Rah-Rah-Rah

Many may be surprised to learn that I'm not a fan of the term “self-help.”

Unfortunately, there is no way (that I have found) to get around it. If you write a book, teach a course, or develop a workshop involving something like human potential, people seem to naturally lump you in with the so-called “self-help” crowd. In other words, a lot of work I do gets mistaken for something like “five easy steps to ultimate success and happiness” or “you can be the undisputed master of the universe” or perhaps even “change your life and reduce your problems to an over generalized meaningless formula.” Maybe I'm being a tad overly dramatic, but it can be very difficult to explain to someone that a book, course, or workshop is about human potential (or confidence for that matter) without having such “overly dramatic” cliché phrases instantly appear in their mind.

But if The Catalyst of Confidence isn't a self-help book—what is it?

According to the Book Industry Standards and Communications (BISAC) category system—which is used by the industry to help identify and group books by their subject matter—The Catalyst of Confidence is listed as a self-help book, and falls specifically in the category of personal growth.

Let me explain.

I have no problem with the classifications “self-help” or “personal growth” per se. My issue is with many of the popular perceptions associated with these terms, such as those outlined above. Many people may assume that a book about “human potential” is really about convincing people they are better than they actually are; perhaps a kind of “rah-rah-rah” you're awesome! you-can-do-it-baby! kind of thing; or maybe a collection of stories about people who changed their lives with a standard “and you can do it too” moral.

This is definitely not the case.

Far be it from postulating a universal grandiose-like potential, the book is, on the contrary, about identifying and understanding one's true potential—the most important component of which being the understanding of one's limits and deceptions. It is not a book about over-inflating your perception of self in order to believe you're some kind of demigod. It is a book about analyzing the facts of being human and what that implies in terms of your capabilities. Confidence itself is simply the natural by-product of understanding your potential.