This week there was a really interesting BBC TV programme on self-help
books. In this edition of the Personal Develoment through Philosophy and
Psychology Newsletter, we review this programme (which incidentally you can
still download using BBC's I
Player<http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b0090d9w.shtml?filter=category...>)
. Alan Yentob, the presenter of the BBC programme,  seemed to have learnt
something from giving self-help books a chance. Maybe we all can. To help us
all, I've produced a list of my current top ten personal development
books<http://www.timlebon.com/blog/2008/02/top-ten-personal-devlelopment-cl...>,
and also a brief  guide to one of my favourites not mentioned by Yentob,
Bertrand Russell's Conquest of
Happiness.<http://www.timlebon.com/blog/2008/02/bertrand-russells-conquest-of-ha...>BBC
Programme on Self-Help Books

He came to mock, but ended up producing one of the best and balanced
programmes on self-help books I've seen in a long time.

Alan Yentob, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Yentob> former Controller of
BBC 1, gave us a glimpse of many of the self-help greats in The Secrets of
Life <http://www.bbc.co.uk/imagine/episode/the_secret_of_life.shtml>, the
latest programme in his Imagine series.

The programme begun with The
Secret,<http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Rhonda-Byrne/dp/1847370292/ref=pd_bbs_...>a
massive commercial success but an easy target for the sceptic. The
"Law
of Attraction" <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Attraction> which
underpins the book goes back a long way but is sufficiently New-Agey to get
the "Are you Serious?" treatment from Yentob. "I can't help thinking that
the easiest way to make money from self-help books seems to be to write
one", he sneered.

Fortunately, though, Yentob wasn't the only voice we heard, and This
Life<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115390/>writer Amy
Jenkins <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Jenkins>
provided a balancing and very sane perspective in praise of self-help books.

Read more ...<http://www.timlebon.com/blog/2008/02/bbc-programme-on-self-help-books...>
Top Ten personal devlelopment classics

Whilst there are plenty of flakey self-help books out there, the very best
personal development books contain wisdom delivered in language we can all
understand. They can both be inspiring and insightful.

What is needed is a way to sort the wheat from the chaff. I've been a fan of
the genre and been using them as part of my therapy and coaching work for
quite some time. So which books have I and my clients found most helpful?
Each year I update my personal top ten self-books - which books have I found
most helpful in the last year.

The best self-help/personal development classics

My annual personal top ten (in brackets is position last year)

1. The Seven Habits of Highly effective
People<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684858398/timlebonsphiloso>
Stephen
Covey (1)

2. Man's Search for Meaning
<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671023373/timlebonsphiloso> Viktor
Frankl (2)

3. The Feeling Good
Handbook<http://www.spiritsite.com/writing/davbur/part1.shtml>  David
Burns (8)
4. Overcoming Low
Self-Esteem<http://www.self-help.org.uk/books/guides/low-self-esteem->
Melanie
Fennell (5)

Read more ..<http://www.timlebon.com/blog/2008/02/top-ten-personal-devlelopment-cl...>

Bertrand Russell's Conquest of Happiness - a personal development classic

<http://www.timlebon.com/blog/uploaded_images/conquestofhappiness-7083...><http://www.timlebon.com/blog/uploaded_images/bertrandrussell-713235.jpeg>

 **

* *

Bertrand Russell's *Conquest of
Happiness<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0415098645//timlebonsphiloso...>
*

Bertrand Russell's books were described by *Time *magazine as a modern
substitute for the Bible. If this is so, the *The Conquest of Happiness *must
be at the very centre of his works.

Make no mistake, this is no abstract philosophical treatise – it is a recipe
for good living, written for the likes of you and me. Russell's work is
based on two assumptions. First, happiness needs to be conquered. You can't
expect to waltz through life reaping happiness without putting in some
thought and effort. But – and this is why *The Conquest of Happiness *is
essentially an optimistic book– if you do make this effort, you can, given
average fortune, attain happiness.

 The conquest of happiness comes in three stages ....

Read more ..<http://www.timlebon.com/blog/2008/02/bertrand-russells-conquest-of-ha...>