Just Can't Help Yourself
There was a time years ago where I used to obsess over self-help books and the methods or techniques they'd spout. I'm talking about daily reading for 'fun' and filling my head with as much as I could. This went on for a couple of years when I was at the tender age of 20.
Looking back at the time, I was in great shape, doing well at my job, and somewhat striving. Even though this was the case other factors of my life were lacking attention and eventually this burst of success turned into an intense downward spiral.
I'm not saying that the obsessive nature of the self-help material was a critical part to blame for the decline but it didn't exactly help matters when the time for change rolled around.
More than anything it made the effort for getting out of the rut more complicated. With all of this information whizzing round in my head it became a barrier that would lead me to overthinking the simplest of things. When I look back at the time now, I realise that I could have started some processes earlier by talking things out with somebody in a professional setting. No biases involved.
Nevertheless, the usual cliche always applies. I wouldn't be where I am now with what I know now yadda yadda yadda.
Strings of decisions can branch out from the main trunk of a problem which begin to cast a shadow over your overall growth. Everyone has different ways of approaching decisions in their life and what works for one may not for another. The roots begin somewhere and have their influences.
I'm not going to sit here and say that self-help material is not beneficial in some way since it has its merits when it can be applied practically, or if it allows for a change in behaviour through insights. I just think it is wise to know that it can become more of danger when it's sought after in excess. Kind of ironic really.
These days I avoid what I can when it comes to self-help reading but I do stumble into helpful insights from people on occasion. I much prefer to read fictional works now and I try my best to find the meaning and wisdom behind the words that the author has shared.
My favourite author of all time is Irvine Welsh; I've been reading his books for years now. I'm picking up classic books when I can since my range is minuscule when it comes to literature.
Any recommendations are appreciated.
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I haven't picked up a book in quite a while now. I may need to carve out some time from all the reading and learning that I do every day thanks to the Hive ecosystem and find a good book. :)
It's a nice change of pace from time to time instead of looking at a screen lol. There are plenty of good reads on Hive though so it's not too hard to get a good fiction-based hit of reading on the block. Sometimes all the technical stuff can get draining.
I get that. I've pretty much spent the last three plus months mostly on Leo Finance trying to learn and earn some crypto. PoB came along at the right time for me. :)
Good to hear, Leo is definitely the place to be for learning about the space in my opinion. The authors over there are spot on.
Me too, I came back to the blockchain after an extended break a couple of weeks ago and fell into the PoB community after reading a post my friend re-blogged. Nice happy accident!
One year, I chose to read only books by women authors. That constraint opened my understanding and empathy more than any self-help book. For fiction, I recommend Toni Morrison and Ursula K Le Guin. For non-fiction/essay, I highly recommend Rebecca Solnit (Wanderlust: The History of Walking is top notch) and Annie Dillard. For poetry, Mary Oliver delivers amazing poignancy.
That's an interesting decision you made, what led you to choose to only read books by women authors?
Thank you very much for the recommendations, I've saved their names in my note app for my next book buying spree.
I was talking with some friends about reading and diversity, and realized that most of my reading (75% or so) was authored by men. Seeing that I realized I was missing out on other perspectives.
So I chose women, and it was some of the most fulfilling reading I've done.
It sounds like quite the revelation. Weirdly enough, 90% of the books on my shelf are all by male authors.
I'm at around 65% male; I haven't done a full inventory of how diverse my authors are (I did spend a winter reading only Sci-Fi and Fantasy by non-white folk; that too was revelatory).