Four Self-Help Books that can Change Your Life Today

Self-help books are laughed at by many supposedly savvy go-getters because of the apparent stigma attached to the idea of needing help and not being able to figure things out on your own. But, to shut down or frown upon the notion of a person seeking help from a book seems a little close-minded, doesn't it? After all, if when we can't talk to someone about the issues which are tearing us apart from the inside on a daily basis, why should we be made fun of for turning to written words of inspiration?

That being said, it is my personal opinion that religion and politics stay out of the self-help business because the help-seekers among us, although somewhat vulnerable to the promises of self-improvement, can see right through the core ideas of any book or audio-visual program and they are evaluated accordingly. In other words, no 'one book' will answer all questions for everybody and the help-seekers will take away the ideas from various sources that appeal to them and discard the rest.

Here is my list of four very important self-help books and a couple of audio programs as well:

1) "Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow: Discovering Your Right Livelihood" - Marsha Sinetar

A great book with simple case studies illustrating the point of the book, which is:  if you want to find out what is right for you to pursue as a livelihood,  don't worry so much about going broke because the money you need to sustain yourself will catch up to you.

This is not a get-rich-quick book! In fact, it's about enjoying what you do for work and replacing what you don't enjoy doing. Very inspiring read!

2) "Think and Grow Rich" - Napoleon Hill

The book may be dated and there are a few references to 'The Creator', but in all fairness, the recurring theme of 'Infinite Intelligence' makes up for any religious bents. There are a lot of really great ideas in this book including 'The Six Ghosts of Fear' and how to overcome them, as well as plenty of inspiring stories of perseverance and courage to follow up on the ideas we get in our heads.

The word 'rich' is in the title, but I think the title should have been 'Think and Grow Enriched' because it helped enrich my own life. A timeless classic that might help you become a millionaire (or, nowadays, a billionaire?). Whatever the case, it is well worth buying a copy to read and re-read.

3) "Speedwealth" - T. Harv Eker

This book is about making money running your own business and becoming a millionaire within three years. I've had it for one, so we'll see. No, seriously, aside from the millionaire stuff, it has a way of getting into your head and changing the way you think about money and success. It goes way beyond the money-making formula and goes into ideas about changing your entire attitude with statements like 'model a proven winner' and 'practice whatever you want to be in the future, now'.

Weighing in at only 74 pages, this little book is filled with gold!

 4) "How to Win Friends and Influence People" - Dale Carnegie

There's a reason why books like this will not go away and that is because they are very powerful in their simplicity. Some of the examples within seem obvious, but it is the obvious stuff that flies out the window for many of us when we get into a negative mindset.

This has everything from 'how to handle people' to 'you can't win an argument' and describes ways to bite your tongue (gently) when someone else is clearly wrong in a social situation. Every leader should be assigned to read this book.

5) A short, inspiring video - "The Strangest Secret in the World" - Earl Nightingale

In this video, the concept of success is not being a million-billionaire or anything like it (although it could lead to that). Earl's definition of success is: 'the progressive realization of a worthy ideal', which should make some people feel better about their chosen paths in life. See it below:

How To Stop Feeling Overwhelmed at Work

(if it doesn't play here, click to go to YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuEkZ692jQM)

I made this video for my website with the help of some film and television students at the career college where I work part time. It's one of my favorite classes to teach because we get to be creative, work hard AND work as a team - a great way to encourage teamwork is to make a short film!

Feelings of frustration and being overwhelmed as work piles up around you can stop a hard-working person in their tracks. Everybody experiences this from time to time and a lot us us pull out of it fairly quickly, but some people get stuck in a rut that can last for quite a while.

Here are some tips that may help when you find yourself in such a rut. They work for me by sparking myself back to my purpose in life when things get busy and unfocused around me.

1) Create your own mission statement.
Business have them why not people? Ever wonder what you are really doing on this blue marble? It goes beyond breathing and eating, of course, so write one down and print it out to make it official. It can change over time, and that's cool, too. I'd say the hardest thing for me to ever do was to focus on a direction and writing about it had been difficult over the years. Living through a state I define as 'gradual fusion', my mission statement pretty much wrote itself. I wrote it in about ten seconds one day when trying to sharpen my focus and it was an instant hit (with me).

2) Remind yourself every day about your mission in life.
Seeing my mission statement every single day keeps me focused and on track. If I find myself in a tough situation of work-overload, I look at my focused statement and some how everything is back to normal. It's truly amazing how simple it is to get back to a rational state of mind after reminding myself where I am going.

3) Get inspired!
Inspirational material is everywhere in print, online or from a helpful listener a few doors down. It doesn't matter where the material comes from as long as it does the job of getting you inspired. Every time I need inspiration, I go to my old books with powerful messages and get fired up immediately. Me? Need inspiration? I am a hard working human being and I, too, get overwhelmed from time to time, but it doesn't last long because I don't let it...I know how to get around it.

4) Sort out the most important tasks from the least important.
Let's face it, not everything we do on a day to day basis will cause the stock market to crash if we don't do it perfectly and by the exact due date. Some things can wait a little longer than others and it's all in the way we communicate that to others. Sometimes it can feel as if everybody is pulling at you from all angles and then the phone rings and the emails pile up. Get to them according to order of importance and remember to post a vacation response on an email when you are 'virtually' out of the office.

5) When somebody gets angry with you, respond in a calm tone, no matter what.
As unpleasant and unnerving as it is to listen to an angry person get all in your face, raising your voice back at them won't solve anything and you may regret what you say. It's easy to yell and difficult to restrain from it when someone is yelling at you, but it works to your advantage in the end. Back in the late 1990's, I let a guy treat me horribly in front of others and my response to him was very calm and helpful and he couldn't do any more than he did - it confused him. Everybody watching the scene sided with me almost instantly. That was only one of many similar scenarios. Controlling reactions is a learned skill.

6) Let people know at the start about any possible snags that may occur.
Informing people about possible issues and snags can soften the blow to them and reduce your own stress when the deadline must be extended. Nothing is perfect in life and unless a country will explode, the situation must be dealt with rationally. If there is a multi-million dollar deal that will fall through unless a deadline is met, there should be more people on the job and that can be discussed up front.

7) Take a few moments at the start of the day to arrange tasks.
I find I can sleep better and avoid thoughts rushing around in my brain if I simply write out what I am going to do the next day. I sometimes decide to write these things on the morning I start the day and I check them off as I go. If they can't be done, they get put on the next day's list, but they are always listed based on priority. I had read about this practice many years ago and have been doing it ever since. By writing them down, I took the first step and no matter what happens during the day, I know where to find the list if I need to.

8) And now, the number one way to help eliminate work stress and avoid being stuck in a rut..........have a laugh! This really should be number one, but it lightens up the end of this article. Share a funny, tasteful joke, funny email or news paper cartoon. Paste a funny thing to your fridge at work, etc.