Too Much Self-Help Is What To Do, Real Help Is Showing People How To Do it

The problem with most self-help is that it tells you what to do but not how to do it.

This should help make the point:

I know I shouldn’t eat the cookies. I know it when I walk past them. I know it when they throw me the eye from the counter, and I know it when their siren song begs me closer.

I don’t need a strategy of the logic behind “what” to do, I need a strategy for a process of “how” to avoid the cookies.

When we think of our own work, we want to steer clear of just saying what and focus on how. We want solutions that drive progress. Our customers want solutions that get results. There’s power (and profits!) in implementation.

Here are some examples of “how” answers to my cookie problem:

A cookie jar with a lock

A no cookies in the house rule

Put fresh fruit in the cookie jar

Instead of empty advice like, “What you should do is x,” aim for useful advice like, “Here’s how to do what you want to do.” Leave the what’s to the self-help gurus, yoga babblers, and hustle pornstars. Build an actual business on how.