The Self-Help Delusion

"Self-Help" a phrase that has lost its original meaning only to be replaced by a mirage. A lie. Maybe if I read one more book, or stay up reading one more blog post, then I'll know the secret. Then the stars will align. Then I can act.

Bullshit.

There's a reason that it's called "self" help.  You are the one who has to actually do the work. It can only come from within.

You are the "self" in "self help".

It's so easy to treat that phrase like a magical incantation, rather than the cold hard description that it is. It's a thought terminating cliche. A pretentious dodge. The smart man's way to pussy out without realizing that he's being a pussy. It's not "selfhelp". It's "help" you do by and for "yourself".

These books are not the solution to your problem, they are your problem. No amount of reading and preparation can replace action. I know, because I've been reading "self help" books for several years now, and guess what, nobody has come to rescue me.

All the time spent reading and preparing is little better than watching TV. Either way you're sitting on your butt not changing the world. Like any addicting substance, these books offer one thing and deliver another. They haven't freed you, they've trapped you.

"Just one more "hit" of motivation. That's all I need. Then I'll be ready to do something." More bullshit.

You are empowered the very moment you decide to claim your power to act. (It's what I'm doing right now.) You must help yourself, because you are the only one who can do it.

A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week. -- General Patton

Nothing else matters if you don't take action, so put the book down and get to work.