We spend a large chunk of our childhood years sitting in school learning as much as we can about the world yet most of us graduate knowing very little about ourselves. We struggle with our insecurities, anxieties, and fears and try to balance all of it while simultaneously trying to progress in our career and family life. This is the basic story of most people in the world – we need to learn the things that school won’t teach us – and honestly, it would be great to have some help along the way. Some of the numerous ways in which we can get this help is through therapists, mentors, life coaches, and books. Self-help books might be perfect for our requirements as they mostly tend to address a specific problem. Plus, we can use them at our own pace and can read them at our own convenience. Apart from these pros, here are some of the major reasons as to why we all need self-help books.
1. Help Us Understand Ourselves
We all have our inner demons and the only way we can begin to live a peaceful life is if we try to understand them. We don’t really know why we behave a certain way or react aggressively to a certain situation. Therefore, by reading self-help books and investing time in understanding ourselves, we can be more peaceful and content. When we understand ourselves, we are also able to make quicker decisions as we are no longer confused about what we want or where we’re heading.
2. Help Us Understand The World Around Us
If you are the kind of person who sees the world as a strange place filled with strange people whose behavior you don’t understand, then reading self-help books can enlighten you about how society functions. Perhaps you are socially awkward and want to improve your people skills or perhaps you wonder why everyone is trying their best to stay in the rat race when you want out. Reading will help us perceive things more broadly which is essential if we want to grow.
3. Help Us Be A Better Version Of Ourselves
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” – Ernest Hemingway.
Self-improvement is one of the things that we should all strive for. As humans, we may be highly evolved but we still have so much holding us back from growth and progress. We may try to fix things around us but there isn’t much point in trying to change the world if we don’t change ourselves first. Whatever we are trying to improve – be it our health, emotional intelligence, career or lifestyle – there are plenty of books out there to help us through the process.
4. Help Us Heal
“We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.” – Rick Warren.
As we grow, we encounter many varied experiences – some pleasant and some hurtful.We may try our best to forget about the past but in reality, it may be holding us back tremendously. We need to heal the wounds of our past by whatever means necessary. Reading self-help is one way we can begin to set on this journey.
5. Help Increase Personal Effectiveness
Do you want to be more effective in the way you live your life? Perhaps you want to manage your time more efficiently or perhaps you’re looking to set goals for the future and you want to know how to stand by them. Self-help can help you out tremendously. From becoming rich to learning how to be patient – self-help has it all. ‘The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen R. Covey is one of the many books that could help you out.
6. Help Inspire Us
Sometimes we look at all of our problems and wonder why our life is as miserable as it is. That is until we hear of someone who has been through much worse in their life and has come out stronger than before. Self-help books like the ‘Chicken Soup For The Soul’ series are extremely inspiring as they contain real stories by real people who have been through different experiences. You may begin to realize that you are not the only one suffering and that you too can overcome the pain of whatever it is you’re going through.
