Like a lot of people, I've tried to use my time in quarantine to reach a goal. I had a post months ago about joining Beachbody after being inspired by a friend's commitment to it.
I did that for a month.
What I have been doing pretty regularly is consuming self-help offerings. Some of it was good, some not so good, but all of it was useful by example or counter-example. I've read or listened to audio-books from bunches of authors (thank you, public library), finally finished the Yale happiness class, and watched Brene Brown's Netflix special.
The Yale class was obviously the best. Research? Required readings? Lectures? Yes, please. Quantifying and analyzing happiness is so much more satisfying than platitudes or one-off individual experiences. I hate the "If I can do it, anyone can!" framework surrounding that type of self-help.
I just think:
How do you know? We haven't lived the same experiences or developed the same coping mechanisms.
Do you really think that you are such a pathetic creature that literally anyone in the world could easily surmount the challenges you faced?
Why on Earth would people pay to hear you talk about how you conquered a goal if you think it was that easy/ you are so incapable?
You know who I hated? Tony Robbins. He cobbled together some platitudes, clichés, exaggerated (possible fabricated?) personal experiences, and a little bit of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. He has no professional training in CBT so he does what what all exclusively pop-psychology personalities do- disparages and attempts to undermine the legitimacy of actual psychology.People like to think one seminar can change their lives, so he rakes in cash telling people exactly that. For some people, it does work- at least in the short-term. Some people just require a good pep talk and a very short-sighted plan of action to get them on the right track and able to start building more of a plan on their own after that, all while crediting people like Tony Robbins. If it doesn't actually work for you, he doesn't say that long-term progress requires a long-term plan of action that may include ongoing counseling at regular intervals or medication to correct chemical imbalances in your body - you just did it wrong. This is a very lucrative racket since people go to these seminars because they already believe they're doing something wrong. His distain toward science is also reflected in the fact that used his YouTube platform to promote conspiracy theories about Coronavirus, so . . .
No thanks.
