Self-help for PhDs (by PhDs)

During my undergrad I worked part-time at a Chapters bookstore in Ottawa, a big-box retailer similar to Barnes & Noble. My area of the store was the “Lifestyles” section, assigned to me because that’s where the opening was when I was hired. That section included many of the store’s non-fiction books, including self-help titles. Anyone who knew me laughed when they heard. It was funny enough that I was engaging in customer service! I was known as a sometimes-grouchy eye-roller back then (and for years afterward).

Now, I was actually a pretty good employee. But I never paid much attention to the contents of the books I was charged with selling. Because, COME ON.

Fast-forward years later and, surprise, surprise . . . I love self-help books! I recently and quite earnestly read a book by Eckhart Tolle, he of the Power of Now; I’ve read Chérie Carter-Scott‘s If Life is a Game, These are the Rules.

For me, the road to self-help books was paved by career guides and business books, including What Color is Your Parachute? Then, at Hillary‘s suggestion, I took William Bridges‘ Transitions out of the library. (I blogged about it here.) Then, because I wondered if I might want to be a coach myself, I read (among others) Carter-Scott’s Transformational Life Coaching. I didn’t realize who she was! But it resonated with me, and I picked up some new vocabulary. Excited, and wanting to contribute to my “positive energy flow,” Hillary turned me on to Pema Chödrön. This got me into a late-night street-corner yelling match with a friend, but it also brought me closer to two others, both PhDs, who are (I discovered) old hands at this Buddhist-inspired stuff, including mindfulness meditation practice à la Jon Kabat-Zinn. Insert some of his audio CDs—smart dude. Then, Tara Brach entered my life, highly recommended by one of the aforementioned (non-yelling) friends. I’ve been listening to Brach’s talks and guided meditations every night since Easter weekend.

The other day, in the midst of a self-help/personal growth/positive psychology reading binge, I realized I had beside me books by four different PhDs, and only books by PhDs: coaches Martha Beck and Carter-Scott, psychology professor Marty Seligman, and Tina Seelig, executive director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. Bridges is a PhD (and former English professor), too, and so are Brach (clinical psychology) and Kabat-Zinn (molecular biology). Heck, even Tolle was once a PhD student. Seelig, Seligman, and Kabat-Zinn have university posts, but not necessarily where you’d expect to find them.

What to make of all this? Well, first (and clearly), I love reading and learning, and I find it fascinating to explore a subject—presence or mindfulness—from a variety of angles. Second, thumbs up to my daily meditation practice. Third, PhDs are everywhere, including the much maligned (by me) self-help world. (Here are some more, and go [re]watch this TED talk while you’re at it.) Fourth, I like this world, and it feels right—yes, feels—to be playing around in it. Fifth, bring on the coach training! (I start tomorrow!)