I usually disagree with people who say that self-help is crap. But I understand where they are coming from. It’s not that self-help is crap, but motivation porn is.
Some people tend to think that they are the same. But they are not. Self-help can range from a book that helps you to learn a new language to YouTube videos whose sole purpose is to shout at you and tell you that you are a loser.
I hope you can see the difference.
Well, I didn’t when I was a teen. I used to read all kinds of stuff. And I fell into the rabbit hole of motivation porn.
But something in me kept bugging me that there must be more to it. On hindsight I know there are fake gurus out there who put out contents without substance, who pretend as if motivation will see you through the finish line. But I didn’t know it then.
So, I nevertheless kept trusting these motivation gurus. And it’s no surprise that my life was stuck in stagnation for a long period of time.
Then I found some real gurus. There was a stark difference between them and the fake ones. They didn’t talk about amazing possibilities. They rather preferred to talk about scientific consensus. They didn’t try to motivate you, they urged you to research on your own and try their ideas to see if they hold.
Thus, I cut all my ties with the motivation industry. I would still sometimes see one or two of their videos just for the fun of it, but I don’t believe that they would solve any of my problems anymore.
Because procrastination is not about lack of motivation, it’s about lack of clarity. As James clear states in his amazing book ‘Atomic Habits’-
Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity
That led me to appreciate the works of real teachers and researchers out there. People like Charles Duhigg, James Clear, Malcolm Gladwell, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Barbara Oakley etc. have helped me improve my skills and attitude.
RaihanRiad 