The Best Personal Development Book I’ve Ever Read

When I was in prison, I devoured self-help and personal development books like I used to consume money and alcohol.

More wasn’t enough, and enough wasn’t enough.

As I was finishing a book I believed would change my life, anxiety, and dread consumed me as the pages remaining grew thinner and thinner.

I’d start thinking about my next fix and panic when I didn’t have another book lined up.

I was broken and needed to be fixed; I now know this is the furthest thing from the truth, but I believed it back then.

I also believed my salvation was inside the books I was reading.

After I read a book, I’d be inspired and fired up for a day or two, diving headfirst into the author’s formula or strategy. Inevitably, it wouldn’t work, and shame quickly replaced inspiration.

It was the shame of woeful inadequacy and inability to capture the magic that “millions” of other readers had.

My personal development journey in prison, and for about a year or two after I was released, was a shame-filled journey on the self-help treadmill to nowhere.

One day, I had enough and made one of the best decisions I’ve ever made: stepping off the self-help treadmill.