Self-help isn’t a simple one-size-fits-all.
There’s a popular notion in the self-development space that demands you read some form of 'self-help’ every day, be it in the form of an article, a book, or a podcast in order to invest in bettering yourself.
However, recently I’ve come to a realization that too much of a single genre can paralyze us with unactionable intelligence.
When reading a self-help book, it is us who decide whether or not to do something with it. And usually, we don't.
Most of the information in these books is repetitive and repackaged (and in many cases blatantly obvious)
Think of it like an ‘old wine in a new bottle’.
We keep on reading these books in the quest of finding enlightenment, that ‘ light bulb moment.’
The fact of the matter, however, is that reading will only keep you informed. It won’t change your life.
These books provide us with the dopamine high we crave, not actionable advice. The act of finishing such books and the superiority complex they provide us with is short-lived and addictive.
Often, being knowledgeable about something singular isn’t half as useful as it may be to have a decent awareness of a plethora of subjects.
I kept always two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in.
- Robert Louis Stevenson
Over the past month, I’ve been reading a lot of Japanese, French, and Classical literature.
They have introduced me to the works and ideas of philosophers such as Diogenes, nihilists like Nietzche and Camus, and austere patriots like Mishima.
These books, unlike I had imagined, have had quite a profound impact on my thoughts and decisions.
I never hold myself accountable for reading every day.
Holding yourself accountable for reading makes it a chore, something it isn’t meant to be.
I thought I’d leave you with a list of books I’ve read recently (or am going to be reading in the near future) :
- The Wealth of Nations - Adam Smith
- The stranger - Albert Camus
- The sailor that fell from grace with the sea - Yukio Mishima
- Beyond Good and Evil- Nietzche
- Kafka on the shore - Murakami
- Convenience store woman - Sayaka Murata
- Before the coffee gets cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi
- Normal people - Sally Rooney
- The myth of Sisyphus (essay) - Albert Camus
- Inferno - Dante Alighieri
- Crime and punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes
I leave you with a suggestion, ditch the self-help books.
“I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Take care
See you next week!
with love,
:)
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