Self help is starting to make me vomit. I went in DEEP into the self help industry for about 5 years. Like I’m talking crazy stuff like chakra cleansing, transcendence of ego, emotional freedom tapping and so forth. Really hippy yoga shizz. To an extent, I’m still into it and probably always will be because I believe in carving out my best self. I get what I need about a subject at the time I need it and move on. I had a guy email me the other day asking me to submit my blog into his self help blog directory. Ignored. I’m no self help guru, and I don’t claim to be. What I write isn’t self help. Its atypical. I challenge conventional wisdom and common sense. I take action and make mistakes. Its my journey into awesomehood, and if you get something out of it then even better.
The thing with self help is, people write these lists, 10 things you need to do to be happy, 14 things to help you stop stressing, 45 ways to save a kitten, and they are all USELESS. These people aren’t any better off than you are. I bet I could get under their skin if I really wanted to 😉 The reason that I am so against reading these tips is it is an excuse for inaction. Some people call it paralysis by analysis, I call it the one more thing syndrome. One more book to read then I will be ready. One more purchase then I will be complete. One more piece of equipment then I can start. One more piece of advice so I’m prepared. All cleverly masked excuses. I would prefer something called next syndrome. What’s the next challenge, what’s the next obstacle to overcome, what’s the next mistake I’m going to learn from? There’s just no way in hell you need 45 ways to stay positive, firstly because you aren’t going to remember them all, and secondly because it doesn’t matter. You need one and only one. You aren’t going to read a 5000 word blog post by Steve Pavlina about the “Law of Attraction” and then become complete. Instead of reading that, go out and do something that will actually get you results. There is NO fundamental difference between reading a blog post about “Moving past fear based emotions” and watching a youtube video of a guy farting in terms of actually defeating your fear of something. Want to beat your fear? Then do the thing that terrifies you.
You need ONE tip to relieve stress. Breathe. Want another one? Ok fine, but last one. Stop doing that thing that stresses you. DONE. Moving on. You need ONE tip to get in shape. Eat less. One more? Fine. Exercise. That’s it, not hard at all. The best technique, the most efficient method, the smartest tool, you’ll find out eventually through trial and error and immersion into the subject once you start doing it, not usually before. Too much advice is bad, too many choices is very bad. Simplify, reduce, limit your choices, ignore everybody. Nike had it right with their “Just Do It” slogan. Really, just shut up and do it.