be true of a minority of people, in that frame of mind, and with that perspective, those who ignore self-help, or are sceptical of it, are not likely to get the full benefit of what they are reading, because they have already limited the scope and effect of the material with their negative approach.
Self-help is not about merely dealing with problems you might be encountering. That's just one part of the overall use of such books. The real meaning of self-help is discovering potential and possibilities, to find out:
a. what you are capable of;
b. how you might be limiting that potential with current beliefs, attitudes, and approaches;
c. how you can make the best use of those possibilities to achieve whatever it is you desire.
Above all, self-help books demonstrate how a variety of others successfully deal with similar situations.
The key thing to note is that utilising any kind of self-help material suggests that the person does not accept everything about their life as given. He/she makes a conscious decision not to be a hostage to their genes, their past, or environment. They will decide how their life will unfold, and the best way to do that. They will not simply conform to expectations or predictions of what they should, or ought to do, with their life. They accept that life has its difficulties, its ups and downs, but they refuse to be constrained by them, or dictated to by specific situations. Self-help enthusiasts need objective answers in helping them to expand their knowledge, and to reinforce their direction, and self-help books are essential in this regard. Above all, self-help books demonstrate how a variety of others successfully deal with similar situations.
As author Tom Butler-Bowden (50 Self-Help Classics) pointed out, self-help books,"can reveal your unique course in life, form a bridge between fear and happiness or simply inspire you to be a better person".
It means that self-help books are the keys to educating yourself about your potential, especially engendering a way of life that enables you to make a difference to both yourself and your world. In that way you not only transform the way you think, and how others perceive you, but you also transform your future, all by yourself, and in the most effective way you see fit.
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