The world of reading is brobdingagian and so are the genres available. While many confide in books to slip into a fantasy world and to evade the monotonous reality, it is an understatement to say that there are several books out there dedicated solely to inspire. These are usually what we call as self-help books. The authors compose the veins and muscles of the book around the soul of experience and intriguing tales that has helped them or have have the potential to assist the person digesting it. But then the question arises whether these books actually help us or are they numb pieces of literatures?
All of this comes down to our priorities and outlook. A book would only be helpful to you if you are in a dire need for advice or motivation relating to a particular topic or you are fascinated by it. For example, if you are a person free of apprehension then reading an article about how to terminate worries wouldn’t be fruitful. But it is also true that you would never know what you actually need at the present moment so if you have the patience and fascination then why not indulge in some of these books out there.
But despite this the most significant thing to follow is to realize that the method shown in the book may not always be for YOU. Each one of us are differently wired and cooking up a common concoction for a problem will definitely not be elementary. So if 100 ways to reduce stress are given then may be a quarter would be potent for you. That’s why it is important not to trust the ways blindly and know your mind to understand the nature of solution it needs.
Patience is also a key while trying to read a self-help book. Usually self-help are not as long as fantasies or thrillers but there would be quite long chapters dedicated for the discussion of one single topic. So there would be a narrow possibility for you to get the universal answer or motivation in the first few pages. But don’t give up on the book yet, may be the gold is buried in the last turns. For example, while reading the book ‘How to Stop Worrying and Start Living’ by Dale Carnegie, the initial solutions and stories said did not inspire me as expected. As someone who does not have a lot of apprehension problems, I was not looking for elaborate solutions but rather swift compact ones. So I left the book half way through and diverted my scrutiny on other fantasies. But recently I decided to finish this book this book and after all there are only 155 pages in total. And I am grateful to have continued as the central chapters seemed much more practical and potent!
Reading a self-help book can be extremely rewarding for your mind but for that you would have to correctly analyze the suggestions and apply it in your life. Reading and enjoying a book and then completely forgetting to abide by the suggestions in real life wouldn’t be of much good. If you read a book about gaining confidence and apply it to your life but then completely forget about it the next day then what’s the point of reading?
After all this deliberation if we come back to our initial question of whether self-help books are helpful then the answer would be yes and no. It’s all about finding your right author and type of book to quench your thirst. While some authors are quite precise in their opinions others are more evasive. But if we were to lean towards a single answer to this question then it would be a big YES. Reading a self help book daily can be of great help to your subconscious mind and assists you to alter your outlook on yourself and the general idea of life. While unlike stories self-help books are meant to be re-read so that you can remember the advice and the robust one-liners.
