I just watched this video that does a great job of articulating a few important truths.
There’s nothing new in self-help. It is all repackaged religion and philosophy. Perhaps you’re reading this because you like the way that things are packaged here. If so, that is great BUT
Understanding what you need to do to improve your performance (my phrasing of self-help) is pretty simple. The hard part is doing what you know will be effective.
At a certain point, wanting to learn the ‘best’ or ‘most efficient’ way to optimize your performance will basically turn into procrastination.
The main takeaway? If there’s something you know you could be doing right now to make yourself healthier, do it. Not later. Not after you read another book or more articles about other things you might be able to do. Just do that one thing you’re confident will be a step in the right direction, and don’t allow yourself to justify putting it off. You only have to pick one thing, there’s SOMETHING you can get started with, no matter what else is going on. Health will help you achieve your purpose, whatever it is. Don’t expect it to be easy. It won’t be. Just remember the first step is typically the hardest, and if it was easy you would’ve already done it, and hence not needed this pep talk. Starting a new health behavior is always a good investment, and there is always at least one piece of low-hanging fruit, so go pluck it!
Here's one tiny change that I've found makes a huge difference: putting my phone down and out of reach when it's bedtime. Even better if I put it away about an hour before bed. Simple and difficult, can be done any time with just a bit of resolve. I can think of many little things like this that together have a really nice compounding effect on my health.
My niece wanted Atomic Habits for Christmas. I found it in a Target, 30% off the $28 price. I paged through it for five minutes and put it back on the shelf.
I told my niece, the first rule of a NYT bestseller, wait a few months and buy it for $7 in a used bookstore. Second, it is probably garbage anyway, this one not an exception.
I will say though, there are many books on spiritual magic that are very useful. But, that depends on whether you actually want to change. If you don't want to do the work - most people don't - don't bother. But if you do the work, it will be worth it.