Motivational Books

Post Reply New Topic

My life was a (is a ) flop and there was a point when i wanted to suceed desperately.

I spend loads of money on motivational books and started doing everything that was written in it
It was very inspiring and gave me a soda water kind of rush.

But after a while everything faded away. I have entire collection of Robin sharma's books
and all of them almost say same thing that we have to do what we really want to do
otherwise when we reach end of life we would cry in despair

do this motivational books work for us Aspie's
Look at all those seriously depressed people like Eckhart Tolle, J.K. Rowling,
Paulo Coelho they have gone to become Number 1 writers.

But are their books only for entertainment purpose for us Aspie's or do they
really change anything for us.

I don't trust motivational books. They're usually written by people who are very well off and aren't struggling with serious mental issues like mental illness or depression. My mom was always buying motivation books, she still buys them and is still the most unhappy person I know. After reading some of her books I can see why. Most of them involve what I call "magical thinking" or this belief that everything good comes back to you as long as you give out good karma or something similar. She refuses medical help unlike myself. It took some trials until I got on the right medication for my clinical depression. I think she may have clinical depression too. But I'm not advocating this unless it's really getting in the way of your life. Getting a diagnosis might be helpful before (if you have it) spirals out of control.

One book I found helpful but has taken and is still taking a lot of work is called Feeling Good by Doctor David D. Burns. It's Cognitive therapy and teaches you how to change your old perceptions and ways of thinking. Again it takes lot's of work, I had to go to a therapy group 3 days a week and do my homework. Most of the homework involves me being aware of my feelings on a daily basis. I put down my thoughts, perceptions and beliefs of what I believed caused my negative feelings. I have to try and challenge my perceptions with what I call rational thought or factors that may have contributed to my original thoughts. I refer back to my book and see if perhaps what I say about myself or others is wrong. The book suggests and I totally believe this, that we are really our own worst enemies. We adopt our old patterns and behaviors for various reasons. The solution is to try and change these patterns.


Other factors you may want to take into account is your nutrition, environment and the kind of people or lack thereof in your environment. Some of us need at least one person to talk to every now and then. It's also wise to try and avoid or stay away from certain people who bring you down. I love my mom and I still communicate with her on the phone but I can't be around her a lot. She really knows how to bring everything down with her words and it makes me from feeling like a positive 10 to a complete 0.

The only motivational books worth reading, in my opinion, are "Cosmos" and any other books written by Dr. Carl Sagan (except "Contact").

I've read a few that were quite good.

I liked 'the road less travelled' and 'prometheus rising'

Various of them had interesting bits to say.

"Motivational" books aren't. I point and laugh at books that are made to motivate. inspiration and therefore motivation is a personal thing, there is no grey zone here, as such each person is inspired by different texts presenting different ideas. I was hugely motivated by the book "V for vendetta" in that it demonstrated the power of ideas and the potential one man can achieve. My point here is that you can't buy a book that motivates everyone. If such a book exists then there wouldn't be the need for other books which is downright depressing. Think about her personality and buy a book based on what you think she needs.

Some motivational books are a scam used to take money form the less fortunate.
You can probably tell by reading them.

Most New Age philosophy is a scam. My mother read this stupid motivational book called "The Secret" and believed every word.
This book claimed that you can achieve anything with positive thought.
That seems highly unlikely to me.

Yes dale carnegie the biggest writer of motivational books attempted suicide in the end
and look at Lousie Hay who just keeps writing about repeating affirmations.......