>starts lifting
>is considering self help

it IS a fucking gateway drug, next thing you know you'll want to "inspire" people with your generic bullshit.

It's just people writing stuff down that they think helped them on a personal level. Aslong as you don't see them as guides you have to follow religiously but instead take one or two things with you that peaked your interest you're good. Look at it like you see /adv/. Juat a bunch of other idiots that think they have the secret to everything. Everybody knows stuff about a topic that you don't know yet and that might be helpfull for your own happiness/success/wellbeing. Sometimes it's things you aready do/know, but seeing it written out and in order is helpfull at times. It helps to make some room in your brain cause you know you can always go back and read up on it again if you feel confused. Just give it a try. Don't pick a book just becausr it's hyped. Find one that catches your eye. For me, i have to really think that thw author is somebody i want advice from. If an ugly fat old lady tries to tell me about how i can have the best body ever i'm going to be sceptical. Or if a new-age guru tries to tell me that all i need is love i'm not going to read that. Be picky. It's as if you can choose from a wide range of "mentors", willing to let you in a bit on their thoughts. Nothing more. It's as if you have a long and intense talk with a friend. They might have a point but aren't always right.

>>16944527
Helpful, thanks.

Self-help is mostly bullshit. Anything that sounds too good to be true, or doesn't present a concrete idea is best left alone.

Imo, if you wanna read some self-help stuff, figure out exactly what you want to read about (eg. communication, discipline, time management, so on) and then try a book on the specific topic. There's very few good self-help books, and the good ones may not be under the self-help genre lol. I try to avoid anything that talks too much about "results", especially some outrageous, sensationalist claims like "you'll change your life forever!", and look more for toned-down books that explain ideas or present strategies in general. If you're looking at genres, books under psychology are usually better than self-help. Also check reviews or blurbs and see if the content is backed up with any research, and check the authors credentials.

If you wanna try something, torrent the fuckers from kat or download from libgen. Don't waste your money, at least not until you decided something is worth the money.

If you're at all interested, one of the most helpful books I've had a look at was 48 Laws of Power (the title is clickbaity, I know). Shit's about how people get manipulated in society and how to avoid these kinds of tactics.

>>16944473
Some are good. You just have to find what level of Bullshit appeals to you. I've only read a bout 3 or 4 self help books that were actually worth my time out the thousands friends have recommended but still there will be certain sections that are a turn off. Keep an open mind and be positive too.

Ive always thought that they have been bullshit. Was given one years ago and decided to read it when I was traveling and in a shitty spot in my life. It really helped me out. It didnt claim to be some miracle, nor did it spew bullshit. It really was just a nice short read that really changed my perspective on things. Title sounds corny and like a typical self help book but it really isnt. Its very down to earth and not all happy clappy inspirational like.

John Bird, how to change your life in 7 steps.

I've written quite a bit of self-help stuff and have therefore read a lot as well.

It's 100% bullshit. If it's not written by a professional (that is someone you can verify is a professor or whatever) and it is sold as self-help, it's made up garbage from idiots like me.

What I tend to do is find a bit of research (and I just read the abstract) and then I reverse engineer some advice from it.

So the big example you'll see with this is in body language.

You find out that making eye contact builds trust. So you say, if you want to build trust make eye contact. But, that's just fucking nonsense.

You can't improve things like your body language by manually controlling it. It just doesn't work. I read one study that said it would actually make it worse. Your body language is the result of how you are interacting with someone. Trying to control it is like shoving shit up your rectum because you want to eat scrambled eggs.

So besides just making up shit and general motivational talk, the other big thing is to make elaborate systems to say really basic stuff.

The organize your life books are best for this. You can boil most of them down to "keep a diary you idiot".

The books in your image aren't that bad. If you are being taught something (something real like microeconomics) by an expert you can learn quite a bit. Those pop science books aren't too bad either.

I don't really think of those as self-help though.

Self-help is usually stuff that promises really easy answers to complex problems (follow these few steps to be confident and successful), or really complex answers to simple problems (try this system of negging and manipulation to get a gf). If any of it actually worked do you think a) there would be so many books on the market, and b) the people that read it would be such massive and unsuccessful losers?

>>16944945

Actually I'd revise that a little. Some self-help stuff is useful if it's more practical and well-written. Stuff like how to do well in interviews.

Basically, tangible things that you are just naive about.

It can also be comforting to just read about stuff to help you process it. I've not come across a lot that isn't terrible trash written by morons, but if you're struggling with anxiety then just reading about overcoming it from a logical and well-researched perspective can be nice.

I'd just avoid anything that is vague or promises too much. And you can't trust most online reviews. Amazon is 100% broken and the people that publish this crap put out so much misinformation and phony press you can go several pages into Google before finding someone that will blow the whistle on something like a diet book.

The books tactics may work

Based on the fact that most people know what the fuck to do.

They just don't act on it. It's hard. We make excuses.

You read a book and it'll tell you it's bs and you do it.

It got you to do the thing you already knew to do.

If you work at it then it'll work.

failure makes most quit then they bitch.

If you do it and practice it you'll see that this shits pretty fucken simple.

Bumping for later reading

>>16945111
Take a screenshot

>>16945123
Take a dick

>>16944473
op here, why do so many books have 3 rules, seven laws, 5 steps, nine stages ect.

>>16945150
Simplification and Generalisation.