Wondering if anyone here has ever gotten into the self-help section? I'm looking at a few titles to reduce stress and let my true self emerge. Something like that. Has anyone found books like this beneficial? I'm coming at this as a reader, but if you write this kind of stuff, it would be cool to hear from you. Just doing what I can to get by...
I don't know if it counts, but I've read Meditations by that Emperor guy, Aurelius. I remember feeling some profound insights while reading it, but I can't quote anything, my memory is a bit shifty. Think I will re-read it some day.
I've read a few over the years, but none that really stuck with me. It always seemed like any useful advice they contained was either obvious stuff I'd already figured out or impractical for my particular life situation. A few months ago, however, I started learning to read tarot cards, and I've found them to be an incredible tool for personal growth and discovery. I haven't been reading for others, just using them to clarify my thoughts and make decisions. I like the fact that interpreting them makes me an active participant in the process, rather than a passive reader of someone else's advice; I'm making my own insights, so they have more emotional impact, which makes me more likely to really apply them to my life. And reading a spread well is like telling a story, which definitely appeals to me as a writer. So, regardless of whether one believes in them as something supernatural or just as a set of well-crafted images that lend themselves to psychological interpretation, they can be a powerful tool if taken seriously. I know they've really helped me. Good luck to you, whatever you choose to do!
Though I'm emphatically not a fan of some of her later work, The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron was valuable to me at different points in my life. I still recommend it to people.
I once read a self-help book. I couldn't help myself. I also consult the tarot on occasion, but I haven't done so recently. In the past, I have also consulted the I Ching.
When I was depressed in my 20's, I also read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and it did help writing morning pages and other stuff she suggested to think or try. I do sometimes think zigging when the natural inclination is to zag works too. Many writers are natural artists full of compassion and feelings, so what we may lack is colder order and organization. If that's also your case, then for entrepreneurship, I'd recommend Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. Hope you overcome whatever you are struggling with soon. -BK
I'll very strongly second this recommendation! Also anything by Napoleon Hill. I'll also throw in my usual recommendations to study Stoicism: ... and a little book called Courage: the Joy of Living Dangerously Here, I was looking specifically for this aspect of Stoicism: Separating events into 2 categories—things you can control and things you can't. Just by doing that (the first step of Stoicism), you gain a lot of peace of mind. Once you realize for instance the futility of raging because of the weather (something you can't control) much of your stress will fall away.
Yeah, the whole idea of 'self-help' books or courses is severely tainted by the extreme proliferation of garbage pumped out to meet market demand. So much of it is shallow and built on false premises. You want to look for stuff that's not, like for instance an ancient Greek pracitcal philosophy (from a time when philosophy really was wisdom designed to help people live a better life) or something timeless. All the ones I mentioned above meet those criteria. I'm sure there are more that do as well, but those are the ones I'm aware of and have personal experience with. The difference is, the crap ones promise that you can have a better life with almost no effort or without making essential changes in the way you think or live. Obviously that's not going to work—the easy quick-fix approach. Too much of life today is already shallow and built on stupid premises, what we need is specifically something more grounded.
