A self-help book is one that is written with the intention to instruct its readers on solving personal problems and also known and classified under "self-improvement", a term that is a modernized version of self-help.


Often, as a humble gesture, a person would tell advice to someone and end it with the phrase "just a thought," in order to not be outwardly argumentative or arrogant, yet still being persuasive. That is exactly the writing style of author Richard Byrd in his collection of about 100 thoughts titled Just A Thought.