Skip to main content

A little about me...

I have been reading self-help books since discovering Wayne Dyer's "Your Erroneous Zones" at the age of 15. I'm now 37 and in the meantime I've read hundreds of self-help books and listened to hours of tapes and CDs.

Some of the material I've come across has been inspiring and has made some difference to my life, some of it has been useless and trite.

My intention in publishing this blog is to post some thoughts/reviews/comments on the stuff I've read and really to explore that which works.

So the journey begins...

Comments

Matthew Cornell said…
Hey - love the title of your blog. At first I thought it referred to the sweet little book Self-Help Stuff That Works by Adam Khan. Highly recommended!
2:25 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Four Hour Work Week Is Ruining My Life...

It's rare that a book nags away at me.  Most self help books are instantly forgettable when you put them back on the shelf. Having now read Tim Ferriss' "Four Hour Work Week" at least 4 times in total (that's not including all the dipping  into read throughs) I can safely say that it won't be going back on  my shelf for quite some time. I'm not going to review it because others have done it better than I would hope to (I'll add some links to reviews and stuff shortly) but I wanted to point out that you need this book.  Whoever you are and whatever you want from your life - you need this book. So if it's that good why is it ruining my life? Here's the first bunch of reasons: 1.  Most of the ideas Tim presents are simple yet pretty profound and I find myself thinking "Damn, why didn't I think of that before!" 2.  I am constantly looking at my own life and wondering how I can get from where I am to where I could be with a little help
8 comments
Read more

Life is not a dress rehearsal

One of the biggest challenges in our lives, in my opinion, is how remind ourselves, every day, that this is the only life we get (or for those who believe in the afterlife or reincarnation - that this is the only life we get to our knowledge!). Most of us act as if our lives will go on forever and concentrate on what's in front of us which is mostly irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. The challenge as I see it is to remind ourselves daily that our lives will one day end and that we should make the most of them while we still can. It's that sense of true perspective which we miss on a daily basis. I'm toying with the idea of designing a coloured wristband (similar to Lance Armstrong's Live Strong wristbands) which might act as a daily reminder of our own mortality. Imagine the things you would do, imagine the fear you'd lose and imagine the love you'd show if you kept that thought ever present in your mind.
5 comments
Read more

Buyers' Remorse

I buy a lot of self help books. I spend lunchtimes browsing the self-help section of Borders and I get a tingle when I see a new one that looks promising. I pick them up knowing how I should examine them; read the index, read about the author to establish their credentials, look for chapter headings and diagrams, read the back cover for testimonials. And sometimes that's exactly what I do. But sometimes the title or the promise ("Transform Your Life", "Find Your Purpose")creates such a positive emotion that I am going to buy it no matter what my examination reveals. Sometimes the emotional reaction leads to a good purchase. Mostly it doesn't and I end up reading the same tired self-help cliches for a few chapters before I throw it aside. And it's then that I get buyer's remorse a horrible feeling for someone who prides himself on making rational choices. I don't want to feel that emotion very often in the future but I suspect I will. Most
4 comments
Read more