Self-Help Should Not Lack Empathy

Kindness, compassion, and empathy towards yourself are all necessary aspects of self-help.

Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash

I have read or listened to a large number of self-help books, podcasts, and articles.

The topics have included wealth-management and creation, mindfulness, relationships, Ikigai, Law of Attraction, habits, time-management, psychology, meditation, Buddhism, and other notions that can be applied to self-care in self-help.

Some are by well-known figures like Tony Robbins, Wallace Waddles, Deepak Chopra, Echart Tolle, Jen Sincero, Stephen Covey, etc. Then, there have been less well-known but equally excellent writers like Ayodeji Awosika, Jessica Wildfire, Darius Foroux, Shannon Ashley, and numerous others I have encountered on Medium.

While some of the big names have made a lot of money off what they sell, with a few exceptions, they often have too narrow a focus. Some of them neglect the necessary balance achieved with the practice of mindfulness.

That balance is very much the key to self-help. Without applying feeling and action to thought, you haven’t enough power to move whatever tangible or intangible you would desire to.

It’s very hard to help yourself if your focus is wholly on thought and neglecting…