Anybody who's into self-help should read at least a couple books of skepticism toward the field. Right now, for example, I'm in the midst of reading Stumbling Upon Happiness and SHAM: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless.

Rather than being discouraged by the attack, I feel safer knowing what the skeptics are liable to say. Here's what Steve Salerno, in SHAM, says about Marianne Williamson:

Even for some industry insiders, the unswerving fidelity of Williamson's sizable base constituency can be puzzling, since her books are so repetitive, and she spends so much time blithely stating the obvious: "A sense of separateness dissolves in the presence of real intimacy," Williamson tells audiences. Or, "The reason we feel powerless is simply because we're not expressing our power." Or, "The challenge is to create on Earth as it is in Heaven." ... Such lines, like so much of SHAM, have that whiff of contrived profundity that obscure poets often employ to mask the odor of dubious sense.

The thing is, even in the circular-sounding phraseology of Williamson, I find value. I feel moved by what she is saying. The one-line zinger format is precisely my methodology for self-help. My way is essentially principle-centered thinking, and it sounds similar to those quotes from Williamson.

For example, I have a principle that has been Re-Tweeted a handful of times on Twitter:

To someone like Salerno, that kind of sentence is meaningless. But to me, and apparently others, it means a whole lot.

People are moved by different things. Some people are moved by a priest invoking ancient texts. Others are moved by Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Whatever you're deal is, I won't judge you for it, as long as it tends to do more good than harm.

I kind of like Gretchen Rubin's use of the term "Happiness Project." Everybody must make it their own personal project to find happiness. Everybody who wants to grow needs to discover what medium moves them, and then receive as much material through that medium as possible. Regardless of what the doubters say.

Here is Marianne Williamson:

Honestly, this video doesn't work or even really make sense to me. But I know it will for a lot of people. And that's fine with me.