The rise of technology has significantly impacted how people consume information, and traditional book reading has seen a decline. However, the self-help genre seems to be experiencing a resurgence in popularity among young people with snippets and discussions about these books being shared widely on social media platfroms and podcasts. This trend seemingly reflects a broader interest in mental health and wellness, as people increasingly seek out relatable and accessible content to support their self-improvement journeys. 

Self-help books are especially appealing to hustle-minded young people as these books are meant to provide clear-cut practical information from highly successful people. These lessons are the culmination of the decade-long experiences of the author. Them being condensed into a couple hundred pages seems like a great deal.

However, many people, myself included, do not gain the intended benefits of reading such books; our lives see no significant improvement. Even after committing to reading a book, we have gained nothing substantial. No new skill, perspective, or even knowledge is left with it in the long term. Upon finishing the next book we have almost completely forgotten everything we learned from the previous one. Why is that? Is it because the books failed in their promise to give us invaluable skills and practical information? Well no, the books deliver on their promise (in most cases) however, I think the problem lies with us readers.

We, the readers of self-help books have an inherent flaw in our approach; We merely read self-help books. This might suffice for reading fiction, but this category demands practical efforts. Knowledge alone will, sooner or later, blend into the endless entourage of useless knowledge and TikTok references we have in our brains. If we don’t use some knowledge in our lives, we are bound to forget it. It might be in the form of actual implementation, or maybe just relaying the knowledge to your friends or using it in a conversation. This catapults this useless knowledge into being an active part of your life so that you retain it in your long-term memory. Of course, integrating the teachings of a book into your personal life is the best option because it goes beyond saying and delves into doing which is the whole purpose of reading self-help books.

From personal experience I find this to be true. A while back, I read the famous book “Atomic Habits” which delves into how small actions can have significant long-term effects. Now, knowing this, you and I share the same knowledge of the book because, to be frank, I remember almost nothing else from my experience of reading this book. It makes me think whether reading a five-minute summary would have sufficed rather than spending hours reading a book that would shortly leak out of my memory. 

 Our time is a precious asset which we cannot afford to waste. Ultimately the purpose of reading is what dictates whether we have wasted our time or not. If we seek enjoyment and entertainment from reading books—such is the case with fiction readers—then our time is not wasted as we have fulfilled our objective. Unfortunately, this is not usually the case with self-help; young people usually waste their precious time reading how to do something rather than spending time doing it. Self-help books are merely instructive; they cannot change our lives by themselves. Young people need to realize that we are the agents of change, we are those ones who have the power to change our lives how we see fit.