Are You Reading Instead of Taking Action?

Reading about self-improvement can be a compliment or a substitute for taking action.

• A complement view to self-improvement writing is that it should aid with personal development - the more books you read, the more likely you are to work on improving yourself.
• With substitutes, we really want that good feeling that we're doing something to improve our personal development. Reading about improvement can fill that need even though the challenges we're facing aren't being resolved immediately.

To find out if the substitute or complement dominates will depend on many factors.

• The material itself. Some types of self-improvement provide a large emotional payoff but are weak on substantial follow-up. They don't make good complements.
• The Nature of the self-improvement task. Some types of self-improvement work are difficult. In those areas, it might be easier to consume self-improvement material instead.