It’s slowly but surely starting to resemble summer outside – at long last! If there’s one thing summer is fantastic for, other than BBQs and pretty dresses, it’s reading. So what’s on your bookshelf for the coming weeks?
Are you planning on reading a bodice-ripping romance novel? Or do you fancy something a little bit deeper? What about a book that contains some helpful information on how to deal with life?
Yes, ladies, we’re talking about self-help. And yes, we’re aware that there’s long been a stigma associated with the humble self-help book. But the following list of must-reads is slightly different.
How so? Well These books are considered to be the best of the best when it comes to self-help and they come with a positive recommendation from some of the world’s leading mental health professionals.
So if you’ve been looking for a self-help book that actually works, check out one of the following…
5. “How to Win Friends and Influence People” – Dale Carnegie
First published in 1936, this book is still one of the biggest selling self-help books ever. In a nutshell, this book shows you how to break out of a mental rut, make some new friends, and how to increase your popularity. It’s perfect if you’ve always wished you had the confidence to become a social butterfly.
Published in response to the Great Depression, Carnegie’s down to earth advice on how to communicate with others is still just as relevant today as it was back in the thirties.
Whether you want to make some new friends or advance at work, this book is perfect for showing you how to effectively speak your mind and win other people around to your way of thinking.
4. “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff – and it’s all Small Stuff” – Richard Carlson
This book spent a whopping 100 weeks on the New York Times’ bestseller list when it was first published. Impressive, huh? Surely a book with that kind of staying power has some interesting insights in it, right?
If you’re a worrier you need to get your hands on this book. Why? Because it will show you how you can stop obsessing over things. In fact, this book will also show you how to stop blowing things out of proportion, worrying about the future and freaking out over things that you can’t change.
It’s basically peace of mind, in book format. The best thing about this book? The advice isn’t airy-fairy or completely new age or anything. It offers simple observations about how we react to things around us, and how we can just get over ourselves.
3. “The Rules: Time-tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr Right” – Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider
This book has sold so many copies in recent years that it just had to be mentioned and we think nearly every woman has heard about The Rules at some point in her life.
Most of us have a specific view about the self-help genre. We think it’s all love and positive life-affirming action – controversially, The Rules is nothing like this. Basically the book is an action plan on how you can attract, and subsequently marry, the man of your dreams.
For years The Rules has caused controversy. While some women describe it as being ‘motivational’ others firmly believe that it is antifeminist and simply teaches women how to toy with men.
So what’s it all about then? Well in the book the authors put forward a series of rules that a woman should follow in order to get her dream man. The main thrust of this book is that a woman should never pursue a man, instead she should play hard to get and make the man in question chase her.
An example of some rules? “Don’t talk to a man first,” “Don’t see him more than once or twice a week,” and “Don’t call him and rarely return his calls.” Nice.
2. “The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment” – Eckhart Toll
One of Oprah’s favourite books, The Power of Now has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and has been translated into over 30 languages.
This book is all about living in the moment and learning how to find your truest self. It is a little bit ‘spiritual’ and ‘hippyish’ but the advice is solid and will definitely make you re-evaluate your own life.
Toll maintains, throughout the book, that the only way to achieve true enlightenment is to live fully in the present and not worry about the past or future.
Perfect if you want to just be happy with life minute by minute, instead of stressing out over what may or may not happen in the future.
1. “The Last Lecture” – Randy Pausch.
If you’re feeling a bit ‘blah’ with life and are in need of something to inspire you and lift your spirits, then why not have a read of The Last Lecture. This is probably one of the most well-known self-help books in the world.
Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at the Carnegie Mellon University, was asked to give a final lecture. Before he was asked to step up to the podium one last time, Pausch was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
The final lecture he gave, entitled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” didn’t focus on his illness. Instead it was all about overcoming obstacles and living life to the fullest. It was basically everything that Pausch had learned about life.
This book is a transcript of the last lecture and contains the various insights that Pausch shared with his lecture theatre that afternoon.
It’s inspiring, humorous and full of helpful advice that you can use in your own life.
