I have been told that one could pick pretty much any self-help program and follow it, and it would work on the condition that they stick to it and actually do the program. It is tempting to just read a book and think, "oh, that's nice," or interesting or whatever. That's probably what most people do most of the time, but it doesn't work because they don't actually change.

Why don't people do the stuff that they read about that makes so much sense in print? My guess is that it's the same resistance that we encounter in any kind of therapy. Change is hard and uncomfortable and there are reasons for being the way that we are, even if there are better reasons for changing. Inertia isn't easy to overcome. We might just think we'll do it later. I think that one of the most important things that therapists and support groups help with is accountability to identify and overcome resistance and actually do something. Not that people can't do that on their own - just that most of the time, most people don't do it.

I shouldn't talk. I've read lots of self-help books, and I start out with good intentions, but usually I get to a section that is hard, and I don't know how to do it, and it makes me tired just to think about it. So I put the book down for a few days/weeks/months/years. I'm somewhere in the middle of at least four different self-help books now. Counting online ones, make that at least six.

Rap