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Don’t Buy Another Self-Help Book

October 9, 2008 RSS Feed Print

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Curt Rosengren

Is there a positive change you want to make in your life? Maybe a new career, or improved sales skills, or getting more organized? Have you bought books on the subject already?

Here's a radical self-help idea. DON'T BUY ANOTHER ONE. At least not yet.

How many half-read, marginally implemented personal growth books do you have on your bookshelf? You had the best of intentions when you bought them, but somehow the wisdom in the words never quite made it into your real world.

Instead of looking for the answer in a new book, try this: Take all the relevant books off your shelves and start thumbing through them. If something catches your eye, read it. Jot down notes on the ideas and actions that jump out at you.

As the insights and action steps start to pile up, ask yourself:

What step can I take right now?
What process can I implement right now?
What one idea speaks to me the loudest? How does it apply to my situation? What one step can I take as a result of this insight?

Along with coaching and speaking, I'm a writer. I love words. But the words alone mean nothing unless you pick them up and actually put them to work in your life.

Should you ever buy more books? Of course! But in my experience. most people continue to grapple with challenges not because they don't have the information they need but because they don't actually act on it. They hope the words will somehow change their lives by osmosis, and when they don't, it's off to the next book.

Is the answer you need waiting for you on your bookshelf?

After years as a professional malcontent, Curt Rosengren discovered the power of passion. As a speaker, author, and coach, Rosengren helps people create careers that energize and inspire them. His book, 101 Ways to Get Wild About Work, and his E-book, The Occupational Adventure Guide, offer people tools for turning dreams into reality. Rosengren's blog, The M.A.P. Maker , explores how to craft a life of meaning, abundance, and passion.

Tags:: books,; careers

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Great points, both of you. There is no self-help without the self. The self must want improvement strong enough to act on advice that can create it. I also write and speak and coach/consult about this, specifically for emerging successful freelance writers. Forward movement takes steps. Reading to learn what those steps might be is just the beginning. So true.
Curt,
I like your idea about inventorying the books you have already on your shelf and implementing one piece of advice from each. That would be a very positive goal for 2009.
Jackie

Jackie Dishner of AZ 4:42PM November 30, 2008

I think one of the reasons we buy so many books and don't fully implement their advice is that the process of change involves so much more than just an "a-ha" moment we can get from a book -- any book.
Personally, I feel that therapy is the critical follow-up to finding a book that speaks to you (regardless of how much of that book you have or haven't read). Psychotherapy is a process of disassembling and reassembling, done in the context of building a vulnerable, yet crucial relationship with a stranger (i.e., the therapist). That's where the change takes place, and gets continuous reinforcement. We shouldn't expect people to solve all of their 'issues' with just their books, regardless of how many wonderful books there are in the world (unread, partially read, and completely read).
Having said all that, I should also make it clear that I am the author of twenty books, including many bestsellers, and I made my living as a writer for twenty-five years. Still, I would never assume that any of my readers could solve all of their issues by reading even my best, best work.
The past ten years I have spent much more energy directing my readers in the direction of professional support than directing my readers to the cash register to buy more of my books. As a writer of self-help books, I consider this a responsibility. I approach this 'referral source' function of my work with extraordinary seriousness.
Books are a great beginning -- the books you already own and the books you will one day buy -- but they are only a beginning. Accumulating books can be a great support system, or it can be a way to fill your life with opportunities to avoid the more challenging process of steady, positive growth.

Steven A. Carter of CA 8:05PM October 23, 2008

Thanks Jackie! Glad you found us here. :-)
After your comment about having read most of the self-help books on your shelf, I looked at my shelves and thought, "What if I committed to finding just one thing in each of those books that can have a positive impact on my life - and then actually applied those things? What kind of effect would that have? How amazing could that be?"
I think it's time for a self-help book excavation project.

Curt Rosengren of WA 2:25PM October 14, 2008