Why the Gospel of Self-Improvement Isn't Good News

For Ruth Chou Simons, being her own hero doesn’t seem all that freeing. It looks exhausting.

If you want to sell millions of books, tell readers they can be their own hero. Tell them if they don’t have what they want, they need to demand it. Tell them that they can have everything if they work hard enough: the beautiful family, the booming business, the world-changing nonprofit venture.