I am a little bothered by my industry. But why? I am in what I like to say is the “Happiness Business.” I believe I have created a new industry title! I have actually never heard of it before. Many call it self-help, self-development, internal work, and so on.
There are several reasons why I am bothered by the industry I am in. For one it would be the industry leaders and certain techniques and practices and second, it would be the consumers who seek to better themselves. Please hear me out. This means a lot to me.
Please, come in sit down and leave your credit card!
Let’s start with the industry core, shall we? Self-help is nothing new. We have been trying to figure ourselves out and where we need to be in life for generations. It is how and who we seek to help guide us that tends to become a real gray area. We need good and healthy people to teach us techniques to evolve.
Industry leaders understand the importance of how we go about learning and growing and they (not all) can prey on our desperation for progress by charging thousands of dollars on seminars, retreats, and memberships. Many people who are trying to develop themselves feel lost in the shuffle and may not have the financial means to invest in such programs.
I have heard of people who sell everything they have to try to attend even one seminar. This is devastating, to say the least. I believe part of the frustration is that many of these seminars rely on hyped up energy and emotional manipulation, which leads many to keep digging deep in their pockets in hopes of fixing themselves.
Do unto others as you want done unto you.
We should never prey on people’s weaknesses for financial gain or any gain come to think of it. Yes, people will pay for the things that they feel have value for you, but it shouldn’t be as trickery. There are many things that are involved in creating such events and things do cost money of course so please take this post with a grain of salt. There is no one-size-fits-all all. I am just not a fan of what we would call, “emotional bullies.” It’s not a good practice in my opinion.
These tactics provide temporary motivation to potentially very complex inner struggles. When you have a room full of people who feel broken things can spread like wildfire. Good or bad. Then the people become sheep in a herd looking for guidance from the shepherd who has a master plan to take advantage of said sheep. Dramatic yes I know but hopefully you will understand what I mean.
Next, we have the over-consumed consumers looking left, right, and center for some sort of clear path to their future. When you feel broken and desperate you will scramble to find any and all resources to help yourself. In this day in age, we have an insane amount of resources. Not every piece of information relates to everyone.
Which way do we go, George?!
If you are trying to get direction in your life and work on yourself you don’t know what you don’t know so you rely on people who seem to be qualified. The people with the gift of gab that can hook people. Then you start taking their word as matter of fact and believe everything they say. It really may not apply to you. Complex issues may have complex solutions.
Next, people will keep researching solutions from more resources and then they discover a new book or an amazing trip to a far-away exotic place that has a self-development retreat. Doesn’t that sound amazing?! What’s tough about this is that people end up force-feeding themselves all of these different resources and find themselves even more lost and even more broken.
Having so many directions of information without one one-on-one interaction leads people to fail. They will fail and fail again and not know why they can’t progress. Generalized speeches can unknowingly confuse consumers. It is very important that we slow down and try to take in the whole picture so we can make good and healthy progress. Start some new and healthy habits.
Conclusion
There are people who prey on weak-minded people and those weak-minded people will do whatever it takes to fix themselves. This doesn’t mean that industry leaders aren’t giving good information, but it means that there could be emotional manipulation which then leads people to not truly learn who they are if they are baited. Learn and grow but don’t overdue it to the point that you lose sight of your ultimate goal.
