Self-help books are a popular genre for a reason — if you have something in your life that you want to improve, you can grab a book that will help you get started. Whether it be improving mindset, decluttering, decreasing screen time, or finding faith, there’s a self-help book that can help you achieve your purpose. However, it’s important to find self-help books that are right for you, or else they won’t be terribly effective for you and your goals.
First, getting self-help books that don’t align with your goals is kind of like eating something you don’t really like, just to eat it. Sure, you can eat a head of broccoli because you know it’s good for you, but man – you just REALLY hate the flavor. Yeah, that can happen with books, too. You can pick up a book on how to find faith and implement faithful practices in your life, but if you have no interest in finding God anytime soon, it’s probably not a productive use of your time.
Instead, you should spend your time reading self-help books that align with your goals. If you’ve always been curious about how to live a more mindful, intentional life, look for a self-help book that covers meditation and practicing gratitude. If you’re looking to increase your overall happiness, try finding a book that educates you on some neuroscience and offers some tips for increasing dopamine production.
Second, researching the author is very important when trying to choose a self-help book, much like how it is important to align a self-help book with your goals. If you’re reading something by someone who may be out of touch with the issue that you’re looking to improve, the book might not be totally useful for you.
For instance, I once picked up a book about decluttering that I thought would be great for me. I tend to live in a bit of clutter, and I was looking to be more motivated to be, well, not cluttered. However, I failed to notice that the book was by someone who professionally assists hoarders in decluttering their spaces. So, instead of the book being helpful tips for someone who wants to improve minimal clutter, I read many pages of anecdotes about a professional helping hoarders.
Here’s another example: f you’re looking to improve your finances, maybe don’t get the “Get Rich Quick” book written by the person who was born into massive amounts of wealth and inherited their family’s company. Get the “Get Rich Quick” book by an average joe who had a unique idea and built a massively successful company from the ground-up, if that is a scenario that you could see yourself relating to.
Lastly, to get a bit creative, I want you to break out of the norm a little bit and consider other genres of books as a form of self-help, rather than sticking to the notion that you have to read a self-help book to boost your mood and happiness. Many people, myself included, use books as a form of escapism, which can allow you to enter a world far away and take in different scenery. Being able to detach from the present in the form of a good book is therapeutic and satisfying in a way that some self-help books can’t be.
Whether the genre you escape with is romance, sci-fi, fantasy, or literary fiction, you are able to use any book that you love as a form of self-help. Let’s say you’re looking for a self-help book that offers suggestions on how to live a happier life. If you’re not already a reader, you can try reading novels as a hobby, and find books that make you happy. Sometimes self-help books are (ironically) not helpful for most people, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find happiness in a book!
