Member-only story
Is Self-help a Scam?
It’s Not…when you use it properly
About 20 years ago I bought my first self-help book. Back then, the genre was pejoratively referred to as “Pop Psychology” and it wasn’t as popular or socially acceptable as it is now.
The book was “Choosing Success. Transactional analysis on the Job” by Dorothy Jongeward. I read it secretly. I would have been too embarrassed to be caught reading that kind of book. I could only imagine the comments of my mates: ”Oh You want to be Mr successful, I hope you remember us when you become a big shot” and things like that. That is one of the big barriers to personal development: your social circle. But more on that later.
I read the book with a mixture of curiosity and skepticism. It was great, it opened my eyes to several self-imposed obstacles that we all use to sabotage ourselves.
It could have been because I was young and impressionable, or because it was my first book on that subject, or because it is a good book, the thing is it made a great mark on me.
I was transformed overnight; I became focussed, determined, aware, sociable, optimistic and confident. I set up goals and I achieved them in no time. I was on a roll. Nothing was going to stop me!
That lasted for about 3 months.
