A self-help note on self-help books

One thing I can do a lot nowadays- thanks to time I get at traffic signals- is observe people.

And since I like books, I tend to see what books people carry around.

More often than not, they turn out to be self-help or motivational ones.

The kind I despise.

I saw one in the hands of a friend today.

To put it mildly, I blasted her.

She was hurt alright, but kept her composure. And asked: “how many ‘self-help’ books have you read?”

“None”, I said.

“Read this then. My boyfriend said it really helped him in time management.”

"You mean this book taught him to get things done in time?" I couldn't believe it. 

"Yes. and considering you don't have time for anything, why don't you give it a try?"

I had to say yes.

I have been using the book for a week now, and that book indeed helped me get things done in time. Awesome stuff.

Don't get me wrong; the content was crap. but the book as a whole? mighty useful.

All I need to do- is to tell myself “if you don’t finish this thing by this time, you have to read 20 pages of the book.”

The work gets done before time.

Now I have two things to do:

Get a ‘motivational’ book for myself, and ask my friend to ditch the guy who actually reads motivational books (not sure if I should do it, though).