Jill in a Box: Addicted to self improvement

I think I am addicted to self improvement books.?Are these?any different to self-help books, I hear you ask? I think it's the term used by people who think they are too good for self-help books. Self-help is generally looked down upon. Self help?is for people who have big problems. Self improvement is for people who generally have good lives?and want to make them better. You know, self obsessed, selfish, self absorbed, nothing-better-to-do narcissists. #Firstworldproblem people. People like bloggers. People like me. So, I have a good life and I want?to make it better and I think that is worth investing in and thinking about. So shoot me. Is it such a crime? I should be saving the world or generally be more self sacrificing. I have?enough money, a home, a job, two healthy children, a stable relationship,?I'm generally happy.?I should just shut up and get on with it, shouldn't I? But maybe I wouldn't have these things if I didn't read so many self improvement books.?And the thing is,?I want to save the world. And luckily, there is a book to help me do it! (See below)?Oh, dear -?does that makes me a bleeding heart do-gooder that should just leave well enough alone?

If you too wish to spend hours poring over books to help improve your already good life, and if you think the world is worth saving, here are some reading suggestions. (P.S. my interpretation of self improvement is quite broad, as you will see from this collection.)

Okay, first up;

When I first started reading the School of Life Series?edited by?Alain De Botton (which includes the two books?above), ?I thought, hmmm - these are self improvement books written by people who have not read any self improvement?books, and possibly even scorn the genre. They made me think of Emily Nussbaum's review of Alan Sorkin's new show 'The Newsroom'?in the New Yorker:?"Sorkin's shows are the type that people who never watch TV are always claiming are better than anything else on TV." Needless to say, I don't like Alan Sorkin shows (shoot me again, if you want - yes, even 'The West Wing'. Emily Nussbaum's review titled 'Artificial Intelligence'?nails precisely why I don't like his shows - you can read it here.)

But,?I was wrong about these books (believe or not, "I was wrong" is one of?my favourite phrases).? I don't know if the authors have read any other self improvement books (Roman, John-Paul, care to comment?), but it doesn't matter, because both these books have helped me a lot. I have quoted Roman Krznaric a couple of times on the interwebs, and his comments have resonated with a lot of people - particularly?his theory of?"having some of it all" mentioned in this previous post about the whole 'having?it all' discussion.

Jean-Paul Flintoff's book has reminded me that small actions to change the world matter and are worthwhile - it's important to try and think about ways you can make a difference to whatever it is you think is worth making a difference to, rather than finding it all too overwhelming and not bothering because it all seems too big and hard. He talks about the value of "mini-victories" and that each step towards this can be "enjoyable and valuable in its own right". He reminded me that changing the world can be enjoyable. But I can't help hearing this voice in my head: "That's all very well, but this is just a watered down, middle-to-upper class, self serving version of saving the world so rich people can feel better about themselves." This is the sort of stupid, pointless voice that stops me from doing potentially worthwhile things, when really, I should be drawing on all my advantages and resources to change the world. It's people like me who should be changing the world - people with enough food and money and?a stable life.

I am going to just briefly mention some other self-help/self-improvement books here. I know I have?mocked the whole '7 things' thing before, but?I did find these books helpful:

• Seven Secrets of Successful Parenting?or How to?Achieve the Almost Impossible - from Toddlers to Teens by Karen Doherty and Georgia Coleridge
• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families by Stephen R.Covey (yes, he's?the 7 Habits of Highly Successful People guy?but I haven't read that book.) He does tend to?go on a bit and I didn't read all sections in full,?but I still found it useful.
• Weird Ideas That Work by Robert I. Sutton?(This is a work-y, management book, but I think it is applicable to many contexts. It offers "counter intuitive strategies to unlock ideas you never knew you had."
• 7 Myths About Women and Work (yes, 7 again) by Catherine Fox, an Australian Financial Review columnist with a great Twitter handle: @corporatefox. I think I am operating better in the workplace after reading this book.
• Imagine by Jonah Lehrer -?okay, okay, he got fired from The New Yorker for making up quotes by Bob Dylan in this book and he was criticised for serving up a bunch of? neuroscience babble (the new psycho-babble) but this book helped me. It reminded me that good ideas often come from strange and unexpected places?and he?gave me ideas about how to be more creative in my work (even when it's boring) and in my life. I haven't finished any of the?other neuroscience babble books I've tried, so this is the one I recommend.

And finally, a warning. Do not buy this book! 'The Only Way to Win: How Building Character Drives Higher Achievement and Greater Fulfilment in Business and Life'. I am fairly embarrassed about buying a book with a title like this, but the contents are even worse than the title. It's full of stupid pyramid diagrams representing, well - all the stupid ideas in the book - and there are also silly charts and lists to help you "build character muscles" and "character score-cards." ACK! I also really dislike books that constantly refer to what you will think about your life on your deathbed, which this book does.?I could talk about more books, but I think that will do. For now. I've got?some self improving to do.

Source: http://melitasmilovic.blogspot.com/2012/10/addicted-to-self-improvement.html

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