Anybody ever read any worthwhile self-help books? The genre is unfamiliar to me, and it gets trashed a lot, but there must be some good stuff out there.
I picked up an audio CD of "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" that somebody was throwing away and started listening to it while doing the dishes. It didn't seem great.
Quote from: Capetan Mihali on August 21, 2012, 02:53:32 PM
Anybody ever read any worthwhile self-help books? The genre is unfamiliar to me, and it gets trashed a lot, but there must be some good stuff out there.
I picked up an audio CD of "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" that somebody was throwing away and started listening to it while doing the dishes. It didn't seem great.
They're a great way for the author to help themselves.
Mystery Method?
Just kidding. :P
The whole genre seems awash with low-quality bilious crap. I mean, The Secret? Really.
A long time ago a friend gave me a copy of What Color is Your Parachute. I got to the part where it asks you to make a list of the things you enjoy doing most (around page 3) and chucked it.
I found Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, to be helpful. No, really.
Quote from: Barrister on August 21, 2012, 04:58:54 PM
I found Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, to be helpful. No, really.
Me too. But it's not a self help book.
I had a copy of "How to make friends and influence people". I didn't get it.
Quote from: Capetan Mihali on August 21, 2012, 02:53:32 PM
Anybody ever read any worthwhile self-help books? The genre is unfamiliar to me, and it gets trashed a lot, but there must be some good stuff out there.
What kind of "self-help" are you looking for? Relationships? Career? Mazlowesque self-actualization?
Quote from: CountDeMoney on August 21, 2012, 09:50:50 PM
Quote from: Capetan Mihali on August 21, 2012, 02:53:32 PM
Anybody ever read any worthwhile self-help books? The genre is unfamiliar to me, and it gets trashed a lot, but there must be some good stuff out there.
What kind of "self-help" are you looking for? Relationships? Career? Mazlowesque self-actualization?
Careful CM...CdM probably thinks "50 Shades of Grey" was a self-help book. :P
Quote from: Tonitrus on August 21, 2012, 09:59:09 PM
Careful CM...CdM probably thinks "50 Shades of Grey" was a self-help book. :P
Oh, bullshit.
It's an instructional field manual. You know that.
Quote from: Tonitrus on August 21, 2012, 09:59:09 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on August 21, 2012, 09:50:50 PM
Quote from: Capetan Mihali on August 21, 2012, 02:53:32 PM
Anybody ever read any worthwhile self-help books? The genre is unfamiliar to me, and it gets trashed a lot, but there must be some good stuff out there.
What kind of "self-help" are you looking for? Relationships? Career? Mazlowesque self-actualization?
Careful CM...CdM probably thinks "50 Shades of Grey" was a self-help book. :P
i was on the subway today and i saw some chick reading that. My first thought was what the reaction would be if a guy was "reading" a playboy on the train. my second thought was, do people still even buy playboys?
Quote from: HVC on August 21, 2012, 10:11:41 PM
i was on the subway today and i saw some chick reading that. My first thought was what the reaction would be if a guy was "reading" a playboy on the train. my second thought was, do people still even buy playboys?
Playboy isn't hardcore enough of an equivalent.
Should've asked her out.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on August 21, 2012, 10:40:13 PM
Quote from: HVC on August 21, 2012, 10:11:41 PM
i was on the subway today and i saw some chick reading that. My first thought was what the reaction would be if a guy was "reading" a playboy on the train. my second thought was, do people still even buy playboys?
Playboy isn't hardcore enough of an equivalent.
Should've asked her out.
yeah, she'd have a hard time finding someone to whip her, if you know what I mean.
Plus her "No Eggplants Allowed" shirt was off-putting.
Quote from: Razgovory on August 21, 2012, 05:33:57 PM
I had a copy of "How to make friends and influence people". I didn't get it.
:lol:
The Bible is the only self-help book you need.
Quote from: Phillip V on August 22, 2012, 12:22:33 AM
The Bible is the only self-help book you need.
that's a depressing self help book. Basically whatever you do you're doing it wrong and going to hell because of it :lol:
The only self-help book I ever read was a downloaded PDF. "How to immediately connect with everyone." It gave mostly some pseudo-psychological stuff about how to look at people and secret handshakes that had impressed the author in the past. The most valuable insight (with a major "No shit, Sherlock" factor) was to be sympathetic to people and make them talk about themselves while making them feel you're interested in what they're saying/doing.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on August 21, 2012, 09:50:50 PM
What kind of "self-help" are you looking for? Relationships? Career? Mazlowesque self-actualization?
I dunno...I guess I need a book to help me figure that out. :(
Never. In fact I'm reading Francis Wheen's "How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered The World" and it devotes a whole chapter to the god-awful claptrap that is self-help books.
The closest I've come to a self-help book is probably "Eats Shoots and Leaves", which at least injected clarity into my punctuation life.
It might be interesting to read the Samuel Smiles book :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Help_%28book%29
I daresay you can get it free as well.
How to make friends and influence people rather helped me.
Quote from: Tyr on August 22, 2012, 04:16:40 AM
How to make friends and influence people rather helped me.
Not sure if serious.
Quote from: Martinus on August 22, 2012, 04:50:56 AM
Quote from: Tyr on August 22, 2012, 04:16:40 AM
How to make friends and influence people rather helped me.
Not sure if serious.
Yeah, serious. I was rather socially retarded back when I was a teen.
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on August 22, 2012, 03:43:11 AM
I daresay you can get it free as well.
Knock yourself out:
http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=297&Itemid=27 (http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=297&Itemid=27)