(This article first appeared 2007 in my online column “The Way I See It”)
It wasn’t a Secret – just repacked and marketed for mass appeal. The real question to ask is did it or any of them deliver what was promised?
There are countless self-help books on the market offering to guide you toward your quest to financial freedom, love and happiness. They’re available in various formats: books, audio-books, e-books, DVD, and even on the internet. Why so readily available? Advice is a money making industry. Sara Nelson, editor of Publishers Weekly, says “Nobody went broke overestimating the desperate unhappiness of the American public.” Wayne Dyer alone has written 29 self-helps with sales of at least 50 million. And Rhonda Byrne’s “The Secret” was one of the fastest selling of its kind with 1.75 copies in just over 3 months when it first came out.
But what do they offer? Let’s see…
They all start off with a promise of helping you to achieve your ultimate goal of becoming wealthy, successful, & partnered in a great relationship. One such helpful guide starts off actually revealing its proclaimed secret in the first chapter, and referred to it as “the law of attraction”. The premise to the law of attraction is, “You create your own reality by virtual of your thoughts.” Therefore, if you change your thoughts you will feel better about the circumstances in your life. Furthermore, if you believe you will succeed, then you will. But after completely devouring the entire 198 pages in the hopes of uncovering the steps necessary for you to stop living from pay check to pay check; you like so many others are no closer to paying off your debt let along realizing your dreams than you were when you first shelled out your hard earned $23.95 in hopes of parlaying your net sum of nothing into something. Do you move on with your life, continue to work hard, and attempt to save? No, because you’re in for the long haul, you must have missed something which is surely covered in the latest edition of… so you refrain from buying an acquaint amount of groceries and spring for another promising self-help book. After all it’s an investment. Besides, you can use the 20% coupon you received from your last purchase.
Wait, wait, wait! Before you rush off to grab the latest edition of “Master yourself and get what you want.” Perhaps I can save you some money by summarizing what the vast majority of these books have to offer or suggest.
- If you think good thoughts good things will happen. Ha! Do the brilliant advisors of these inspirational books think unemployed persons are sitting around thinking “I don’t want a decent paying job, I don’t want to improve my financial status, I really would like to have my utilities shut off, or be evicted from my home.”
- “Like attracts like, and if you think positive and surround yourself with good positive people then good things will come to you.” Now, there’s some merit to this. If you surround yourself with criminals surely crime will come your way.
- Ask, believe, and receive. Well, that’s pretty darn simple, why didn’t any of us think of that? Yeah, right.
Here are a few of my favorites:
- “The only reason any person does not have enough money is because they are blocking money from coming to them with their thoughts. Every negative thought, feeling, or emotion is blocking your good from coming to you, and that includes money.” There are few too many comments I can make on this one, so I’ll just sum it up; “Are you freakin’ kidding me?”
- You can tape a check made out for the amount you desire and it will come to you. Things will come to you in abundance. Pretend like you already have the money. Yeah right! My (fake) check for 5.5mil has been taped to my mirror for over 7 months and I’ve yet to see a dime materialize from it.
Some of these advisors mind you who’ve made a great deal of money off of the books they’ve sold us, would lead you to believe that all you need to do is believe and all of your goals will manifest. It’s even suggested by one of contributors, a personal empowerment advocate that, “When you think of the things you want, and you focus on them with all of your intention, then the law of attraction will give you exactly what you want, every time.” Apparently my ignorant-behind keeps clouding my focus with trying to pay those pesky bills that keep coming monthly, no matter how hard I “will” them not to.
Here’s something you may find interesting. Noticeably is the lack of reference to serving others, yet there’s a relentless focus on materialism—money, cars, houses and vacations. Mental health professionals rate approximately 10 percent of these self-help books as detrimental; there are a troubling number of individuals who have a tendency to self-blame when things don’t work out.
Don’t get me wrong there are some that offer logical suggestions such as creating and using a number of feasible steps to achieve happiness and success.
Basically, the benefit of self-help books is that they can re-enforce what you already know.
But if you’re still in the mood for some self-help advice here are my suggestions:
- The way I see it, you should attempt to become a decent human being, live your life to the best of your ability, hopefully have some fun along the way, because basically the outcome is already forecasted-you will have a good life, you just need to participate.
- Find a way to motivate yourself when you need to and take some positive steps to improve your chances for success.
- Try fresh innovative things, and DON’T GIVE UP.
- If you must read the self-help books, try the library, you’ll truly save money using that method.
Finally, the next time you’re not able to meet your financial obligations, instead of wishing on a star, perhaps you may want to consider editing your budget by cutting down on entertainment expenses, the latest cell phone upgrade, those to-die-for Parda pumps, or any of the things keeping you from achieving your financial freedom..
