To All Self Help Skeptics : The Truth About Self Help

One thing you’ll learn about me is… I always keep it real!

So when I give it to you, you’re going to get it straight --
no chaser ;-).

With that being said; a word of truth on “Self Help.”

Lately, whenever I meet a new person or run into an old friend I share with them that I am in the process of writing my first book. And they always ask, "really about what?" My natural response (accompanied by a broad and proud smile) is, "a book on how to be happy. It’s called 'The Human Right of Happiness'."

"Cool" or "Wow" is the usual response I get followed by another common question such as, "So what's the secret to being happy?" or "What made you pick that topic?"

On one particular occasion I was in the bookstore and struck up a conversation with a girl. We were both about to purchase the same book on WordPress and started talking about our blogs. The conversation went as usual and she then posed the question. "What made you pick that topic?"

I told her that I felt we all, as human beings, have the right to live happy lives. The only problem was that some of us just simply don’t know how to get there. I shared with her that I am the self proclaimed “Queen of Self-Help Books” and I have read my fair share of self-development materials which has helped me through some pretty rough spots.

I explained to her how I'd been through times in my life where I felt like I needed a guide on how to just "be happy" and wasn’t able to find a book on it. So I figured, since I now have the answer, it was my civil responsibility to share this knowledge with others.

She nodded and agreed and even threw in a couple of "um hmm's" and "ok's" during my spill. After I explained my reasoning she said it was “great.”

Then she went on to tell me how much she hated self help books. (me = gasp!) She felt they were all (or mostly) written by people who had never been through anything themselves. (me = shame!) People who'd only observed the misery in the lives of others. Professor and PhD talking heads spewing insignificant knowledge about all they've learned from their scholastic efforts. (me = oh the insanity!) She said they were all fake and commented on how they just gave you some fairy tale "Who Moved My Cheese" type answer on how to handle a situation. (me = blasphemy!) "They tell you something really easy to do and then act like everything is supposed to be ok... what do they know? They've never been through anything!" she said. (me = “get-a-rope”).

Hehehehe…

No, really, I thought her insight was very interesting. It made me think and took my book to the next level! And this is when I discovered The Truth About Self Help…

What she'd seem to have missed was one very important word in the phrase "self help." You got it... the key word is "self." When it comes to self help books, writers merely provided us with information. How we use that information to "help" our "selves" is our responsibility.

There are at least two steps in every self-help program.

The first step is gaining and absorbing the information. The second step is applying what you've learned to your personal life and putting it into action!

Nobody on earth has been through everything we have as individuals so there's no self-help guru who has all the answers to our specific situations. But people who write self help material (regardless of their reasoning) provide us with a concept that may or may not work. It is up to us to put these concepts into action and use them to make our lives better.

As the old saying goes... you can lead a horse to the water but you can't make him drink."

With that being said, I challenge you to help yourself as you read my materials and blog postings.

I personally love self help material and find it admirable that someone would be willing to share their insight on how I can make my life better. I truly pray from the bottom of my heart that the wisdom that I share with you helps you to be the best person you know you are within.

I know it’s helping me ;-).

With Love,

Miss Hite