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Put Down the Self-Help Books and Cut Yourself Some Slack

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Youngstown chapter.

Lately it seems like everywhere I turn I’m seeing self-help books. TikTok, the airport, bookstores, you name it. The amount of self-help books I’ve seen has been growing fast, and the “that girl” or “it girl” trend is to blame. You know that girl. The one who wakes up at 5am to go to the gym before a full day of work, then gets home and cleans her entire apartment and does a 15-step skincare routine and reads a self-help book before bed?

There’s nothing wrong with being that girl, but if you aren’t her, that’s okay.

While I am a believer that your 20s is a time to hustle and do a lot of career oriented things, I don’t think you need to be on go-mode all the time and dedicate every waking hour to becoming the best version of yourself. For some people, that isn’t healthy and can lead to burnout very quickly. As someone who is prone to burnout, after trying to force myself to be on go-mode for only about a week, I could feel myself getting frustrated over the smallest things and having no motivation for anything I enjoy.

Even the top-rated self-help books can be boring if that’s all you’re reading. Let yourself have a break from doing things to better yourself and just zone out watching your comfort movie. Or find a good reality show to watch. Not everything has to be dedicated to personal growth.

Even if you’re obsessed with personal growth like a lot of other people this generation seem to be, a little break every now and then won’t hurt. In fact, it’ll refresh you and make those self-help books seem even better when you go back to them.

Rachel is a senior at Youngstown State University, majoring in Marketing with a minor in Advertising & PR. She was the founder of the Youngstown chapter of Her Campus and served as Campus Correspondent/President for 2.5 years. She now serves as the Campus Outreach Chair. She is also sister of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, where she serves as the Vice President of Programming. She is passionate about content creation and leaving a legacy in the organizations she is a part of. In her free time she enjoys traveling, spending time with friends, family, and her boyfriend, and shopping.