A friend of mine told me how he went on an all-fruit diet for 3 days. This made me really curious and I asked him all sorts of details.

I added, "I think I want to try that. I think I'm up for something like that for some reason. I feel the need to go on a fast, or try an all-fruit diet, or maybe Epsom salts or something."

My friend responded back, "Oh yeah? You itching for some life-hacking?"

I think there's a certain kind of personality for this. Maybe it will eventually be put in the DSM-V. They could call it, "Self-Help Personality Disorder," wherein the patient constantly seeks to modify themselves, by going through various rituals, such as consuming self-help books, or engaging in fanciful diets or programs.

There's always this thought lingering in the back of my mind whenever I get sucked into a self-help book. There's always the question, "Is this impulse itself a problem?" I've been aware of this possibility for years, and based on my understanding, it can be. I've certainly been overly zealous about a self-help book that has caused damage to myself, and even to those around me. But I've also been fantastically liberated by self-help books.