/shg/ Self-Help General

[Anonymous No.15583054]

Looking for /lit/ approved self-help books. What are you guys reading? I’m open to anything. I liked this book.

[Anonymous No.15583056]

I usually help myself by furiously masturbating

https://youtu.be/UdV9h1ZLxwI

[Anonymous No.15583060]

One simply does not read a book on communication.

[Anonymous No.15583072]

>>15583056
The only thing that helps with is your own destruction.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=hv-ODnbbP7U

[Anonymous No.15583647]

bump

[Anonymous No.15584007]

>>15583054
Self help is dumbed-down philosophy/esoterism.
Start with Joseph Campbell (as an initation to Jung ideas), then Jung himself, then Nietzshe, then you'll be able to pick books yourself.
The hero's journey is self-help for people with self-respect.

[Anonymous No.15584016]

>>15584007
Shut the fuck up pseudointellectual

[Anonymous No.15584034]

>>15583054

>the art of xyz

I hate these kind of books, especially for their titles. It's the kind of book a company gives to an employee for free - here, educate yourself, work on your social skills, sharpen your mind, develop the right attitude. the titles imply that it is a craft to learn, an art to master, but they're mostly humourless anecdotes mixed with some superficial scientific background, just enough plucked from acutal studies to make it sound like a magic recipe. the book equivalent of tabloid articles that imply that a cure for cancer has been found. laughable.

rather start with something applicable in every situation - like an ethical or moral framework (>the greeks). how to better oneself, how to handle situations, how to handle life, derive it from principles and values, rather than from what someone else dictates you to do. hell, even reading good fiction can give you an insight about life, at least a more last and more entertaining than self help books. that's my take, anon. do with it what you want.

[Anonymous No.15584079]

>>15584034
You’ve clearly never heard of the author or even read a synopsis on this book. It is not that kind of book at all. I’m so sick of you closed minded college aged know it alls. You don’t know shit.

[Anonymous No.15584122]

>>15584079

then change my mind. Tell me something about the book that is truly new, something fascinating a midwit like me would never think about.

>In this precise and practical guide, Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh reveals how to listen mindfully and express your fullest and most authentic self. With examples from his work with couples, families, and international conflicts, The Art of Communicating helps us move beyond the perils and frustrations of misrepresentation and misunderstanding to learn the listening and speaking skills that will forever change how we experience and impact the world.

this synopsis says nothing. just another storm of buzzwords.

[Anonymous No.15584165]

>>15584122
Adjust your self-importance pseud. “Intellectuals” such as yourself are a stain on all academics

[Anonymous No.15584207]

>>15584165
why the ad hominem, anon. change my mind if you think I am in the wrong.

[Anonymous No.15584243]

>>15584207
You aren’t open to change your mind.

[Anonymous No.15584324]

>>15584243
Nice communicating bro

[Anonymous No.15584345]

>>15584243
does the book say that? to assume which people are open to change your mind, and if they aren't, just end the discussion here and then. come on man. at least give me one lesson this book taught you.

[Anonymous No.15584454]

>>15584243
"In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change."
Thich Nhat Hanh

[Anonymous No.15584480]

>>15584454
did you also read the book or are you this anon >>15584243

[Anonymous No.15584501]

>>15584243

[Anonymous No.15584505]

>>15584480
Didn't read the book, but looked up quotes to get an idea, found this one, and figured I could throw it at anon's face.

[Anonymous No.15584514]

>>15584505
so you did not read the book and still supported a better notion of what the author meant that the anon that actually read it and just went full ad hominem on my critique on self help books. neat.

[Anonymous No.15584527]

>>15584514
ah, meant provided, not supported, sorry, english is not my first language and it's getting late here.

[Anonymous No.15584568]

>>15583054
Reading Picoeconomics in a Nutshell opened my eyes to how much hyperbolic discounting influences our behavior. The process of recursive self-prediction and the concept of bright lines, were particularly enlightening.

Another book, not really self-help but interesting nonetheless, is The Truth of Rebirth, by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. It convinced me (using a version of the Pascal's wager) of the existence of an afterlife, or at least to take such an existence as a working assumption.

Finally, the research of Piers Steel and others on the subject of utility (nicely implemented in this website: https://www.guidedtrack.com/programs/acyci4m/run)) was far more applicable than anything I've read in a self-help book.

[Anonymous No.15584682]

>>15584568
good post, not exactly self-help, or is it? checkin the stuff out, thanks anon

[Anonymous No.15585534]

>>15583054
Tolstoy

[Anonymous No.15587120]

>>15583054
Goggins - Can't hurt me is legit kino

[Anonymous No.15588344]

>>15587120
tell me what's kino about it. seems like this guy struggled through it all.

[Anonymous No.15588367]

>>15584243
So this is the power of Nhat Hanh's teachings™

[Anonymous No.15588387]

What if reading self-help books is a symptom on itself?

[Anonymous No.15588550]

>>15588387

care to elaborate more on this thought, anon?

[Anonymous No.15588722]

>>15588550
You know those people who always looking for advice and buy self-books? What if this behavior is just running away from actual change?

[Anonymous No.15588770]

>>15583054
I used to be a self-help junkie and I still read books like this for fun, just like you'd eat McDonalds every once in a while. That said, I've read dozens of them and the ones that pop up all the time (Miracle Morning, Seven Habits, Dale Carnegie stuff) can be summarized in a blog post. Really, find a free summary online and you won't miss anything. Most of the genre is fluff. That said, here are some suggestions:

>women
Sperm Wars
The Mystery Method
The Book of Pook
Double Your Dating (skim it but focus on the canned lines)
>socializing
The Story of My Life by Casanova (unironically /lit/ but read through the lines for applicable lessons in climbing social ladders)
Never Eat Alone
The Psychology of Selling
Influence by Cialdini
>motivation
No Excuses by Brian Tracy

As a general rule of thumb, if the book keeps yapping on about "mindset", it's shit. Self-improvement is all about taking action. The most important piece of advice in The Book of Pook to get women? "The average newbie will benefit more from a gym membership than from the latest seduction book." Best advice to become more social? Socialize. Read these kinds of books for the general framework and then figure it out as you go along.

[Anonymous No.15590239]

Is there such thing as a book made for the kind of people who are stuck so deep into pessimism that they believe that everything ultimately results in disappointment?

[FagwithanObjectivelyWrongAndSu(...) No.15590527]

>>15590239
Nope, you either gotta be willing to accept advice and unconditionally acknowledge that whatever others tell you to do is what you most certainly ought to be doing instead of what you believe sounds right, or not ask for advice at all.

[Anonymous No.15590880]

I don't read books from the self-help category.
I dislike how the authors generalise from their own experience and suppose that out of their experience, a universal advice applicable for everyone can arise.
>>15587120
This is probably the prime example of that.
Bonus point is that I will never believe Goggins actually wrote it himself. It's a ghostwritten book for a quick buck.

[Anonymous No.15591556]

Bros do you have a semi modern book that explains different kinds of meditation?
A lot of what I'm looking at looks like low quality stuff that pseuds sell to normies to make a quick buck
Please help

[Anonymous No.15592704]

>>15588770
Lit I been making Casanova threads and none of the nerds in here want to talk about it. Thats why most guys here are single.

[Anonymous No.15592786]

>>15592704
That's a shame Anon. His memoirs are worth reading. I love reading them when I'm travelling myself, it gets me in the right headspace. If I came across one of your threads I'd have contributed

[Anonymous No.15592801]

>>15584007
Meme response from someone who probably just started reading. You sound like a Jordan Peterson fanboy, unironically

[Anonymous No.15592818]

>>15591556
Not to burst your bubble but that is essentially what meditation is outside of practicing on your own, which I wouldn’t even recommend unless you are suffering a panic attack or disassociating from reality

[Anonymous No.15592835]

Self-help books will only make your problems worse by giving you made up solutions that will ultimately only disappoint you. You don’t need anyone else’s help to help yourself