Self-help books

[Anonymous No.13216268]

Do they work at all? To me they seem like a waste of time but some people swear by them.
What are examples of good ones?

[Anonymous No.13216284]

>>13216268
I like Mark Manson's Models, but you could boil down the entire book to an essay

[Anonymous No.13216314]

>>13216284
What exactly did you gain from it? Can you say your life actually improved?

[Anonymous No.13216571]

>>13216284
second that in terms of helpfulness.
I felt the duration was ideal tho

[Anonymous No.13217503]

I've never found them useful. Usually, fiction can do more to help my mindset than self-help.

[Anonymous No.13217510]

How to make friends and influence people is the greatest piece of social engineering literature

[Anonymous No.13218805]

>>13217510
This. Really damn good book

[Anonymous No.13218839]

They are all shit. This is coming from a guy who spent 8 years reading them trust me don't waste your time

[Anonymous No.13219859]

They just make you feel like you are improving something, but it is a better investment to do pushups for whatever the amount of hours you spend reading someone else's drivel. Like literally anyone didn't manage to get where he is by RNG. Rich parents, chance events and shit, all their advice is useless because your life is way too idiosyncratic to use cookie cutter shit methods to get somewhere you wanna be.

[Anonymous No.13219862]

>>13216268
Have sex.

[Anonymous No.13219919]

this book is great also his 48 laws of powers

[Anonymous No.13219938]

Self help books aren't everything. They're not gonna magically change your life nor is it gonna the bane of your existence. Since the whole point of self help is application, the only way to know if it works is to work it in your life. Some works some won't, there's no one 'true' self help book. Like the other anon said
>>13217503, fiction also helps. Actually even non-fiction biography and autobiography works as well.
All in all, if you can apply it use it. If you can't don't bother. Although some self help books do give some insight on human behaviours and shit.

[Anonymous No.13219947]

Most self help books are just rich people telling poor people how to become rich just like them. Just work hard and don't give up :) Also be born in a very rich family and use their capital and connections to start a company. #Selfmade #bless

[Anonymous No.13220043]

A friend of mine red a bunch of self help/dating/social skills books in the last few years.
He acts like a fag now and only talks about his shitty self help authors.

[Anonymous No.13220058]

The book in the OP is a fucking joke, and most of what that author writes is bullshit. No, self-help books are no good, though it depends where you draw the line on self-help. Is reading Aristotle self-help? Then maybe it can be good.
If you want to learn anything, you go real life experiences > literature > theoretical works > fever dreams > self-help books. Self-help books aren't for idiots, exactly, but they're designed to give people a rush so that they read more self-help books. This is why you will see reviews like "BEST SELF-HELP BOOK EVER" and then you'll check that person's account and the other 50-100 books they've rated are all fucking self-help books. It's like watching a feelgood movie, nothing more.

[Anonymous No.13221209]

David Goggins' "Can't hurt me" is a very good one I highly recommend. It's about a person that came from nothing and actually very harsh circumstances and overcame all through perseverance and discipline. Very inspiring and doesn't have the usual self-help cliches you'd expect.

[Anonymous No.13221239]

99% of self-help books are watered-down Stoicism. Just read the Stoics.

[Anonymous No.13221352]

>>13221239
Based. Stoicism has changed my life dramatically, main exponent has been Marcus Aurelius in my case - but now I’d like to delve a little deeper into the actual philosophical basis of it, not so much into the moral, beliefs and overall lifestyle it depicts and promotes but actual arguments in favour (or against) said school. Any recommendation will be greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous No.13222768]

Self help books aren't a thing of "it works or it doesn't". The thing is that nobody that should read them applies the teachings in real life, so they turn to say it's a waste of time. It kinda is a waste of time, if you just went and get a "just do it" attitude you'd have better results than reading a book, but that's the hardest part, so people resort to buying books to tell themselves they're getting helped.

[Anonymous No.13222940]

>>13216268
You need to be careful about people who 'swear by' things. People often see what they want to see.

However, I think some of the derision directed at self help is unfair. After all, isn't one of the main reasons we read books (particularly philosophy) to help ourselves? Should we not expect or want things from books that change our lives in a positive way?

I've read numerous self help books, and while many are unhelpful and essentially boil down to 'just try hard bro' the better ones understand the nature of the mind.
Specifically they understand that the mind is a machine that can be programmed and reprogrammed with a little bit of effort.
I am a big fan of Scott Adams book 'How to fail at everything and still win big' which has a surprising amount of wisdom and is actually very similar to Nassim Taleb's work.
I also think self help books concerning social skills and communication are useful. Dale Carnegie has already been mentioned positiviley here, and he's a great place to start. I think Robert Cialdini's work is a good place to go onto afterwards.
In terms of pic related, from my own experience reading a book or two on pickup isn't a bad idea, even if you don't want to bang loads of women. Some of the better ones grasp some fundamental aspects of relationship dynamics and are useful even in a non romantic context.
Those are my two cents. I hope you are able to find books that have a positive impact on your life anon.

[Anonymous No.13223234]

>>13219947
>Just work hard and don't give up :)
I fucking hate this because after 7 years of working hard I am perfectly aware that it's impossible if you're not in the right spot but I am so addicted and so deep into the pit I dug myself into that I cannot stop.

[Anonymous No.13223384]

Was their intention to make the cover look like a pussy?

[Anonymous No.13223388]

only one that's done anything for me.

[Anonymous No.13223773]

>>13216268
anyone got a link to download Deep Work?

[Anonymous No.13224702]

>>13223773
It's really not worth reading past the table of contents.

[Anonymous No.13224802]

>>13216268
Power of Now
Psycho-Cybernetics