The Toxic world of self-development

The reason most seek self-development is because they have a sense of

dissatisfaction with where they are currently are in life. that is not a bad thing
wanting to change your standard of living is a good thing the problem lies in your
vulnerability. self-development has a lure to it.

The illusion of progress

the feeling of accomplishment when you have consumed some self-development,
you feel as you have done something great and as if you have been very productive,
that motivation lingers in your system, urging you to be more productive and to
accomplish more (buy that next book, attend the next seminar) because of the way it
makes you feel upon completion. the repetition of this cycle is how the industry traps
you as your now addicted to self-help but when you reflect on your self-help journey
you realize NOTHING HAS CHANGE & NO ACTION HAS BEEN TAKEN.

ACTION FAKING

A ction faking can be defined as doing things that make you think you are
making progress when you are not, even though no progress has been
made. it is reading about business but never actually building one.
consuming a lot of knowledge instead as much action

action faking is a more lethal form of procrastination because you are tricking
yourself into believing your making progress. you do not need to listen to every
podcast, attend every seminar or read every self-help book. you are doing too much
consuming and the action that needs to be taken is postponed or never done. this is
the trap that everyone traps themselves in

you then realise: NO PROGRESS WAS MADE; NO ACHIEVEMENTS TO SHOW YOUR

CONSUMPTION, YOU ONLY GOT BETTER AT CONVINCING YOURSELF THAT YOU DID

but behind your self-help addiction and all your purchases and constant pursuit of
motivation someone is profiting through your self-help addiction. all the authors,
speakers the people behind the podcast. they heavily benefit from your pursuit of
self-help. They build up artificial motivation, motivation that makes you always come
back to seek more this is how they trap you.
the self-help industry estimated to be worth 13 billion.
they trap you because you do not question their motives. Something your most
probably saying in your head is: sure, they are making money, but they are returning
so much value the content they are providing is worth it. naive thinking like this
cannot be applied for an industry worth billions.
you are more profitable to the self-help industry unhappy and discontent then you
are happy and fulfilled. the feeling of being unsatisfied with yourself hence the
want to improve your life and that creates vulnerability. they use the feeling of
inadequacy to reel you in. your mentors & gurus well aware of what they are doing.

the combination of inadequacy and the small high you get every time you consume
their self-help content, makes you an average consumer of their product.

the next big thing

you then fall in the trap of looking for the “next big thing” this further adds into your
consuming habits. you think to yourself that you need one more thing before
everything changes you are now in an endless goose chase looking for one last thing.

The self-help industry is a huge business, and it is reliant on you not being content &
satisfied with yourself for you to continue consuming the goods & services it
produces.

be careful & question your mentors and the value of the courses, the content they
provide, the seminars & the books. ask yourself “am I going to need to be told to
write my goals 7 different times in 7 different ways in 7 different books from 7
different people?” ask yourself

HAVE I CONSUMED MORE FROM THIS INDUSTRY THAN I HAVR PUT INTO ACTUAL
ACTION?

Toxic positivity
self-development is like a bubble, filled with positivity and hopes of prospering &
being successful, your made to think quitting is wrong in this bubble even if you lose
your passion or love for certain those things you were once passionate for because
you believe quitting is wrong this state of confusion in your head creates a quest for
clarity dumping you back into self-help. the actual meaningful things are created
through struggle & failure
H ustle culture is this idea of grinding working harder than anyone else, being
productive every second of the day, it is a concept that is well taught in the
self-development community. nowhere did I say it is a bad thing if you are
going to want to make it in life, you are going to have to work hard that is a reality
however hustle culture represents working harder for the sake of working harder.
it is pretending to busy when you are not, sounding like your busy and like you are
working towards success even though you are not achieving anything. working hard
is one piece of the puzzle working hard at the right thing is the final piece of that
puzzle.

problems with working hard

is that the following may happen to you:
-burn out, a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused be excessive
prolonged stress.
-working towards the wrong thing the illusion of progress for example you could
have a fitness blog informing readers how to lose a few kilos but what sets your blog
apart from the millions already up? A clear example of working towards the wrong
thing.
like I previously mentioned working hard is needed in order to achieve success
guaranteed is at the right thing. listen to the following quote, “if working hard made
you rich construction workers would be the richest men in the world.” it is not about
working hard it is about working hard at the right thing.
Understanding that working hard at the right thing is vital concept one needs to
understand in order to achieve progress in the world of self-development.

I n conclusion self-help is beneficial when used correctly if used as a quick fix or

motivational high chances of true success are limited. this was to show you traps
that people fall into if they use the industry the wrong way.

In order to truly succeed there needs to be a balance between both your consuming
and action taking. there must be a balanced relationship between your
consumption & action taking and a combination of both must be executed in order
to truly see progress. This I believe is something that can make the self-help truly
useful.

Compiled by: Musa Maphanga _____________________