Self-Help

If I read a book to help me with such self improvement as to become more frugal with my time and maximize my productivity, lose weight, or save money, that should help. However if self-help books really helped, why are there so many of them? One plan is in vogue and then another. People fill their bookshelves with self help books.

There is one I go back to from time to time. It was published in 1936 by Dorothea Brande, "Wake up and Live! A Formula for Success that works!" The main concept is to act as if it were impossible to fail. Instead of remembering all the times you have failed, you begin anew with no preconceived notions that you will again fail. It also delves into the ways we sabatoge our success with substitute activities.

I do wonder about the differences between those who reach their goals whatever they may be and those who never come close. Look at the commercials, the talk shows, the news. We are bombarded with another savings plan, makeovers, another weight loss plan, and yet another study. The latest weight study proposes that obese people spend more on health care. I don't think we needed a research study to prove that one. We even have reality shows about weight loss. Never in my life have I seen so much information on weight loss, yet none of it seems to work.

I don't recall a single weight loss type program when I was growing up. Of course, at that time there weren't many fast food places. There was a dairy queen near Chicago area where we lived, but it closed in the winter. In the small town in Texas where I lived as a teenager, there was only one Dairy Queen. The other places were locally owned like the Lottaburger and the Sweet Shop. For the most part, we always ate at home. We never had a "tv dinner" as they were called when they first appeared on the market. There were no artificial sweetners in soft drinks until Tab came along. I don't think I drank a diet soda till I was in my 40s. I fried chicken if we wanted fried chicken. I always bought whole milk. We'd have bacon and eggs, toast and jelly for breakfast. We had many a baked potato and varieties of recipes I made with hamburger meat. I'd never heard of romaine lettuce or any dressing but French dressing or blue cheese. Yet all those years I never weighed more than 115 pounds.

So why is there such a problem now? I did walk to school all through high school. It wasn't that far, but I carried a French Horn back and forth as well as several textbooks. In college I walked everywhere. Interestingly, I never had any food in my room, no snack box. I ate at supper and that was it. We had sit down family style meals with tablecloths, napkins and serving dishes. We filled up a table before we began eating, and left when everyone was finished. Even in the early days of my teaching and marriage, I did a lot of walking. I cooked all my meals from scratch, no boxed dinners. I take that back, there were two. We loved Chef-boy-ar-dee pizza in a box. I'd mix the dough and spread the sauce and toppings on it. The other one was those danish rolls that came in a can. I'd ice them after baking them. They were great on Saturday or Sunday morning even though they tasted more like biscuits that were supposed to be rolls. I think they still make them to this day.

Back to self-help and the book I'm rereading for the 14th time (or at least it seems that way). I don't know if the book is even still in print, and it's strange I'd even read it as I usually won't give the time of day to books like this. That's something I'll have to check out today online. I personally like the story of William James, the pscyhologist. In one of his books he mentions the idea of will using an illustration of getting out of bed on a cold morning. He doesn't want to get up and leave the warmth of the covers. Then finally he forgets about it and just gets up. Maybe I need to reread James instead of Dorothea Brande, "The Writings of William James," all 858 pages,including the 40 page annotated bibliography. Interestingly, I just opened the book to page 684, the chapter entitled "Will" where there's a crack in the binding.

You mean I wrote this entire essay to rediscover my 1977 edition of "The Writings of William James." For sure it beats any study by the CDC or any reality show on NBC and any diet plan. I think this is why I never gave much credence to books like Dorothea Brande's. I would always begin and end my reading with the famous philosophers and psychologists of the ages. But how many of us are going to plow through 800+ pages of a psychologist when we can sit and watch a reality show about losing weight and eat our popcorn and cupcakes while we watch it.

I'll be checking back later about my progress of reading again William James as well as the progress changing my life to be more productive.