Ponderings in a corner of the universe

Self Help Books Vs. Books on Core Development

In my comments previously on Steven Covey's "7 habits of highly effective people" I mention how the book is a revelation.

I had a similar feeling when reading Dale Carneigie's "How to win friends and influence people".

I've never enjoyed a pursuit of so-called "self help" books and I'd stil stand by this. So why am I enjoying books that could be categorized as such and what's my take on why reading the above books, and perhaps even others along the same tracts doesn't fall into what I'd categories as "self help"?

Like much of the population I consider myself as a learner. I would like to think that I will continue learning each and every day. "Every day's a school day" I've been heard to mutter on more than one occasion. Yet I'm not into "self help" books. From my perspective many such books might have the a tack that is intent on personal gain in a particular area or on overcoming negative aspects to ones personality. My interest is fundamental. Again as I'm sure it is with many people. Therefore I wish to read, to learn and to study concepts which can continue to aid me in the development of my foundation, in the clarification of my core principles and in my the core of who I am.

So the 2 books mentioned above appeal to me on that front - as I'm sure they do the millions of others who have read them. HTWF&IP was a more chatty book. It was more focused on the soft skills of dealing with people and dealing with yourself in the context of other people. 7 habits is more of conceptual framework for developing your core and your external interaction... I have finished the first but not the second so the jury is still out.

PS: Another interesting thought on the 'self help' books rather than the 'core development books' is the human trend to compartmentalize things - and life in general. We do this with the left hand side of our brain to make sense of things. It is not entirely negative but like many things in life needs to be maintained in harmony with the big picture, incidentaly managed by the right hand side of the brain. I categorized these two types and was perhaps negative to one side... as I said this last paragraph is just an interesting thought and doesn't go to explain allot, it does however illustrate a little how the human brain works :-)

posted by Matthew Woodget @ 8:44 AM