4 Reasons to Embrace Self Help Books In College

If you have ever felt ashamed of reading self help books, you’re not alone. Plenty of college students could benefit from picking up a self help book, however. Here are 4 reasons why you should embrace them.

1. We don’t know everything, even though we think we do.

Millennials are stubborn. It’s a blessing and a curse, nobody understands that better than I and my fellow Taurus people do. I’ve spent 21 years feeling like I knew everything about who I was and what I wanted to do exactly. From here to there, back here, and now maybe one day back there? What’s going on! Where am I going? It may not be that we loose direction, but it could be that we are unaware of where to start or which path is the right one for our individual journeys. For me, these books have steered me into the clear and onto a path of hard work, success, and growth. I’m proud of who I am and I do owe it a lot to the authors of these self help books and their incredible insight and opinion of direction.

2. Life is rough.

It’s the reality, and you and I both know it. Self-improvement books are for those life transformations, the new chapters and the growth that we are experiencing each and every day. Maybe they are for that little part of you that was intrigued and curious enough to click and find yourself here at my ranting.

We’re college kids here, right? So, personally, self-improvement books have helped strengthen me from how much I was teared down in high school. That too, is a reality. High school is a brutal place and the brutality didn’t stop when the bell rang 3 p.m. It follows and it sticks with us for a solid amount of time. Self-improvement books can cleanse so much negativity that is still stuck on the bottom of your shoe. Wherever the bumps in the road are at, self-improvement books help rebuild the parts of us that have chipped away.

3. They’re for everyone; not just those with “depression” or “anxiety.”

…And I could vouch for that. Yes, I absolutely looked towards self help books to help me through my darker days, but look at that… I’ve overcome depression with a little help from my escape within these paper pages. So, while these self-improvement books are very much safe havens for some struggling with these diseases, the helping hand is offered for everyone.

Think of it as a vitamin. – If our body is lacking a vitamin, we take those gummies (college kids can take those, right?). Those vitamins will help fill the lacking nutrients. Once you’re feeling better, do you just stop? No, you continue to take the vitamins to maintain a healthy life for yourself. Self help books are no different. These books can help shine some light on your gloomy days or even brighten up your sunny ones. Nothing has to be wrong for you to get something out of self improvement books. They are there to strengthen you and all the happiness and freedom that you are already feeling today.

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4. It takes a strong person to pick one up.

If you pick up a self help book, you’re coming to terms with everything above. You’ve acknowledged that the world isn’t perfect, life isn’t a fairytale, and whoever came up with the sticks and stones nursery rhyme was far from the truth… (words can sometimes hurt me).

Excuse me but, if I saw a man holding a book about bettering himself and strengthening and exploring who he is as a man, what he stands for as a young adult, and everything he aspires to be, then heck, I’ll take one and run! Intellect is attractive and believe it or not, college relationships aren’t high school flings. It’s different here. Things change and it takes more than looks to connect with someone one. It’s admirable to see anyone in the self improvement aisle at Barnes and Noble. Whether it’s the girl across from me on the train reading “Uninvited,” or the boy across in the Student Center reading The Last Lecture, I’ve always smiled because I understand a little bit of who that person is. The best part is that they know a little bit more about themselves.

What are you favorite self help books? Throw your suggestions in the comments below!

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