Self Help Books are a huge industry, everyone it seems wants to improve themselves somehow. It seems no one is totally satisfied and is looking for answers from outside sources.
I tend to avoid them. But about seven years ago I did read Dr. Wayne Dyer's Book: "Your Erroneous Zones". I felt it not only insightful but entertaining as well.
Basically I got two things out of it.
FIRST, live in the NOW. Too many of us are regretting things we did or did not do in the past or worrying about what might happen in the future.
This is not to abandon lessons learned in the past nor to ignore planning for the future.
SECOND is that I am not responsible for how someone else feels, nor are they responsible for how I feel. In other words we alone are responsible for our own emotions. It's a matter of choice. If you choose to feel sad or hurt, then that's your choice. If you choose to feel happy and upbeat, that's also something you can control.
I tried to read one or two of his other books. But really this is all I felt I had to know.
I think the same kind of people that are attracted to self help books and films or cd's are the same people that are attracted to cults and religions. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. But they don't have faith in their own inner judgements and gut feelings. For some reason they need other's to guide them through life.
I think a major problem with self help is that its too general. Everyone is a unique individual with unique history and "baggage". You can't preach to the masses and have your "answers" apply universally unless its a simple, obvious truth. Like Dr. Dyer's teachings.
Basically Self Help Gurus are out for one thing, to help their Bank Accounts. Much like Evangelical Preachers are.
I think it's all a scam.
Some people feel the need to search for "answers". Maybe it's the search that is attractive for them, getting there is most of the fun I suppose. But you know they will never be satisfied no matter how many self help sources they explore.
And I think that is the crux of the problem, they are never satisfied. And so they feel unhappy.
It's like Dr. Dyer says, if you choose to be unsatisfied or unhappy, then you will be.
