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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: self-help

self-help stories: 14 news summaries

 Guru Twittered About 
 Sweat Lodge Death 

But a source close to James Arthur Ray says this is common imagery

Oct 30, 09 10:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - James Arthur Ray, who yesterday canceled his upcoming appearances to devote all his "physical and emotional energies" to the fallout from the sweat lodge tragedy, talked a lot about death in the days leading up to the ceremony. His Twitter feed was full of posts that have since been... More »

MORE ABOUT:
death • New Age • self-help • deaths • Twitter • James Arthur Ray • sweat lodge • Sedona • Angel Valley Retreat Center

 People Still Signing Up 
 for Guru's Sweat Lodges 

James Arthur Ray is out recruiting, and audiences are buying, despite deaths

Oct 22, 09 5:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - James Arthur Ray has hardly missed a beat since three people died in one of his sweat lodge ceremonies two weeks ago: The self-help guru is back on the road peddling his workshops, and many members of his audience seem unfazed by the deaths. "When you're pushing the limits,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
death • self-help • deaths • James Arthur Ray • sweat lodge • sweat lodge survivor

 Third Sweat-Lodge Victim Dies 

Minnesota woman was longtime follower of self-help guru

Oct 18, 09 6:01 AM CDT
(AP) - A Minnesota woman became the third fatality yesterday in an Arizona sweat lodge ceremony that hospitalized nearly two dozen people. Liz Neuman, 49, died at a Flagstaff hospital after suffering multiple organ damage during the Oct. 8 ceremony at a resort near Sedona. Authorities were treating all three deaths as... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Arizona • homicide • New Age • self-help • James Arthur Ray • sweat lodge • Sedona • sweat lodge survivor

book review

Drug Dealers: Experts in Recessionary Business

CEOs could learn a lot from hustlers

Sep 21, 09 5:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - 50 Cent is the first rapper to pen a book of management advice. It’s a shame, then, that The 50th Law, co-written by Robert Greene, boils down to the worst kind of “be authentic” self-help boilerplate, writes Lucy Lucy Kellaway for the Financial Times. As a former drug... More »

MORE ABOUT:
layoffs • CEO • business • 50 Cent • downsizing • drug dealer • self-help • rightsizing

MOVIE REVIEW

 Love Happens 
 Is Manipulative Tripe 

Jennifer Aniston rom-com strikes out with critics

Sep 18, 09 2:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - If only love didn't happen. Critics are lambasting Jennifer Aniston's new rom-com, Love Happens—the story of a courtship between a florist and a grieving grief counselor—as predictable and manipulative:
  • It's "an inorganic soap opera," writes Michael Sragow in the Baltimore Sun. "Love happens here
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
movie review • Jennifer Aniston • self-help • romantic comedy

Thug: 'Suicidal Victim Paid Me
to Kill Him'

Manhattan man busted for murder of motivational speaker

Jul 23, 09 4:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - A career criminal arrested for the murder of a Long Island self-help guru claims that the man was seeking to commit "suicide by thug," the New York Daily News reports. The suspect told police that motivational speaker Jeff Locker, "a business spiritualist" and father of three, hired... More »

MORE ABOUT:
suicide • New York City • murder • self-help • Jeff Locker

The Power
of Negative Thinking

Better to acknowledge bad feelings than recite phony good ones

Jul 8, 09 2:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Deliberate positive thinking—from Norman Vincent Peale to Stuart Smalley—has long been touted as a way to overcome feelings of worthlessness and self-doubt. But a new study suggests that repeating positive mantras may often backfire, making people with low self-esteem feel even worse about themselves. For many, it may... More »

MORE ABOUT:
study • psychology • mind • self-help • psychotherapy • psychological research • positive thinking

Positive Thinking Can Make You Feel Worse: Study

Affirmations don't help low self-esteem

Jun 22, 09 10:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - It turns out the Little Engine That Could had it all wrong. Repeating positive statements to yourself doesn’t appear to help people with low self-esteem, according to a new study. Researchers asked students to repeat statements like “I am a lovable person” to themselves, then measured their mood.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
study • psychology • experiments • self-help • positive thinking • self-improvement • Norman Vincent Peale

Publishers Rush to Meet Need for Financial Advice

Bevy of new books strikes more somber, conservative tone

Jan 20, 09 2:46 PM CST
(Newser) - Book publishers and sellers are rushing to meet demand for personal-finance titles as the unrelenting economic crisis combines with New Year’s resolutions to prompt consumers to seek professional advice, the Wall Street Journal reports. However, the thrown-together texts might not prove very helpful: Many authors fail to provide specifics... More »

MORE ABOUT:
personal finance • financial planning • investment • book • self-help • economic adviser • financial crisis • 401(k) plans

 50 Ways to Improve Your 2009 

Resolutions for your health, wealth and playful self

Jan 1, 09 5:50 PM CST
(Newser) - Just in case your pledge to exercise more didn’t satiate your need for self-improvement resolutions, US News and World Report offers 50 more ways to improve your life in 2009. Here are a few:
  • Pack up for Vermont: When it comes to healthy habits and community, the Green
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
television • dementia • Abraham Lincoln • crossword puzzle • Hulu • Guitar Hero • self-help • self-improvement

9-Year-Old's Dating Book Headed for the Big Screen

Fox buys movie rights to How to Talk to Girls

Dec 9, 08 3:25 PM CST
(Newser) - Alec Greven, 9, knows more than How to Talk to Girls: He knows how to land a movie deal. Fox has purchased the rights to the fourth-grader’s self-help book, which offers advice like combing your hair and acting less hyper, the Hollywood Reporter notes. Fox paid in the low-to-mid... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Fox • HarperCollins • Colorado • book • self-help • Alec Greven

OPINION

Looking for
Mr. Good (Enough) Bar

Atlantic writer argues women should drop idealism and settle

Feb 23, 08 11:05 AM CST
(Newser) - Women in their 40s waiting for Mr. Right are "almost like teenagers who believe they're invulnerable to dying in a drunk-driving accident," Lori Gottlieb writes in the Atlantic Monthly. Gottlieb (single, 40ish), thinks women who shun "Mr. Good Enough" believing it's better to be alone are kidding... More »

MORE ABOUT:
feminism • marriage • family • dating • self-help • Lori Gottlieb • Mr Right • single women

'Grump' Finds Happiest Places

Author places Bhutan, Iceland at the top of his most joyous locales

Feb 13, 08 1:40 PM CST
(Newser) - When self-described grouch Eric Weiner packed his bags and set off to find personal bliss, one might've expected him to head for tropical weather or lavish settings. Au contraire, CNN reports: Weiner’s favorite countries were frigid Iceland and underdeveloped Bhutan. He found the most content people were those who... More »

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travel • Bhutan • Iceland • book • self-help • happiness • Eric Weiner • The Geography of Bliss

Bah, Happiness: Gloom Is Normal

Sadness is a normal emotion, not a disease, cries anti-joy crowd

Feb 7, 08 8:06 AM CST
(Newser) - Maybe you're feeling a little down—not to worry! Turn to self-help books, psychiatrists, little blue pills, or Dr. Phil to make you happier! But in Against Happiness, melancholy Eric Wilson rails against our culture’s “craven disregard for the value of sadness.” And a growing... More »

MORE ABOUT:
depression • psychiatry • antidepressant • psychology • Zoloft • Aristotle • Dr Phil • sadness • melancholy • self-help • Great Depression

14 Stories


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