Why Reading Personal Development Books and Blogs Will Not Work For You
You might have heard that reading personal development books, blogs or attending seminars does not work. Well, I'm here to tell you that the people who are saying this are partially correct, but they are missing the bigger picture.
Over the years, I've read hundreds of personal development books, and I've written over 500 personal development articles, books, and guides. Individually, some of them have made a difference, however cumulatively they have had a profound impact on my life.
I would have to say that around 90% of all personal development books and blogs will not make a bit of difference to the readers who read them. This begs the question: Why?
What book or blog actually made a difference to you?
Do you know of a book or blog that you have read that actually made a difference to you and actually made you change the way you see the world and helped you to act in a new way?
A lot of us will say 'yeah, when I read such and such, it had a profound effect on me.', but did it actually help you change the way you think and helped you act differently?
I can think of a few books and blogs that really opened my mind and helped me to change my life:
Think and grow rich – Napoleon Hill
Stevepavlina.com (his earlier work).
Creative Visualisation –
Mindstore – Jack Black Shakti Gawain
Danielle LaPorte – daniellelaporte.com
Copyblogger.com
Infinite Self – Stuart Wilde
That's just of few of them, but there's not many more than that.
Repeated action
My own personal development journey has been somewhat osmotic, in that the more I have read on a particular area I want to change, the more change I will make. However, sometimes it's been an effort to make changes in my life by reading, and taking action on the suggested advice.
What I have found is that the more involved we are in our journey and sharing it with others the quicker we can make the desired changes in our lives.
For example, the more I read about creative visualization, and spoke to others who were interested in it, online and offline, the more action I would take, and the more success I would have with it.
I attribute me gaining a degree in psychology, meeting my wife, starting a business, getting out of debt, with the creative visualization techniques I used after reading Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, Shakti Gawain's Creative Visualization book and also reading Jack Black's Mindstore book and attending his seminars with like-minded people, but also by reading other authors books on the subject. The techniques are forever etched in my subconscious mind and I use them on a daily basis. So, in essence it wasn't one book that changed my thinking and compelled me to take action, it was one book that started the domino effect that led me on to other authors who were writing on the same subject, and cummulativly they all had an effect on me.
The same goes for the blogs I read. It was Steve Pavlina who compelled me to take action and learn more about the nature of reality and the unconscious mind, and I have since read widely in this area, forever changing the way I view reality and what is possible. However it was Steve Pavlina who started the domino effect.
Why it's important to keep reading
If you read a post from a blogger and it kind of hits home to you, but doesn't compel you to take action, chances are you'll never take action. However if you read lots of blog posts about making a specific change and you maybe get involved in a community of like-minded people, then your chances of making the desired change skyrockets. This is why it's important to keep taking action, read lots, and try to get involved in a community of people who are trying to make the same changes.
One teacher may not compel you to take action, but a thousand teachers will put a rocket up your arse…
Some Amazing Comments
Comments
