It’s an $11- billion-a-year business in the U.S. alone. This staggering amount isn’t to buy jets or build dams, but for the purchase of self-help books and tapes. That’s a lot of zeroes, and the numbers keep climbing. Do self-help books actually help?
We look to self-help books for answers to our problems. Thousands of titles exist on a broad range of topics. Losing weight and becoming more healthy is a huge seller. Dealing with grief and depression, making money and finding and keeping love are high on the list.
Self-help advice dates back to the writings of the ancient Greeks. The British Guardian credits the emergence of self-help literature 155 years ago to Scottish author Samuel Smiles, who sold 20,000 copies of his self-help book in 1859.
Another guru of self-improvement is French psychologist Émile Coué. In 1920, he introduced a method of psychotherapy based on optimistic auto-suggestions. Basically, Coué stressed repeating, at least 20 times daily, the suggestion, “Day by day, in every way, I’m getting better and better.” He believed that we all have the ability to cure ourselves of our troubles by changing our unconscious thought patterns. This mantra of the power of positive thinking is a common theme of self-help authors.
The Great Depression (1929-1941) was a time of economic and social crisis. It was in those dark times that Norman Vincent Peale brought his “power of positive thinking” to the public, initially through his radio broadcasts. Dale Carnegie introduced his book and seminars. “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” in 1936.
Kathy Caprino writes, “What the greatest self-help books of the last decade can teach you in 7 minutes,” (March 21) about themes which are reported in many self-help books. Caprino consulted with Sebastian Klein, co-founder of Blinkist. This Berlin-based website distills complex concepts from important books into accessible language. Klein condenses seven pieces of advice from self-help books to readers. One common refrain is that an individual needs to identify what he wants out of life. A special note here is that in a long-term study, psychologists found that people with goals for financial profit did not achieve the degree of happiness of those who cited intrinsic goals of personal development or helping others.
Another identified trend is mastery is getting things done, this is the “10,000 Hour Rule” (Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers”). In other words, hard work, which includes accepting failure and continuing to try, is the way to go. Promise No. 4 is to focus on MITS (Most Important Tasks First), suggested by Leo Babauta (“The Power of Loss”). A message here is never to start your day with emails.
Promise No. 5 is to live with the present, and don’t fret. Promise No. 6 is to get along with others and make good first impressions. Finally, No. 7 is to acknowledge your irrationality and learn to fight it. Having a good sense of humor helps.
Humans have been learning from the stories of others long before the written word. Bibliotherapy (“The Novel Cure A to Z of Literacy Remedies”) suggests that those seeking help read some of the classics to provide insight into their problems. For example, the book “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho is celebrating its 25th anniversary edition and is on the New York Times best seller list, having sold 65 million copies. This is a fable about a shepherd boy and his journey to seek a treasure. You’ll have to read the book to discover what kind of treasure.
(Dr. Donna Pinter is founder and director of Psychological Services, of Bloomsburg, Danville and Sunbury. “Slice of Life” appears on this page the first Sunday of each month.)
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