How Self Help Literature Can Change You

By Alison Wilcox


Everyone has limitations and inadequacies they wish to overcome from losing weight, mending a rocky relationship, getting over a tragic event, developing self-awareness and esteem to finding happiness and contentment. Self help literature is an ideal way to overcome these mountains privately and at your own pace.

Counselors are taught to win patients over and help them work through their pains and struggles. For some people, confiding deep seated and painful issues is very difficult. Others report that they do not feel that they are better off even after long term therapy. There is also the challenge of substantiating how successful a counselor is in terms of the patients that they have cured.

With self-help books, you can get a clue as to the value of a book through book reviews. Bestselling titles that sell millions of copies must have some practical and helpful advice. Another advantage with books is that you can go over something as many times as you want to or need to, coming out with new insights each time.

Such books make up a part of what is the self-help industry that rakes in more than 10 billion dollars in US. The industry is also made up of holistic centers, seminars, retreats, CDs and infomercials.

In addition to book reviews, you can also assess the value of a book by the name on the cover. Those that offer the greatest help are those that have been written by medical professionals who are licensed and accredited and by clergy. Do read through the bios of authors and go to their websites or those of their publishers. It is advisable to do so to give yourself the best chance of picking up a title that will be of help in overcoming your limitations and struggles.

As is the case with all other genres, there are those who criticize self-help books. Their view is that the books do give readers a measure of inspiration and hope that makes them feel better which means that they do not resort to desperate measures. Their gripe is that no substantial improvement occurs in their lives though. They stay hopeful but never push through their limitations to get to the other side.

There is one constant whether one opts to work with a counselor or pick up a self-help book. One has to be willing to do the work of taking the advice given and applying it into their lives. Otherwise, no change will ever be seen. The best books will usually have practical activities for a reader to carry out in every section or chapter. Keeping a journal is also a good way to keep track of your progress.

Turning to self help literature is like turning to a confidant who understands what you are struggling through and who is there to see you through it. You can count on this friend keeping your secrets and you can go over and ask them the same question over and over again without their getting tired of it. There are there quietly cheering and urging you on to break negative ties and arrive at love, appreciation, esteem and awareness of yourself and those around you.




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