Is the Cowboy Code the Best Self-Help Book Ever?

Self-help books are still a booming business!  Many new books arrive daily and most can be downloaded directly to your phone, iPad or reading device.  But are they any better than the code that governed the wild west??

The Huffington Post did a story recently about a woman who had read over 500 self-help books and broke them down into 5 main principles - Take Responsibility for Your Life / Do Things you Love and are Passionate about / Happiness is Up to You and is All in Your Own Head / Love Yourself / Stay Positive and have Faith Good things Will Happen if you Make the Effort.

Cowboys and the West are often referred to as the best part of the US.  So lets compare the Cowboy Code of Ethics, otherwise know as the Code of the West to the self-help principles from above.

The Cowboy Code consists of ten simple principles that were used to governed the west back in the days before the west was settled. The code of the west is one that was influential in helping civilize a raw landscape and one in which people could rely upon.

• Live Each Day with Courage
• Take Pride in your Work
• Always Finish What You Start
• Do What Has to be Done
• Be Tough, But Fair
• When you make a Promise, Keep it.
• Ride for the Brand
• Talk Less and Say More
• Remember that Some Things are not for Sale
• Know Where to Draw the Line

As you look and compare the principles from the self-help books versus the Cowboy Code, you see an awful lot of overlap.  Seems to me that the Cowboy Code covers a greater range in much fewer words and has provided the foundation for much of today's self-help industry.

Even with the abbreviated self-help principles list above, I'll take the Code of the West to live by.  It's also much of the reason that Wyoming is full of such great people and is such and awesome place to live.

Source: Huffington Post / Pinterest