The Best Self-Help Gurus Are Probably Slightly Depressed

Thoughts gathered reading a ton of self-help guru’s articles.

@anniespratt unsplash.com

As I glanced up from my phone, something clicked. There was a moment of clarity as I closed the article that I was reading from a self-help guru. This moment of “How did they come up with this train of thought?”, “I should go and try this.” inspires me into action. I spend the afternoon thinking about the article in the back of my mind. I can’t wait until my son goes to sleep tonight so that I can go try the tips from this self-help guru.

This is what it’s like to be inspired into action by effective self-help gurus.

By effective, I don’t mean that they have to have a New York Times bestseller. I don’t mean that their articles even go viral. I also don’t mean that they have a fancy mailing list of worshippers.

The best self-help gurus are the ones who are sitting next to you and me.

They are the people who we live with, work with, or go to school with. They are often those who are so involved in solving problems in their own life that they are slightly depressed over it. They may even be obsessed with some key issues in their life that they think about over and over again for years.

Some of them even have mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder that exhibit “mania” symptoms. In their mania, they often come up with “bright” ideas that make connections between events that are extraordinary.

This is what happens when ordinary people are least likely to help you give you the absolute best advice on life.

Many of these people also give engaging advice. Did you know that the best comedians are the ones who deal with depression? It’s in these down moments, that these comedians look for “light” in comedy.

Don’t judge people by their cover. You never know who is going to help you.

This person might be that disabled blind person who is sitting right next to you on the subway platform. But, you didn’t know that this person will show up tonight on national TV to sing a song that inspires millions of people.

Are you just an ordinary person? Perhaps, you are slightly depressed. How do you get out of bed?

Think long and hard about how you can muster the motivation to get out of the bed and write about it. Chances are, someone somewhere is having trouble with just that and need a kick in the butt to get going.

What are you waiting for?