The demand for self-improvement products has never been higher in modern times. The self-help / personal development industry is a billion dollar industry. Just go to any bookstore and you will see row upon row of self-improvement books. It’s like every two weeks there is a new book by a new success guru. Similarly, there are many audio programs, videos, seminars, and courses on a variety of self-improvement categories. Despite the relatively high price to purchase these seminars and courses, the demand is still as great as ever.
It’s common to hear stories of successful people reading tons of self-improvement books, attending numerous courses, and basically filling their brains with anything that can help them improve and be successful. Continually involving yourself in personal development material can help keep the momentum for improvement and success constant.
Although it is great, there is always the danger of overdoing it. Like everything else in life, you need balance. For all self-improvement enthusiasts, there is the possibility of falling into the trap of using self-improvement for hope rather than actual results.
Have you ever met or heard of someone who reads book after book, attends seminar after seminar, and keeps searching for the latest “success secret” but is never able to turn all of that into external success? Despite not being successful, these people continue to do the same, maintaining their faith in the self-improvement movement.
If what they learned didn’t bring big changes, they continue to read more books, attend other seminars, and continue to search for the secret ingredient that they believe will transform their lives.
And in the end, they do this their whole lives without really getting the success that was promised in the books / seminars / courses.
Because they are unhappy and want to change various aspects of their lives, people turn to self-improvement as it promises them the ability to make changes. But this turn to self-improvement can turn like an addiction, like a drug.
Here is an example. When things are not going well, you buy a book that promises it can teach you how to turn things around quickly. You start to think “Yes, if I learn these things everything will be fine.” So now you have some hope. For the next 3 months you immerse yourself in the book. But then nothing changed much. Then you start to feel depressed again, until you see an advertisement for a successful course that promises to change your life. Then you feel great again, you are optimistic for the future. But 6 months after attending the course, things remain the same. You feel depressed again … until you see another great thing that promises the same results … And this can go on and on.
Unknowingly, many self-improvement enthusiasts, when they do this, are only using self-improvement to buy hope for a better future. This continually puts your focus on solving problems in the future, rather than facing problems head-on right now. This keeps them dreaming of a wonderful future and makes living in the present more bearable. In other words, they are using self-improvement to stay in dreamland of a wonderful future and forgetting to take action to deal with the reality of the current situation.
The truth is that most of the teachings and techniques out there actually work. If you have gone through several teachings of personal development, you will find that most preach similar things. The reason some people are successful and others are not because, aside from the techniques and philosophy learned, success requires passion, willpower, discipline, a unique mindset, and a burning desire to achieve it.
So before you start looking for a new book, a new course, or getting involved in something new, ask yourself, “Do I have a burning desire to succeed? Have I mastered what I learned and am I using it every day? Am I using self-improvement? personal? buy hope instead of really improving myself? ”
Make sure you don’t get addicted to buying hope through self-improvement.
Copyright (c) Ethan Beh
