Self-help books are the real deal

This is in response to last week’s article which posed Self-help books: hope or hype? (Literary Discourse Standard on Sunday August 10, 2014). For a start, I have written 10 books, and not five as mentioned in the article.

Self-help books are a source of hope to humanity. I am a product of self-help books and what changed my life is Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People which I was given in 2007 when I was a volunteer in Rwanda.

That book transformed me completely and I was able to discover my purpose early in life after I had just completed high school.

Kenyans love reading self-help books because they get value for their money. If you doubt whether they sell more than any other genre, check with street booksellers. No hawker risks selling a product that does not move like hot cakes. Self-help books are among the most expensive but what makes them sell is not hype but the results one achieves after reading them.

Transform lives

Self-help books are real hope and lives have been transformed through them. Motivation literature is the real deal and that is why once you read one and apply the lessons, your life can never be the same.

Martin Luther, Henry Ford and Mahatma Gandhi are products of the self-help book In Tune with the Infinite by Ralph Waldo Trine. Og Mandino, who is among the world’s greatest authors and among my favourites, wanted to commit suicide and had even bought a gun but changed his mind when he read Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude by Napoleon Hill and Clement Stone.

When I read messages from people who have read my books, I am humbled to know what they have achieved.

You see, there are two ways through which one can acquire wisdom. Either by paying the full price or borrowing from those who have it. The most affordable way is through a book.

I disagree with the writer’s position that you cannot tell people how to be rich when you are not rich and you cannot tell people how to be a successful business leader when your business is doing badly.

Today, one of the world’s best-selling self-help books is The Secret by Rhoda Byrne. She wrote the book when she was not rich and readers have become rich through it.

Grow rich

Another book which has helped so many successful people is Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich which he wrote when he was poor. He acquired that wisdom by observing the rich. He borrowed that wisdom from those who had paid the full price.

The most celebrated corporate leaders today is Jack Welch and the person who helped him transform General Electric is Peter Drucker who did not have his own successful business but posed to him two golden questions that made all the difference.

Yes, we have two kinds of authors of self-help books.  There are those who pay the full price for their wisdom and the ones who observe others and write.

Think about our own local authors like Churchill Winstones Ochieng who was once a hawker, and became not only a banker but is today a General Manager at Faulu.

When you read his book From Hawker to Banker, you learn where he comes from and you not only get inspired but provoked to know that no matter where you are, you can make it.

You can read a wonderful book by an author who borrowed from and observed an expert who has never written. It is easy to write from your own story just as Donald Trump talks about how to get rich, but I respect authors of self-help books who observe experts and reflect on their lessons.

Self-image

My line of writing is on self-image and I write what has worked for me. I have also read great motivation books by authors who have observed what other successful people have done but did not write. Think about presidential advisors who have never been on the ballot box but their advice help in transforming nations.

Writing is not about making money and if you write for money you might die very poor. Just like a painter paints on a canvas so with authors. When I started writing, I was planning to write only one book, but  I found that within a span of seven years, I have authored ten books.

Every book has its inspiration and readers respond differently to each and every one. It is the feedback we get from our readers that keep us writing and they also challenge us to write.

The Power of Self Image For Best Customer Service and The Power of Self Image For Best Salesman and How to be Lazy and Become the Most Successful Salesman were born out of challenge from the staff of a supermarket chain who I was training on those topics but I did not have a book.

Nothing gives an author satisfaction than an honest feedback from a reader. It is more than any amount of money  can ever be paid  since you know you are making a difference.

And yes, we have authors who have no deep reflection as Egara Kabaji and Barrack Muluka said but this is not the time to criticise them but to encourage them. When I started writing, no publisher knew me and no one was willing to invest in my work. After self-publishing, there was great demand for my work. We have so many great writers, but the biggest challenge is that publishers are not willing to invest in them because they are unknown.