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“Why are we here?”

A friend and Lost enthusiast spoke about this particular theme during a dinner conversation as it was explored by the hit TV show. Our innate curiosity causes us to answer this controversial question and helps to explain why self-help books, advice columns and “how to” Web sites are so popular today. Whether or not we believe our destinies have been written, we continue to buy into the idea that we have the power to effect major change in our lives. Authors lure us with promisory titles such as The 1-Minute Millionaire, Six-Minute Abs and How to Make Anyone Fall in Love with You.

More often than not, self-improvement products apply basic reasoning to sell their argument. A few years ago you may have read The Secret, a book that created a lot of buzz around its tenet that focused positive thinking could increase your wealth, health and happiness. It’s now hip to read business-related books based on similar notions of bold logic. In Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, we are taught that we should rely on snap judgments we make during encounters. Essentially the adage, “go with your gut,” is the moral takeaway. In Stephen R. Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he relates the personal attributes of fairness, integrity, honesty and human dignity to common business practices.

The formula in this genre is fairly predictable: take predigested messages and frame them in shiny new packaging. While there’s nothing wrong with taking information we already accept as truth and applying it to real-life situations, readers should step back and realize that there’s nothing especially innovative here, either.

So you want to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company? Read an article titled as such on ehow.com to learn that you’ll need a resume, business attire, and a PDA to accomplish this. You can even read a “how to” article on faking a life change, such as how to appear wealthier.

Will applying someone else’s ideas really make a difference in our lives, or better yet, point us to our greater purpose? In this vein, the Lost fan will ponder whether our lives are predetermined. If I apply Gladwell’s principle, my gut feeling tells me that no one book, author or TV show can provide me with the answer, and that the secret will be revealed by me, along with a little common sense.