Life Improvement Without Self-Help Books
Find out what works best for you.
Self-help books can be frustrating. They often feel like the same book with different titles, and I understand your desire to find answers a different way. I have read at least a dozen at this point and feel as though I could summarize a million words in less than 3,000. I suppose that shows they have value but do fail at getting to the point.
Let Me Get to The Point
I would argue that most of the answers you’re looking for in your life could be done with only one method.
The Scientific Method (Kind Of)
- Observe an issue in your life.
- Make an educated guess as to what would fix the issue in your life based on what you know feels good or is common sense.
- Use notes on your phone or write down a plan to implement what you think would make you feel better. Change nothing else in your life if you can.
- Write down how things changed or didn’t change. Observe how you feel currently.
- Write down how you think the experiment helped you and what you found improved.
6. Look at your results and adopt the change into your life or quit it and try again.
Personal Notes and Experiences
I started doing this shortly after the start of 2020. At the time my anxiety was in a bad place, and I had a lot of issues in my life. My journey started with self-help books. So immediately I found myself reading a lot of Tony Robbins quotes. However, I learned quickly that those who had information to contribute found it on their own with trial and error. I took that knowledge and approached it in a way of thinking that made the most sense to me to find the solution.
This method is slow and takes a lot of time. It requires you to be very aware of yourself. But it’s also a great idea to ask others close to you what they think would make you happy. You may be surprised with the wisdom others have with regards to your own happiness.
I do believe you can utilize only this method; However, I suggest that you pair this with research. You could use self-help books, or you could also use google scholar and find research trails that support ways to treat mental health, goal success, or any of the hundreds of ways you could be trying to improve yourself.
Final Thoughts
It’s important in life to find information from lots of different sources. This provides an important balance. Even sources with opposing views offer insights that you may have never concluded without their thoughts on the topic. You may even change your prospective.
Be patient and make one small choice at a time. This will result in you quickly finding yourself in a better place.
