On my bedside table there lies a secret hazard. Not pills, not booze, not false teeth – self-help books.
Oh what a lot of amazing stuff there is out there! So much insight and wisdom. It seems the inspirational gold is coming in thicker and faster than ever before. The downside is that I find myself drowning in it all.
The problem is drawing a line between that which serves us and the loss of our own self-trust. It’s all too easy to relinquish our power to other’s advice and stop listening to ourselves.
So for my own sanity right now I’m putting it all to one side: the books, the emails, the audio downloads, the knock-em-dead online courses. Just temporarily, mind, because it IS all great stuff. But it’s time to listen more deeply to myself for a while and to regain my perspective.
The fact that I’m needing this head space in order to write my own book at the moment is an irony that is not lost on me. I can only hope that my eventual addition to the positive psychology soup is one that clarifies rather than muddies!
My bedside table looks just like that too. I’ve got 4 on the go, all really great but why am I trying to read so much at once? And then there are all the webinars too! So much inspirational stuff. Not sure I’m ready for a complete break but good to be aware of what i am doing. Thanks T.
I suspect there are quite a few of us inspirational-junkies out there, Alison! I agree – it just requires a bit of awareness really – just so we don’t drown in it all.