Self Improvement Books Never Get Old

October 26, 2008

This is a syndicated guest post:

I was asked recently by someone, posting on my self  motivation blog, what were the best self motivational books that I  have read. Although there are several thousand of these books  published each year I have come to the conclusion that there is very little  that can be added to the many words of motivational wisdom that have  been written over the last century and a half.

From the early pioneers like Napoleon Hill to today’s monumental giants like Tony  Robbins it’s been said that we arrive on this  planet without an instruction manual. I think for that reason alone there  is not just a thirst for knowledge, but a greater need for a guide on how to survive life which drives the market for  the self-motivation books.

You don’t need to have suffered a deep psychological trauma to want to invest in one of these guides, but for those who say you can’t deal with serious issues like depression then I disagree. Where my own doctor and a clinical psychologist were unable to help me a number of the books on my all time classic list gave me the support to get my life back on track.

However, it’s not reading self motivational books that gets results. It’s taking action on the advice that is given therein. So my advice is read a small number of self help books, but take a lot of action if you want to significantly improve your life.

Can motivational books bring happiness? Now there is a million dollar question! This depends on your definition of happiness of course. Many people would define it as achieving a certain amount of wealth, however many wealthy people say that wealth in and of itself doesn’t bring happiness. Many wealthy people are very comfortable, generous, self confident, and are quite happy with their lives, but it’s not due to having wealth. It’s due to having their heads in the right place, perhaps because many of them have read and used these books.

The truth is that happiness is not a destination, it is more a state of continually striving to achieve goals, achieving them, and setting more goals to strive to achieve. If that’s your definition then I think self motivational books will help you and my list of all time classics have certainly helped me in that respect.

There are many out there who will disagree with my choice of self motivational books and have their own favorites all I can say  to them is that these are the ones that gave me the focus and the necessary poke in the ribs to take action and I still revisit them for ideas.

Syndicated courtesy of Syndicate Kahuna

Hi, nice to see you again!

Posted in Self Help