Self-help books. Like 'em or hate 'em...? - 10/04/13 08:08 PM
About 20 years ago when I first came to New York, everybody was reading Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Successful People" and I had absolutely NO interest in reading it.
I was in my early 20s and thought self-help books were ridiculous and could not help anyone.
Than at 28 my husband and I discovered we were pregnant and my mother-in-law suggested I read up on the subject. So I started reading stuff like "What to Expect when You're Expecting" and a whole bunch of pregnancy books. These books scared the heck out of me! LOL...
Two years later I found myself a stay-at-home mom, pregnant again with a two year old. I was DESPERATE for some help. I found a book called "Baby Days" by Barbara Rowley (Jan 19, 2000) This book taught me how to do things like give my two year old son a keyboard that was not attached to anything so he could pretend to be on the computer to give me a few minutes so *I* could actually get on the computer. And lo and behold Rowley's advice worked. I could actually function again thanks to that book. I don't know what I would have done without her advice!
This was 2000. Then I began to read the work of Iyanla Vanzant and Steven Carter and others, but my reading was rather desultory at this point.
Then in 2005, I became the Life Coaching Editor here and I have been on a steady diet of self-help books for the last 8 years.
Last year I was at the eye doctors and my doctor said she could just never "get into" self-help books. I told her that I go through about 100 a year. (I don't read word for word 100 books a year, some I read portions of others I read the whole thing).
And she said: "Leah, nobody needs that much help!!!"
But I still feel like I've only just scratched the surface in my reading. The best is yet to come.
Any opinions? Self-help books. Like 'em or hate 'em...?
I was in my early 20s and thought self-help books were ridiculous and could not help anyone.
Than at 28 my husband and I discovered we were pregnant and my mother-in-law suggested I read up on the subject. So I started reading stuff like "What to Expect when You're Expecting" and a whole bunch of pregnancy books. These books scared the heck out of me! LOL...
Two years later I found myself a stay-at-home mom, pregnant again with a two year old. I was DESPERATE for some help. I found a book called "Baby Days" by Barbara Rowley (Jan 19, 2000) This book taught me how to do things like give my two year old son a keyboard that was not attached to anything so he could pretend to be on the computer to give me a few minutes so *I* could actually get on the computer. And lo and behold Rowley's advice worked. I could actually function again thanks to that book. I don't know what I would have done without her advice!
This was 2000. Then I began to read the work of Iyanla Vanzant and Steven Carter and others, but my reading was rather desultory at this point.
Then in 2005, I became the Life Coaching Editor here and I have been on a steady diet of self-help books for the last 8 years.
Last year I was at the eye doctors and my doctor said she could just never "get into" self-help books. I told her that I go through about 100 a year. (I don't read word for word 100 books a year, some I read portions of others I read the whole thing).
And she said: "Leah, nobody needs that much help!!!"
But I still feel like I've only just scratched the surface in my reading. The best is yet to come.
Any opinions? Self-help books. Like 'em or hate 'em...?