The charm of fools

Some days ago, I was talking to a friend who loves reading and has knowledge which can be shared. I advised her to start a blog but she said it’s difficult for her. I asked why? She said that it is not easy for her to share her personal experiences which I mostly and openly share. She said that I write personal posts. I wrote about my depression. I wrote about my good days and bad days. I wrote about getting a job at startup. She says I write well but not everyone is willing to share their experiences. I think this has something to do with the self-help books we see in the markets. I believe self-help books are mostly some idealist shit written and sold by fraud salesmen. I’ll explain my point.

There are two type of writers who write self-help books — idealists and realists.

Idealists are the writers who write those “How to become X” books where they will establish themselves as know-it-all experts who have the native right to guide you through the process. They will write those long list posts, “20 things that will change your life.”, “5 tips to become happy again.” I’ve heard many people saying that these motivational posts, books or podcasts don’t last long. Most of us have read self-help posts and books but have we really applied all those tips? Nope. They become like that New Year Resolution which we follow for some days and then forget about it. Major problem with idealists is they completely bounce off realism and write the same shit again and again. Be focused. Work hard. Be determined. We all know that. We’ve read about them a lot of times. People fail to relate to the idealist posts.

Realists are the writers I admire. They don’t give you straight tips you already know. Do or die. Instead, they share their honest experiences. Tips they tried. Did they worked? Did they failed? Things that made them possible. Instances from lives of people who are admired by millions and realistic reasons why they became what they’re today.

I’ll share one example. There are two popular writers on Medium, James Altucher and Benjamin Hardy.

Benjamin Hardy usually writes idealist posts like “15 things insanely productive people do.” Insanely productive people do this, do that. What I hate the most about such posts is that they outcast the productive people as some perfect beings while ignoring the fact that everyone has flaws and these people have worked their ass off to reach those heights. A man once asked Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales why is he so perfect? He replied that the man must ask his mom who will prove him wrong. Everyone has flaws. There is always someone better than you in this world somewhere.

James Altucher writes realist books and posts which have been loved by millions. He does not give vague advises but shares his experiences when he tried those advises himself and how they worked for him.

This is a major difference between these two types of writers. It is easy to give advice to someone else but difficult to implement ourselves. Readers connect more to experiences than third-person advises.