YOU are the best self help author when it comes to living your life!
Well, that's what I think anyway!
Having said that, we could all do with a little help and guidance from
time to time. So who best to turn to than self help gurus like Paul McKenna,
Deepak Chopra, Eckart Tolle, Thich Nhat Hanh Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy,
Dale Carnegie, Dr. Steven Covey, Jim Rohn, Mark Victor Hansen, Dr Richard
Carlson, Robert T Kiyosaki, Ken Wilber, A Maslow, Helen Keller?...
(And this is just a short list(!) of self-help gurus - authors
I have some experience of.)
Below you will find my (and hopefully your) opinion on a few of the popular
self help authors, together with an inspirational quote of theirs and
a link to their respective self-help
websites. Hey, just how much more help do you need!? ;-)
Self help authors - what I say...
I have read enough material of the following self help authors to be
able to have an opinion on them. I make no claims as to who is the best
self-help guru, or who provides the best self help information (remember:
YOU are the best self help author, when it comes to your life - don't
you think?) - I will leave that up to you (why not check out the free
self help information these gurus provide to help you decide?). I simply
state that I have read one of their books, or listened to/watched/read
some of their self help resources.
Paul rose to fame in UK as an entertaining TV hypnotist. He soon changed
focus, though, when he realised the potential of reprogramming your
mind as a self-improvement
tool. (I believe Paul has experience of Neuro Linguistic Programming
(NLP).) Paul's several books focus on classic self-help themes: weight-loss,
self-confidence, wealth, love - and most include a free 'reprogramming'
CD.
My verdict: recommended reading, but you might not finish the
book! :-O (Your verdict?)
I first found out about Napoleon Hill when I read his inspirational
book, Think and Grow Rich: a book about the power of your thoughts
to create your own reality. I had never quite understood that everything
that happens to me is a result of my thoughts until I read this book.
It's not about getting wealthy rich, particularly (though he does explain
the types of things that you have to do to get wealthy rich), but more
about a richness that I shall define simply as being 'better' or 'more'
or being as great as you can be. Think
and Grow Rich is free if you know where to look, too.
"Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination
for success."
-- Napoleon Hill (More self-help quotations
here!)
Eckart Tolle is less a self-help guru and more a spiritual leader. Even
then, he probably does not consider himself to be guru or leader, merely
a man who experiences presence - experiencing the power of now - more
than most of us do. Yes, Eckart Tolle came to prominence from writing
The Power of Now. And later books like Stillness Speaks
and A New Earth continue the themes of ego, pain-body and presence
developed in The Power of Now.
"I cannot tell you any spiritual truth that deep within you
don't know already. All I can do is remind you of what you have forgotten"
-- Eckhart Tolle (More
Eckhart Tolle quotes!)
My verdict: if you truly 'get' what Eckhart is saying and simply
be, then all other self-help authors are redundant - you will
have no problems! (Your verdict?)
I read Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People
when I was quite young and before I was aware of the self-help industry,
before I was aware of 'self-help'. I guess I wanted to win friends and
influence people. And I guess it didn't work for me, mainly because
I don't think I was ready to hear what Dale had to say - I wasn't self-aware
enough. Still, I do recommend you read that book as it contains much
wisdom. (I think I should read it again, too.)
"We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-instead
of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today."
-- Dale Carnegie (More inspirational
quotations here!)
DR Carlson (recently deceased, sadly) is famous for writing Don't
Sweat the Small Stuff . I haven't read this book, preferring instead
to discover Richard's wisdom from his day-to-day calendar of the same
name. And it's from these words of wisdom that I receive every day that
I can respect Richard's self-help message to the world: don't sweat
the small stuff - and it really is all small stuff!
"We all have events from our past that haunt us as they reemerge
as thoughts disguised as the real thing. Keep in mind the idea that
thoughts can't hurt us without our consent" (More
self-help quotations here!)
My verdict: a self-help practitioner for the 21st Century and
sadly missed! (Your verdict?)
More self-help authors I like the sound of and whose words appear
on the Self Help Collective:
Reading the many self-help
books that I have over the years I am struck by one (I think comforting)
thought: they all say the same thing - they just say it with a
different voice!
Anyway...
Self help authors - what YOU say...
Okay, this isn't what you - the person reading this page right now -
says exactly (though it could be: get in touch
about your favourite self help authors!) - but it is what you, the
readers of popular self help books, say. These self-help authors below
are some of the most successful self help authors in the world. I have
not read their books (yet), but I have read quotations from them, so I
thought I would list them, briefly, anyway.
Popular self-help authors:
Deepak Chopra
("One of the world's greatest leaders in the field of mind body
medicine")
Brian Tracy "Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything
that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward
achieving something bigger and better than your current situation."
(More self-help quotes)
Dr. Steven
Covey "Without involvement, there is no commitment. Mark it down,
asterisk it, circle it, underline it. No involvement, no commitment."
(More self-help quotes)
Jim Rohn "To solve any problem, here are three questions to ask yourself:
First, what could I do? Second, what could I read? And third, who could
I ask?" (More self-help
quotes)
Robert T Kiyosaki
(The Rich Dad Poor Dad guy) "One of the main reasons people are not rich is that they worry
too much about things that might never happen." (More inspirational
quotes)
Ken Wilber
(Leading thinker and self-help/spiritual author)
A
Maslow (NLP guru with a wide influence on self-help as it is taught
today)
Helen Keller (focussed
now on helping the world rather than the self, it seems) "Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of
the overcoming of it." (More inspirational
quotes)
Hey, don't take my word for it, regarding self help gurus and all things
self help improvement
- Google knows a thing or two, too:
Self-help
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Commentators have criticised self-help books for containing pseudo-scientific
assertions that tend to mislead the consumer, and many different authors
have..."
Self-Help
at AuthorsDen
"Featured Self-help Book Authors All Self-help Authors .... One
of the great pleasures in my life is to help others find their pathway
in life."
