I'm not talknig about the stereotypical self-help books like, "How to medicate depression"
but rahter biographies of successful people or other compendiums of wisdom.
Because other people have been thinking about with much greater intensity about all the many ways one can approach one's self.
My experience with about 6 books of this flavor, like 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, is that the books really do have an impact on me.
I read the texts closely and I find so many little rules that apply to me.
Sure, not all of them are applicable. 7 Habits, for example, is by Stephen Covey who espouses a "principled-centered" living, and by "principle" he asks you to do the following exercise:
"Imagine your funeral and people are coming up to the rostram to describe you. What would you want people in various roles to say about you? What would you want your coworkers to say? What do you want your friends to say? What about your family?"
the problem I have with that is that it's a life that's lived solely from the perspective of others.
This can easily lead you into a sycophant, because people are really hard to satisfy.
Covey's also a Christian, and there are many Christian undertones in 7 Habits.
However, there are still plenty of good morsels of advice.
for example, the whole AA philosophy
(Alcoholics Anonymous)
which sez, "god grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the strength to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference"
Covey extrapolates that out with so much more though, with like ven diagrams, and it really drives the point home.
Then, when you read that, you start to introspect. I asked myself going through the first chapters, "do I expect too much out of myself? how can I change that?"
I consider myself an introspectus maximus. I really really want to make something out of this bucket of flesh.
and so it's just in general good advice to hear novel perspectives.
