/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.23302876]

>Self-help books don't do anything! It's all placebo!
Bro, it's called "self" help and "self" development. They're not supposed to do the actual work for you. They're supposed to reorient you in the right direction so you can then go do it yourself.

[Anonymous No.23303099]

>>23302876
It's not about them not doing anything, the advice is usually bad and 99% of the times boils down to literally coping. suppression of emotion, denying feelings, faking confidence, etc. Like how many self books say shit like "forgive your parents, they were trying their best" or treat anger like it's always a negative emotion. Completely disconnected and disillusioned from the fact that feelings are real.

Mostly unhealthy advice that only works outwardly and turns you into a fraudulent person with no identity. The most you can get out of self help books is shit like

>eat a good diet
>go to the gym
>read and use your phone less
>develop a skill

which is shit EVERYONE knows

[Anonymous No.23303124]

>>23303099
How do you know that it isn't good to do those things?

[Anonymous No.23303444]

>>23302876
robert kiyosaki is a well known literal grifting shitbag and his book is a meme. atomic habits actually has useful information in it.

[Anonymous No.23303459]

I read Rich Dad Poor Dad recently. I honestly think this was the most non-book book I've read. It's for people who actually, legitimately, don't know stocks and other assets exists. He doesn't say much, all he says is to be more daring with your approach to earning money.

Isn't Napoleon Hill also a fraud? I don't know about atomic habits but 7 habits of effective people is decent enough for some people to get a start on not being retarded with their lives.

[Anonymous No.23303484]

>>23302876
Most of these books are just marketing traps along with the genre as a whole.

The most popular of these rehash things that are well known in a popular and easy to read format. If anything the outcome of being into these books is that you will continue to purchase more while not changing anything meaningful about your life.

[Anonynous No.23303493]

>>23303459
>writing an overrated beginner book for newfags is the same as being a fraud.
Sorry he didn't write the fucking Bible, anon, but I think everyone else who read it got what they paid for, and if they were intelligent enough to understand a detailed book on stocks they moved on to such a book afterwards.

[Anonymous No.23303495]

>>23303459
think and grow was instrumental in my mental health treatment.

my therapist gave me his copy, that he recieved as a gift from his son. signed by his son and everything.

the advice in the book paralelled what the therapist was trying to work into me.

mostly self image stuff and valuing other people. which might seem obvious and useless, but people who discount self help books fail to consider that many people simply do not possess the same base assumptions as them. they do not know the lessons they have already learned.

[Anonymous No.23303503]

>>23303493
You're putting words into my mouth. I didn't claim he was a fraud, that was for Napoleon Hill. Why are you being so defensive?

[Anonymous No.23303512]

>26 books

[Anonynous No.23303518]

>>23303459
>I read Rich Dad Poor Dad recently. I honestly think this was the most non-book book I've read. It's for people who actually, legitimately, don't know stocks and other assets exists. He doesn't say much, all he says is to be more daring with your approach to earning money.
>Isn't Napoleon Hill also a fraud?

>also
By my reading
>implying something mentioned earlier was a fraud
Perhaps you met Napolean Hill, in addition to some other negative characteristic is also fraudulent, in which case my bad.
>>23303503
>Why are you being so defensive?
Because I only ever read half his book, but my dad's a fan and I feel like most self help hate is some mixture of crabs in a bucket, and conflation of honest halfway decent bookpeddlers with "HUGE DISCOUNT 8 WEEK COURSE" upsell conmen the likes of which flood YouTube.

[Anonymous No.23303523]

>>23303099
>learn to move on and control your emotions or remain an angry baby crying about mommy on reddit
Sounds like good advice to me.

[Anonymous No.23303868]

Comfiest self help book

[Anonymous No.23303873]

>>23302876
you don't need any book for that type of shallow self-development. it's a deep illusion and cope.

[Anonymous No.23304118]

Obesity Code and Simple Path to Wealth were pretty good. Deep Work was literally just don't be distracted lol. 12 week year is useful and has been helpful for planning but just spark notes that shit, it's boring and padded to hell and back. Everything else has just been multiple shades of mediocre.

[Anonymous No.23304237]

>>23302876
if they work for you, then they are good. if you are stuck in a rut sometimes you just need someone to encourage you, and it's kind of a blessing that this can happen through a book. a good plan is better than no plan, and sometimes you just need some kind of framework to get you going.
greek philosophy was in part the self-help of it's day, unironically.

i read one of these kinds of books when i was young. if i went back and read it, it probably was all bullshit. but it opened up my thinking that it was possible to achieve things and go far in life. this was not something i really comprehended before that. i grew up only seeing people who failed to achieve anything, what else could i expect from myself?

[Anonymous No.23304526]

>>23304237
I think motivational shit is useful especially if you're trying to break the cycle of past family failings. It's the manipulative boss bitch trash that you have to watch out for. Sadly it's the vast majority of self help books.

[Anonynous No.23305379]

>>23304526
Recc me some boss bitch kinos

[Anonymous No.23305408]

>>23302876
The Speed of Trust was recommended to me by a really high speed dude, it helped me outline my strengths. Its in bullet paragraph format - you can jump to any part of the book, very practical.

[Anonymous No.23305565]

>>23302876
There are good ones - those that present cognitive behavioral therapy and Buddhist stuff in an accessible form. That shit actually works. If you are looking at selfhelp, you likely lack the confidence to tackle these two subjects right away. So selfhelp can get you out of the rut and then you're on your way. Soon, you'll be reading Nietzsche and Machiavelli, becoming the asshole you were always meant to be.

[Anonymous No.23306004]

>>23302876
Atomic Habits is legitimately dogshit and half of it is filler. Tiny Habits does everything better. I get irrationally pissed off when anyone mentions it because I think it's one of the worst books ever written purely because there's another book that does everything it does but significantly better. He stole all of BJ Fogg's ideas and just explained them in a worse way. I hate that it's the mainstream self help book. Fuck Atomic Habits and fuck James Clear.