Self help, self improvement, or (my preference) personal development all refer to the same general class of literature, coaching programs, home study courses, and seminar events. While the sad, shallow mainstream tends to make fun of this type of content, the world’s most successful people actively embrace personal development as a way of life.

Self Help Is For Dorks And Dweebs

Why do prime time sitcoms tend to cast self help books and programs, along with those who read or participate in them, as being somehow “uncool” or foolish? Probably to support the mainline consensus that insists folks like Anthony Robbins, Eckhart Tolle, and others in various personal growth niches are “whackos”, “con artists”, etc.

What does it mean when The Simpsons air a whole episode making fun of Homer’s newfound desire to follow the advice of a fictional self-help guru? Likewise what’s the underlying intent when the characters of a popular half-hour sitcom crack jokes about well-known personal development writers and speakers?

In the case of TV and related media, this is all done to help the audience feel better about their mediocre, unfulfilled lives. The message can be seen as something like “just keep that job you hate, or settle for a crappy marriage, or accept being unhealthy, et. al,  and don’t fall for silly scams that urge you to be a better person”.

Modern society trains us to settle for less than what our innate potential might allow. Sentiments of “good enough” and “don’t get your hopes up” are deeply ingrained and intentionally sustained by popular culture.

I recently saw an article in a dumbdown magazine (Details I think) entitled “Self Help Not Just For Losers Anymore“. I got the subscription as a freebie with an online order, and occasionally browse just to see what kind of mind numbing tactics are currently popular with the American media sleeze.

This article pointed out that, since the public acknowledgment of a recession (actually a depression) more people had been buying self improvement material, and the self help industry in general is now booming. Details magazine caters to an utterly shallow and clueless audience and clearly promotes the idea that anyone seeking self-knowledge or personal development must be some kind of dork. Kind of these goobers to throw a nod of slight approval in the direction of a truly great industry now that more mainstreamers are catching on.

Again, the core reasons popular media and culture strive to support the image of personal development as not hip, unnecessary, weak, etc. are:

1. To make their audiences feel better about giving up on their dreams like good, “realistic” citizens.
2. To keep people dumb, uninformed, and disengaged from any kind of authentic passion in life.

Why would publishers and media producers want to do this? Sluggish, uninspired, self-loathing idiots make the ideal consumer here in America and within cultures who (sadly) seek to mimic the American social model.

Stay In Your Comfort Zone Where You Belong

The Western media (magazines, TV, radio, music industry, movies, etc.) isn’t satisfied with simply portraying personal growth and self development as lame. These ridiculous sources of information aggressively encourage ignorance, resignation, and mediocrity.

You’ve probably watched the main character in a sitcom start a plan to make more money, lose weight, or something along these lines only to fail or give up by the end of the episode. The “moral” of these stories is simple: it’s fine to remain stagnant – everyone else is – and  real change is usually impossible anyway.

News Media Conditioning Against All That Silly Self Help Jive

Look at how the media had a field day with the tragic deaths taking place at one of James Ray’s events in 2009. Ray is author of Harmonic Wealth – a book I highly recommend – and was an interviewee featured on The Secret. During a “Spiritual Warrior” retreat three people died, and investigators believe these deaths resulted from a prolonged fast followed by exposure to an improperly ventilated sweat lodge.

What an awful disaster this was! If Ray’s lodge was faulty, if he had insufficient medical staff on hand, etc. then he should be held liable for what happened; I’m not going to defend this tragedy as I have no firsthand knowledge of the circumstances.

Regardless of James Ray’s guilt or innocence in the three deaths, the news media had no valid cause for attacking his philosophies, how much money he makes per year, or the personal development industry as a whole. Yet a number of journalists wasted no time slamming the author and speaker and framing him as a charlatan and cheat.

His event cost thousands of dollars, so he must be a hack.

People have been injured at his highly physical events before, so he must have no regard for his customers’ safety.

The reality is: Individuals attending these high-end events are typically successful professionals who are willing to pay top dollar for intense personal coaching. It’s also safe to say participants know well in advance they are signing on for rigorously challenging physical trials.

Because Ray is “just another self help guru” everyone wanted in on the slander fest. Newspaper and TV audiences were informed reassuringly that so long as they had the smarts to steer clear of all that self improvement rubbish they would be safe from this kind of tragic accident.

Interviews of former self help enthusiasts who complained about losing money to “scams” were paraded as social proof that anything personal development related belonged in the same category as Ponzi schemes and email fraud. These victims forlornly spoke of programs that “didn’t work at all” and relayed their tales of disenchantment and bitterness.

In my experience people with stories of this nature are quite often folks who bought a book or signed up for a course and then did little to nothing in the way of actual work. They made a cash investment hoping for some magic spell that would solve their problems while they sat in front of the TV night after night.

One woman in particular harshly criticized one of Ray’s past courses as “stupid”, saying that at least it had “cured her of self help for good”. I don’t even know how to respond properly to the idea that one can or should be cured of the urge to grow and develop at the emotional, physical, intellectual, and spiritual levels. Does this mean she’ll gladly live out the rest of her life as she now is, without any effort toward becoming a better person or learning new things about herself?

Who Needs Personal Development?

The very idea that only people who are messed up need personal development is flawed. While self awareness and personal growth are the answers to most problems faced by individuals, families, teams, and couples it’s also true that refinement and expansion are rewards in and of themselves.

Life is a dynamic journey of learning, sharing, and growing. It only makes PERFECT sense to proactively work toward being your personal best at all levels.

Entrepreneurs like Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, and Richard Bransan understand and leverage the power of continuous personal  development.

So too do great philanthropists like Mother Theresa.

Gandhi embodied the very essence of expanding and honing the self, as did Einstein.

Michael Jordan,  Tiger Woods, and Peyton Manning grasp and apply the principles of self improvement day after day.

HOWEVER YOU CHOOSE TO DEFINE SUCCESS, PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT IS A CRITICAL ASPECT OF THE PROCESS!

It should be abundantly obvious that life is most vibrant and satisfying when you…

• deliberately learn as much as possible about yourself
• know clearly what you want
• take action toward becoming your personal best
• contribute to society from your pool of talents and strengths

It should be equally clear that  any media system or content source that depicts such mindset and philosophy as unfashionable or negative – in any way – is both ethically and factually flawed.

Many of my readers come from personal development or spirituality sites. However I also publish content and gain subscribers in political, social, conspiratorial, and other arenas. If you’re not currently exploring any personal growth programs I urge you to set aside some time to try it on.

Life IS growth. Your natural inclination, physically and non-physically,  is to develop and expand. You (body, emotions, intellect) are constantly changing whether you consciously participate in the process or not. It only makes sense to put some loving attention on yourself so you can enjoy your time on this planet to the absolute fullest, and so you can be a true blessing to those you love.

Tags: Mainstream America, mainstream media, Personal Development, self help, self improvement, status quo society, what is personal development, what is self help, what is self improvement

This entry was posted on Friday, March 26th, 2010 at 10:31 pm and is filed under Editorial, Mainstream America, Personal Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.