Are Self-Help Books a Waste of Time? Yes

Look, reading self-help books is not a waste of time but reading many is. As Derek Sivers says “If more information were the answer, then we’d all be billionaires with perfect abs.”

So today, let’s see when you should stop reading self-help books and which books you should be reading instantly.

Everything Looks the same

Almost all the self-help books talk about the same things but in a different ways, for example,

If I tell you a story about a guy who lives in a small house and one day, he decides to work on his dreams and after two years, he conquers everything then yes, his story is inspiring.

Whereas, if I tell you the ways to live a happy life with proper bullet points then yes, this too will be inspiring.

What I’m saying is, this is what new authors are doing. Whether they’re writing a story that gives a message or writes points about how you can improve yourself.

Both things will tell you one thing which is,

• Work on Your dreams.
• Never give up on Your dreams.
• Don’t give F about other people, focus on yourself.
• Life is too short to argue.
• Give your 100% because you only have one life.
• Spend time with your family.
• There is nothing more powerful than building Habits.
• Health should be your highest priority.

Now, I can go on and on but you get the point.

So when you read a self-help book and finish the same, stop there and see what the author is trying to say and improve on it. Don’t just move to a new self-help book.

Read These Books instant of Self-Help

In life, you only have to read two or three self-help books and after that, you just have to stop and let in all the information and apply the same in life.

Now, after you finish reading two to three self-help books, now, consider reading autobiography books.

The reason is simple, you will get to learn about a person’s life along with that, you will also learn what kind of mistake he/she has done, so you won’t repeat the same in your life.

Let’s say, you like the way, Elon Musk runs his business or how steve jobs build Apple then just buy the autobiography book.

This way, you will get to learn how they think, how they take action, how they handle the teams, and much more.

So you’re not only reading points on self-improvement, you’re learning about other people (that too will be inspiring).

Three Stages of Self-Help Books

When you first read self-help books, you’re searching for answers. Whether it’s, how to build routines, make new habits, deal with procrastination, or something else.

Now, when you finish the book, you will have all the answers.

For example, where to improve and where not to.

The problem is, an instant of applying the information in your life, you will jump to another self-help book because that book might be popular, and your friends may have told you to read the book.

Self-help books can be addictive as well because you’re jumping from one to another.

So when you feel like, you’re reading too much then stop there and think for a second “What I have applied in my life from all these self-help books”

This is called 2nd stage. The 1st stage was reading a self-help book.

The 3rd stage will be applying the information you have in your life and seeing, what works and what does not.

This way, you will get to know whether the author gave your right information or it was just Bro-Information.

The 3 stages of Self-help books go like this,

• Stage 1 – Searching for answers.
• Stage 2 – Staying there forever, reads a lot.
• Stage 3 – Apply whatever you learn in your life, this is the final stage.

Know When to Stop

Everything is good if you consume in moderation whether it’s Po*n, social media, movies, or even self-help books. The only problem you might face is, not knowing when to stop.

And this is where awareness comes in.

Next time, when you grab a new self-help book, ask yourself, what you learned from the last self-help book and what you have applied in your life.

If you don’t have the answer then don’t read the new self-help book, grab that last self-help book and take a sneak peak.

Now, from that book, apply one or two things in your life and see the changes.

The same goes for everything else, let’s say, you watch Po*n every day for an hour then this is not a good habit, you have to stop but watching the same every few months won’t harm.

So moral of the story is, you have to make yourself aware of action and improve on it.

Wrapping Up

Self-help books give you so much knowledge, the only thing you have to do is apply the same in yourself and improve on it otherwise, reading 1 or even 100 self-help books won’t give you anything. It will be just a waste of time.

“Knowing is not enough! You must take action.” — Tony Robbins

That is 100% true, if you have knowledge and if you don’t apply or share it with other people then it’s just garbage, nothing else.

From now, don’t waste your time on a self-help book, rather focus on your life because you don’t have unlimited time, so stop wasting time again and again on the same things because that won’t give you anything.

I’m hoping this was helpful and that you will apply the same in your life.

Have a Great Day.