Is Self-Help Something we need or has the self-help industry capitalized on our fears and weaknesses?
The concept behind self-development has been around for a long time.
The term “Self-Help” is associated with making changes to your life with the goal of improving it significantly.
You probably, at some point, have encountered the odd youtube video by a guru talking about the pursuit of happiness or the next self-help bestseller with a catchy title on display in the bookstore. Below is a odd youtube video created in 2017 where a “guru” is talking about a self-help book (actually kind of two books) he loves. Enjoy!
Here arises the question… is self-help actually good?
This article will dig a bit into the history and modern use of self-improvement, where hopefully, we can find the answer.
The History - How It All Began…
You may be surprised to discover that self-help has existed for centuries, thousands of years even.
It started as early as Ancient Greece when philosophical schools offered guidance to morality, ethics, and well-being.
Later, between the 12th and 16th centuries (but maybe starting as early as the 8th century), the “Mirror for princes” genre arose, popular for educating rulers on proper behavior and life habits.
The term self-help was born when Scottish author Samuel Smiles published his book “Self Help” in 1859.
The book emphasized the importance of turning to the self for both intellectual and
developmental growth, which jumpstarted the boom in self-help literature.
Around the 1900s, the movement really gained traction across America, only to become the reportedly $13 billion industry it is today.
Sometimes though, the more popular something is, the more controversial it becomes.
Now Let’s Talk About The Controversy…
As with any billion-dollar industry, self-help is surrounded by criticism.
Let’s try to unpack some of the main problems pointed out by the self-help critics.
One of the main arguments against the use of self-development methods comes precisely from the fact that the industry is one of the largest in the world.
Due to the significant growth of self-help, it is seen by many as just this – a money-making business.
New books, courses, and ideas constantly come out, and this in and of itself highlights an important question.
If there is a need for so many methods, is there actually an effective one?
This question, coupled with the insane pool of information already available, leads to us asking ourselves – where does it end?
To interlock this with the next point, we ought to highlight the addictive side of turning to self-help methods.
It’s in a person’s nature to always strive for perfection, and one of the downsides of self-help is that it can feed into this desire.
As many have pointed out, it’s not hard at all to fall into the trap of never feeling like you have done enough to perfect yourself and your life.
Think about it – once you have accomplished something big, do you stop and say to yourself
that this was enough, or do you find yourself pursuing a different goal again?
Now, don’t throw away your self-help books or delete the podcasts from your library just yet, as there are always two sides to the coin.
Don’t Lose Hope (this may be the whole purpose of the self-help industry)
The truth is, regardless of the controversy behind it, self-help can be an excellent tool for many if used correctly.
Here’s a piece of advice: do not get overwhelmed or swept up in the constantly increasing
number of books, courses, podcasts, etc. Instead, I urge you to put your critical thinking cap on.
Try to look for information backed by science and research – there are multiple good self-help works written and created by actual professionals in the industry.
For me to serve you the best I can, I follow this same rule and try to create programs that are backed by science and research.
Not ever program, course, or challenge is fully backed by research and science, but my main ones are and I share a ton of research in these programs which can feel very overwhelming if you want to read every reference to a report or medical journal related to the research the course is built on.
Another thing to remind yourself of is that not everything will yield the same results for you as it does for others, which is okay. We do not want to compare ourselves to others or take on the stress and anxiety related to a program not working well.
My recommendation in this situation – stop the program. You can try it again later and maybe it will work for you later. It is okay to just say… “Next!” and just move on to another program that might serve you better.
After all, it’s in the name – the help will come from the self, and you are the only person who
knows what actually works for you.
And, of course, remember that most of the changes you need to make are long-term in order for them to have an actual impact on your life.
Some Final Thoughts
So what’s the verdict?
Even though there is no definite answer to whether self-help is good, that should not make you turn away from it completely.
There is a reason this concept has been around for this long, only to grow and become a leading industry.
There are multiple useful self-help sources that you can turn to for guidance as long as you
remember not to rely entirely on them for answers.
At the end of the day, only you can help yourself grow as a person and succeed in life by
utilizing the greatest tool of them all – experience.
Thoughts On My Personal Experience
So I do believe in self-help. Above you’ll see a few of my audiobook categorized in the “self-help” section. I’ve read a bunch over the years.
In all honesty, I have been on a journey of personal development and self-mastery for the last 10-20 years.
Mostly personal development and building business acumen and leadership skills for 20 years. The last 10 have been more focused on ME, mental health, physical health, mindset, mindfulness, philosophy, wellness, resilience training and psychology.
I’ve explore a lot of topics and tried a lot of things. I’ve had good luck with the DIY (do it yourself) model because this is what I do in business – I make things happen.
I have felt the medical industry and insurance industry shortcomings and so I went it alone and found solutions that worked for me.
I do not recommend avoiding using self-help programs to replace doctor visits or other medical help, but I do recommend them as a self-care practice that compliments what coaches, doctors, psychiatrists, therapists, counselors or other experts might offer.
Recommended Reading…
If you know me well or follow me closely you probably know I am an avid reader. I run the virtual Hope & Inspiration Book Club where we read different kinds of books but many have been related to personal enrichment, growing as a person, and maybe could fall under the self-help genre. I welcome you to join us if you love to read.
Anyhow, as I was thinking about self-help I thought I’d share some books that were handy that I love and the may again sort of fall under the self-help genre (sorta). I divided the group into one I used for business, personal development and leadership and then next group that is more focused on personal and spiritual development and stepping up my mindset and emotional intelligence game.
Personal Development, Leadership Development, & Business
Although I originally got these books for my business, I share them here because they can also be powerful for non-business people for self-mastery. Why?
Well because Start With WHY help you define your purpose in life. This is something we all could use.
Strengths Finder 2.0 is all about finding your personal strengths and working in your area of genius in all areas of your life. Sadly we often do the opposite and try to fix our weaknesses instead of capitalizing on our strengths.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is brilliant for understanding what works in not just business groups, but any group you may be a member of. Again, seem to be very dysfunctional at building community and lifting people up. This book helps you understand how to be better in community and also aware of when things are not working. This may or may not be “self-help” per se, but it does help us show up better in a community.
Mindset, Emotional Intelligence, Personal and Spiritual Development
So this group is from authors in the mindfulness and Buddhism space, but I think they could serve anyone wanting to step up their self-mastery skills.
Real Change as I recall, is mostly a book about making positive change in the world. I thought it offered ideas on how to be a positive activist and how to deal with a crazy pandemic world. It offers several mindfulness practices to try.
Next I share When Things Fall Apart. This is a great book for dealing with tough times or grief. It also includes exercises to practice the ideas shared.
The next book is The Book of Joy. This book teaches many lessons on how joy is created and different ways to think or act to generate more joy in our own lives. I try love this book. It also offers practices to try to find or create more joy in our lives.
The last book is called Becoming Our Own Therapist. This is the book that turned me on to Buddhism. I was struggling with depression and this is one of the books that set me on a new path for understanding and self-mastery as well as healthier ways to view my life and my situation. It was and is a powerful book and can you get any more self-helpy than teaching you how to become your own therapist? Ha!
I covered a lot in this article. I hope I gave some new ways to think about the self-help industry. Are there scams and crappy self-help books out there? You bet!
Although the 4-Hour Workweek may be great for some people I found it really awful for my situation and my stage in life. Early on I liked an Osho audiobook I bought, the more I explored the more things went sideways for me with his work.
Now I share those last few NOT to bash the “guru” but to show that not every self-help guru or book may work for you or align with your goals even if they are in your space or what you are working on.
So if one isn’t working for you… drop it and find another “guru”, book, or strategy in the space you are looking to grow. Luckily, there are a billion choices to find your next “guru”! Ha!
What do I Offer in this space?
Depending on when you read this article I will have different products, but the best way to find out might just be going to the Hellagood Life Online Store.
My main push right now though is the Healthy Living series of mini-courses where I hired a doctor to help me create the medical info. Here is 1 sample video lesson from the first mini-course titled Basic Nutrition.
