50 Self Help Classics

Tom Butler-Bowdon

2009

Edition

ISBN 978-1-85788-323-7

Overview

There is an incredible resource of self help literature out there and much of it very interesting. However 50 Self Help Classics tries to give a sense of the huge diversity of the genre and hence provides a good starting point and overall view of what is available.

The book provides bite size summaries of some of the most influential books in the field and is grouped around themes:

The Power of Thought,
Following Your Dream.
Secrets of Happiness,
The Bigger Picture,
Soul and Mystery and
Making a Difference

They include your favourite timeless sages such as Lao Tzu – Tao Te Ching, Bhagavad-Gita, to contemporary gurus like:

Louise Hay- You Can Heal Your Life

David D Burns – Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy

Daniel Goleman – Emotional Intelligence

Who Would Benefit From Reading This Book and Why?

If you are a coach and looking to develop a good all rounded knowledge of the self help genre. This book is for you, and it is especially digestible because it is divided into the different themes that coaches are faced with in there every day coaching such as changing thoughts to change your client’s life, Achievement through goal setting.

Reviewer’s Opinion

I have grappled with the contradiction of the two conceptions of how we see ourselves. Are we composed of a changeless core , the soul or higher self that guides us to fulfil our unique purpose as advocated by my own favourite authors Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer or are we a blank slate from whence we can write our own life stories as advocated by Tony Robbins?

I was relieved to find Bowdon’s conclusion that a person is an interesting combination of the self knowing and the self creating, a tough more sophisticated self that needs to be aware of its many dimensions in an increasingly complicated world.

I feel more confident in my approach to tap into both conceptions depending on the individual client and their needs!