Real life experience is far better than most self-help books. It seems that when I read self-help books, I become addicted to the happiness (or whatever) formula they offer. It seems that if I follow the 7 steps towards happiness, one day I’ll be happy. But you know what? It’s BS. Despite you need inspiration to improve your life, self-help books can’t offer you the right tools you need to deal with your life. Why? Because each one is different and each situation is different. You’ll reap more results if you have a real-life person to guide you. It’ll provide you a real-life experience. But there’s one alert: you need to feel if the person you’re asking help or advice wants really to help you or have the knowledge or background to help you.
And there is another factor. People who sell self-help books want to sell their products, so they do whatever is needed for it to happen.
I still think that it’s okay to read some psychology theories on how to improve your life or have the right mindset, but you need to be picky. A good book is Mindset by Carol Dweck. She has a TED Talk about her mindset theory and it’s worthy to watch it and share some thoughts with your friends and likeminded people. Anyway, you should trust on your faculties more than on a single theory.
Self-help books may seem a good idea, but just until they ask to read more self-help books.
You have a point @DelusionalSoldier, but there’s a saying that goes; “A fool learns from his own mistakes, while a wise man learns from other people’s mistakes”. Forgot the source.
Good point, @DNA. But as I said, a self-help book may not teach you everything you need. Sometimes you need another person with life experience (that made some mistakes in life and learned with them) to guide you in your journey.