There are so many self-help books out there that, were one to choose only a handful of the lot for some guidance and advice, one would have serious problems choosing. Judging from the message behind all of them, positive thinking is the key to success: a better social and professional position, more money, happiness, inner peace, love and everything else that is there to be desired. Performance Improvement Consultant Russell Bishop of the Huffington Post says in a new piece that the time has come to understand that positive thinking simply doesn’t work. Unless, of course, it does, he adds.

The common-sense distinction most of us are not making when it comes to positive thinking is that reading books and self-help materials is not the same as learning from them and then acting accordingly. Most people, Bishop argues, are content to just stacking their shelves with this type of books, devouring them all and then going on about their life as if nothing happened in the meanwhile. They then declare that positive thinking doesn’t work – and they’re right in saying that, with the sole mention that they haven’t even tried it before pronouncing it a failure.

Positive thinking must motivate us to change and get us acting towards it, Bishop says. “This is one of the most common personal traps I have encountered over the years – it’s kind of like saying, ‘I know that already and it doesn’t work,’ which may really translate to, ‘I’ve heard it before, but haven’t successfully applied it, therefore it doesn’t work.’ Reading about something is far different from actually getting involved. You can read a great cake recipe, but until you actually buy the ingredients, follow the recipe, and wait while the cake changes from batter to cake in the heat of the oven, not much will take place.” Bishop explains.

This is precisely why he can utter the contradictory conclusion without even flinching: positive thinking doesn’t work. Except when it does. The latter applies to those of us who, after reading one such self-help book, get their thoughts in order and start planning to take action in view of accomplishing something they do not have at that moment. For them, positive thinking is nothing but a means of putting things into perspective, of helping them see the bigger picture.

“Rather than simply thinking positively, holding a positive focus just might encourage some part of you to take positive action that, in turn, just might lead to a more positive set of experiences. However, until you get involved with the suggestions, actually try it out instead of just thinking about it, you will never really know. […] If you give up before even trying, if you declare that the recipe could not possibly work, not only will you miss out on the cake, but you will likely become demoralized and increasingly stuck.” Bishop concludes by saying.