Why I Stopped Reading Self-Help Books (and why anime is better)

When I first started improving myself I would devour self-help books, podcasts, videos, you name it.

I think by the 100th one I got the message. All of them, ultimately, boil down to

‘Don’t lie or cheat, wake up early, work really hard, and maintain your health’

With a little bit of extra dressing depending on what the author has chosen (4 hour workweek being about time management, Crush It! being about social media marketing etc)

These books can be significantly life-changing in their own right of course. But after the 100th, maybe even 500th book? They all start to become the same.

Because we all know, intuitively, that to succeed at anything we have to work hard. If we’re going to be good people, that it’s wrong to lie and steal. That if we neglect our health, then we will eventually lose everything. It helps to see that outlined in a set of rules to follow, but how many times do you need to read it?

The more profound ideas, the ones you feel with your heart instead of your brain, the lessons you might actually take to heart, they’re in works of fiction. The ideas that inspire you to move on your wildest dreams and most sincere fantasies.

Dragonball inspired an entire generation to workout

Berzerk, Tokyo Ghoul, and Attack on Titan teach you to fight regardless of your own suffering

Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece remind you to never give up on your dreams

Jojo’s lets you know that we’re all unique in our own way and that there isn’t a worthless power, it’s dependent on how you use it

Could you learn that from a self-help book? Absolutely

But does it mean more to experience these stories through the eyes of relatable characters? You bet your arse it does

Be More Shonen