The end of self help?

Greetings fellow earth creatures!

I hope your day has been an enjoyable one.

Here's an interview with author Gail Brenner.

For a little taste -

When I first found what looked like a self-help book called The End of Self-Help, I thought it was a tad ironic. And I wondered if perhaps the author was suggesting that self-help is inherently harmful.

As someone who’s bounced back from overwhelming adversity using some very powerful self-help tools, this didn’t quite sit right with me.

Then I decided to stop wondering what this book was all about and instead find out by reading it. I couldn’t be more grateful that I did.

Powerful and insightful, Dr. Gail Brenner’s book touches upon a common misconception that might lead us to self-help resources—the idea that we’re broken and need to be fixed.

Why Self-Help Might Not Help, and What Will (and a Giveaway)

Loads more at that site!

All the best!

For me, self-help is but good study habits, work habits and courage along with a good behavior at all times tending to patience and mental equanimity.

Good behavior is part of good study and work habits, because it is impossible to learn or work at optimal levels without the cooperation of others secured through proper behavior.

If a person has these traits, he or she is bound to succeed in anything.

Not having read the book I can't say that much, but it seems to me that many of us aren't that interested in happiness per se but rather in just being as normal as the next person (as long as the next person isn't Trump ), and that often does entail fixing some part of oneself. I say this because that is exactly what I needed and is what happened to me, and by a fortuitous means rather than by any self-help method or therapy.

The problem for me, and even though I had been looking, was that I didn't realise that my emotional expression and feelings were more of an issue than I ever could imagine they were. I had been blocking and/or out of touch with them for many years, and I think coming from some early abuse. And I only found this out when I did change so as to be more like most others and could compare the differences. Other changes also occurred, and these were noted too, again not coming from any therapy or self-help - but could be seen as therapy.

So for me, it is more about recognising the bits that are damaged or missing, and often this is difficult because we might never have experienced anything different. A bit like the transformation of being a stand-up comic rather than the trembling wreck that dissolves at the very thought of appearing on stage in front of others. And we might all be capable of the former with just a little work.