Hi everyone,
I’m continuously on a path of self-improvement. That being said I have seen many people I look up to suggest lists of books to read and SWEAR by them as a source of personal improvement.
I love reading and have no problem with reading all the books on these lists.
That being said, I was wondering if from experience they are super useful simply by reading, if you absorb the lessons and advice as you read. I don’t have a lot of extra time and mental capacity (full time student + work) and I’m worried that after reading these books they won’t be that useful without essentially studying them the same way you would a textbook.
Thanks!
by Skyroamer_
3 Comments
I’ve never read a self-help book that actually turned out to be helpful, and I’ve never read any book that was helpful that I didn’t have to study.
Some self help books are substantive and helpful. Some are basically a PowerPoint slide deck expanded to a book.
I have had good luck where the author is writing based on their own research like Jane Burka or John Gottman.
I think reading quickly and then choosing whether to go back more slowly is one way to approach it.
My favorite self help books would be both, they have many concepts that are helpful just to better understand,
For example Getting Things Done suggests the 2 minute rule, that if something would take less than 2 minutes then just take care of it immediately, but if it will take longer then you may want to defer it,
That’s not something that necessarily requires studying
But these books also offer actionable, implementabled systems
Getting Things Done offers a whole system of organization using 5 discrete action steps, Capture, Clarify, Organize, Review, and Engage.
Understanding and implementing a system like that would be studying.
So in conclusion, again, it’s both. There are things that you can pick up just by reading and things that require study and practice.