Go to any bookstore in the United States and you'll find rows and rows of self-help books dedicated to overcoming negative habits and programming. It's staggering and a bit overwhelming (yep, there are books about that, too) to know which book will actually do the trick, fix the problem, or solve the issue. So many things need to be helped, addressed, and saved. Yikes! Are we really that bad off?

Personally, when I stand in front of the self-help section-which I try not to do very often-within minutes my eyes glaze over and my mind turns to mush. I can't see. I can't think. Maybe there's a book that could help me with that?

Self-Help Books to the Rescue?

Obviously, self-help books are hot commodities. After all, they're here to help. Help who? Help you. Help you what? Get over the past, break free from the chains that bind you, forgive those who have hurt you, and overcome your problems.

Self-help books are making some amazing claims nowadays. Here are some examples I lifted from a recent walk-through at my neighborhood Barnes and Noble:

• Learn how to overcome negative programming from infancy.

• Learn how to re-program the negative experiences that have been hardwired into you from birth.

• Make friends with your critical inner parent.

• Discover how your childhood wounds are holding you back in your intimate relationships.

• This process will teach you how to start improving your current situation that is a result of years and years of negative thinking.

• Start getting the results you want today by overcoming your past.

• Get rid of the thick layer of negative thoughts and beliefs that are making you unconsciously manifest everything you don't want in your life.

• Learn to work with your past, not against it.

Pretty impressive, huh? Well, don't be fooled. Don't allow yourself, even for one minute, to be lulled into these claims. Here's why. Consider this: There is nothing to overcome. There is no hurdle that must be jumped, nothing to wrestle to the ground, and certainly nothing that needs to be fixed.

OK. Maybe there are some things that you'd like to increase your awareness of or learn more about. Fine. But fix? "Fix" is for things, not people. You are perfect just as you are.

Not All Self-Help Books Are Created Equal

There are two kinds of self-help books on the market today. Those founded on the belief that there is something wrong with you and those that aren't. Books based on the premise that you are an incomplete, broken, and damaged person are books founded in flaw, deficit, and decay. Books based on the premise that you are a complete, intact, and whole person are books founded in wellness, fullness, and life.

The authors of these books know that the only thing hardwired into you is your eternal God-Self. They know that nothing "awful" from the past has any effect on your eternal God-Self. No matter how many years you've been thinking negatively, your eternal God-Self just is. It's not separate from you. It's who you are, all you were, and all you ever will be. Nothing can affect that. Know this. Live this.

Remember the WYTIWYG

Your greatest point of creation is in the now. If you want something to change, change your thoughts. Now. It's really that easy. Just think thoughts in the direction of what you want. Your thoughts will become things.

The only reason we keep repeatedly experiencing what we perceive as negative things from the past is that we continually rethink the same thoughts. Don't like what you're manifesting? Change what you're thinking. It really is that easy, folks. It's easy, because your hardware is God-Self. Your software is whatever program you choose to run. Software in. Software out. Software is easy to uninstall!

Since we're using the computer as metaphor, remember the acronym WYSIWYG-what you see is what you get? Well, the key to conscious creation is WYTIWYG-what you think is what you get.

So, the next time you feel the urge to change yourself; don't run to the nearest bookstore. Save your money! Just remember WYTIWYG. Get it? Wit-ee-wig! Keep your wits about you. You don't need to change anything except your thoughts. Change your thoughts, change your life!