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I remember a quote from some movie i don't really remember which said " If you can't help yourself, Self-Help Books can't really Help you". I have always felt,

by azharcs 18y ago

I remember a quote from some movie i don't really remember which said " If you can't help yourself, Self-Help Books can't really Help you". I have always felt, self-help books are a big sham. First the mainstream media convinces you that you are a loser by showing people younger and dumber than you having more money. Once you go into the loser phase, some smart idiot who has inherited millions of dollars, who has never seen poverty writes a book which teaches you how to get rich. Are we humans so naive now that we have started reading books which teach us how to become rich. I don't know how you become rich and also i am pretty much sure Bill Gates or Warren Buffett can't you teach you that too(mainly because there was lot of chance or randomness involved in their richness). This is my view, if you have a contradictory view, i would like to hear.

dkokelley 18y ago
I do have a contradictory view :) While a lot of becoming rich may be "chance and randomness" like you say, there are certainly patterns and other statistical data that shows different mindsets, beliefs, and character traits between the super-wealthy and the rest of us. You could increase your chances of becoming rich by inheriting certain traits of those who are already wealthy (and became so on their own. No inheritances or royalty here). I would argue that becoming wealthy is less chance and more personal character traits, while the degree of wealth is mostly due to chance. There can be only 1 Bill Gates, but for every one of him, there are thousands others who are successful, but on a much smaller scale. That's my view. :P
- azharcs 18y ago
  Isn't it more common-sense, i mean we already imitate or inherit most of the qualities of our idols. A guy who has Steve Jobs as an idol, surely likes design and thinks more of himself as an artist. I can give you an example of MBA's, they pretty much learn Business( which means they know more than other people about Business), but as i see they are no more successful than people who have no MBA's. MBA's go through tons of case-studies yet they are not able to start successful companies. What i mean to say is, sometimes our Uniqueness is what is more important for our success, when we read the famous books, it makes us similar to other successful people which might be an disadvantage rather than advantage because successful people when they became successful, it was because they and their business were different from other successful people. To be really successful, we have to be different rather than same, we have to stand out from the crowd. Everyone is Unique, only if we live up to that Uniqueness.
mattmaroon 18y ago
Eh, not all self-help books are that way, and a lot of the ones that are even contain nuggets of wisdom you can learn from. There are a lot of people who can help themselves, and the first step is often realizing that other people know stuff they don't. How To Win Friends and Influence People is a sterling example of a good self-help book. Also, How To Be Rich by J. Paul Getty sort of changed my life. The main concept was that to become rich, you have to work for yourself. Otherwise someone is essentially taking a cut from the profits of your labor.

by azharcs 18y ago

dkokelley 18y ago

I do have a contradictory view :) While a lot of becoming rich may be "chance and randomness" like you say, there are certainly patterns and other statistical data that shows different mindsets, beliefs, and character traits between the super-wealthy and the rest of us. You could increase your chances of becoming rich by inheriting certain traits of those who are already wealthy (and became so on their own. No inheritances or royalty here). I would argue that becoming wealthy is less chance and more personal character traits, while the degree of wealth is mostly due to chance. There can be only 1 Bill Gates, but for every one of him, there are thousands others who are successful, but on a much smaller scale. That's my view. :P

azharcs 18y ago
Isn't it more common-sense, i mean we already imitate or inherit most of the qualities of our idols. A guy who has Steve Jobs as an idol, surely likes design and thinks more of himself as an artist. I can give you an example of MBA's, they pretty much learn Business( which means they know more than other people about Business), but as i see they are no more successful than people who have no MBA's. MBA's go through tons of case-studies yet they are not able to start successful companies. What i mean to say is, sometimes our Uniqueness is what is more important for our success, when we read the famous books, it makes us similar to other successful people which might be an disadvantage rather than advantage because successful people when they became successful, it was because they and their business were different from other successful people. To be really successful, we have to be different rather than same, we have to stand out from the crowd. Everyone is Unique, only if we live up to that Uniqueness.

mattmaroon 18y ago

Eh, not all self-help books are that way, and a lot of the ones that are even contain nuggets of wisdom you can learn from. There are a lot of people who can help themselves, and the first step is often realizing that other people know stuff they don't. How To Win Friends and Influence People is a sterling example of a good self-help book. Also, How To Be Rich by J. Paul Getty sort of changed my life. The main concept was that to become rich, you have to work for yourself. Otherwise someone is essentially taking a cut from the profits of your labor.