How much of the self-development/success industry recommendations are COMPLETE BS?

[PureA]

Like a good little boy, I've been doing my meditation, gym, nutrition, journaling, affirmations (few years ago), cold plunge, sauna, wim hof, waking up at 5:30am, and bought all the planners etc etc, did ALL the popular strategies. If you told me something would help me, I would do it every day, religiously.

It's taken me a few years, but I am beginning to realize, the true killers in business don't usually do all these fancy routines. They get up, grab a coffee, take a piss, and do the work...

I am not saying there is no value in healthy habits, not at all. But first things first, the work. Not your 2:45hrs morning routine.

In your opinion what are the biggest traps we fall into as entreprenurs and people who relentlessly optimize and strive to improve?

What lies have we been sold that are far from the truth of success?

 

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[Antifragile]

But first things first, the work. Not your 2:45hrs morning routine

This is truth.

I think the best self help books teach you that first. For example, 7 Habits is one of my top recommended books and it literally has this habit listed.

But I think you are confusing best habits with chasing shiny rocks syndrome. It’s not about chasing Wim Hoff method followed by journalling, meditation and sauna and gym. It’s honestly surprising you’d even try to do all those things. It’s like reading 100 books a year to be “action faking” but not doing the work.

In short, I don’t think self help industry is all BS, it’s like everything else in life. You have to do your own thinking. And like in a shoe store - try a pair on and see which one fits best for you.

 

[AnasHarn]

Hey,

I don't think that all the self help advices are bullshit, in fact I think that all of them may have a potential benefit if well used.
The trap is starting to focus solely on these habits and not produce anything.
I used to have a 1hour morning routine, full of affirmations, journaling, méditation, motivation videos consumption, but not producing anything of value.
I did a cleaning of all the habits, I am keeping only the essential ones : journaling, meditation and day planning ( based on MJ's 1/5/10 todo list).

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Like a good little boy, I've been doing my meditation, gym, nutrition, journaling, affirmations (few years ago), cold plunge, sauna, wim hof, waking up at 5:30am, and bought all the planners etc etc, did ALL the popular strategies. If you told me something would help me, I would do it every day, religiously.

It's taken me a few years, but I am beginning to realize, the true killers in business don't usually do all these fancy routines. They get up, grab a coffee, take a piss, and do the work...

I am not saying there is no value in healthy habits, not at all. But first things first, the work. Not your 2:45hrs morning routine.

In your opinion what are the biggest traps we fall into as entreprenurs and people who relentlessly optimize and strive to improve?

What lies have we been sold that are far from the truth of success?

You're losing the forest through the trees.

If getting up at 5AM makes you 5X as productive in the hours you do work, then it's worthwhile.

If jumping in a freezing lake motivates you to "do the work" when normally you'd sleep, then it's worthwhile.

I view "self-help" as strategy to improve productivity, mental clarity, and other critical factors for success.

Your argument is essentially saying, "Who cares about oil changes and tire maintenance, just drive the car fast and you'll get there!"

Yes, getting up early might not help you. Cold showers might not help you. Meditation might not help you. But something might and it's your job to find out what it is, so your car not only doesn't break down, but goes faster.

 

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[socaldude]

It's because it actually doesn't work that way. Humans are complex.

There is no 1 for 1 correlation or causation in doing some self-help technique or behavior. But they can stack the odds in your favor.

My opinion is that the number one thing that holds people back is mis-using and negleting certain psychological mechanisms that are in our minds. Or failing to interdict low-utility cognition-perception-feelings. The actual thing that holds you back is there it's just damn hard to see it and change.

 

[AristotlesPupil]

It's because it actually doesn't work that way. Humans are complex.

There is no 1 for 1 correlation or causation in doing some self-help technique or behavior. But they can stack the odds in your favor.

My opinion is that the number one thing that holds people back is mis-using and negleting certain psychological mechanisms that are in our minds. Or failing to interdict low-utility cognition-perception-feelings. The actual thing that holds you back is there it's just damn hard to see it and change.

So many people don't realize this. Your mind has patterns in the way it thinks. If you can spot these patterns, you can choose which ones to reinforce and which ones to ignore. Then, in the future, your mind is like a sharpened katana, slashing through all the bullsh@t. However, to keep its edge it needs regular maintenance. That mindset is a cheat code in life

 

[socaldude]

That mindset is a cheat code in life

It’s because the mind is reality. Except we are in the grasps of powerful confusions and illusions.

 

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[Black_Dragon43]

Like a good little boy, I've been doing my meditation, gym, nutrition, journaling, affirmations (few years ago), cold plunge, sauna, wim hof, waking up at 5:30am, and bought all the planners etc etc, did ALL the popular strategies. If you told me something would help me, I would do it every day, religiously.

Everyone is trying to sell you something. Every communication in the mass media is there with a specific purpose, and that purpose is never to just share information. The financial motive rears its head and controls every communication put out there. Which means that truth can only be found in relatively small communities (like the one here) at the edge of society.

If you use any tool put out there in the mass mainstream media as you’re instructed to use it, you will fail. You will fail because you’re trying to bypass responsibility for your success the the mass media, and the mass media doesn’t care if you’re successful or not. Your success is YOUR responsibility. Others may help, if YOU direct them in the right way.

In your opinion what are the biggest traps we fall into as entreprenurs and people who relentlessly optimize and strive to improve?

What lies have we been sold that are far from the truth of success?

- Believing the motivations presented in the mass media are “pure” and the “truth”
- Believing that people are in business to make a change rather than make money (most by far are in business precisely to make money and they’d stop what they’re doing the moment it stopped making money)

I don’t think being in business to make money is a problem. So long as you’re doing it ethically, no cheating, stealing, etc. I don’t see it as a problem. But people who claim they have a big, enlightened purpose, most are either self-deceived, or in other cases deceiving the masses. In fact, it is the easiest way to persuade someone if they think you have their best interest in mind, you don’t care about the money, and you’re purely motivated by your altruism. Nothing makes sales as easy as making people believe that. So if you wanted to maximize the money you’d make, how would you choose to act?

 

[Greg Black]

What I have learnt is that there is not just one way. What works for others may not work for you. You have to find what works for you. Claims that to be successful you have to get up at 5 and follow a specific routine is BS. It works for some, sure, but not for me. I'm a night owl, that's when I get my best work done. My best advice would be to try as many things as possible and see what works for you and not to blindly follow what works for other people, and that isn't just limited to self improvement, it applies to everything.

 

[K1 Lambo]

Here are some that come straight of mind:
-Waking up at 4-5am to be successful. This is complete bs. You do not have to wake up super early to be successful. Sure you got guys like Dwayne Johnson, Petter Stordalen, Mark Wahlberg, Donald Trump, Tim Cook and some other billionaires(probably because their industry demands that) who wake up super ealy. But, are there also guys that wake up later who are successful? For sure. Zuckerberg, Andy Frisella, Larry Ellison and there's also one billionaire(I don't remember his name, heard it from an episode on Real AF) where Andy said that the dude wakes up at 09-10am and does all his work after 6-7pm because that's when he's at his best. It really comes down to what suits you the best. If waking up early helps you be more productive/get shit done, then do it!

-Having motivation. Motivation is entry level, everyone's looking for motivation to get started. Truth is, motivation is just a feeling, it's not a tangible skill that you can cultivate. It's the most overrated concept in the personal development space. So many people go to these seminars and get excited with grunts and roars and such. Years later, these people are still the same.

Here's what you need; the ability to work without motivation aka discipline. Less than 1% of people have real discipline(it's really more like 0.1%), which means they do the work no matter what 99% of the time. It's basically the ability to get things done, do what you say you're gonna do. If you have to run 5 miles today and your bitchass tells you to do it tomorrow, ignore it and just do it. You're gonna send 10 Dms? Do it now, even if your mind tells you: "Oh I'm tired" or "It's too late to direct message people on social media". Just do it. Otherwise you're not gonna make progress. Even on some bad days where shit is f*cked up, if you only get 90% done with what you said you was gonna do, it's gonna propel you so much further than doing nothing. Those days actually matter the most, believe it or not. Otherwise you're gonna procrastinate your whole life. I know this because this happened to me so many times in my teens-late teens. Which leads to a nice segway with:

-What's the "one" key/trick to /*ENTER_YOUR_FIELD*/. There is no shortcut, everything what you do matters. I've heard this amazing quote once somewhere: "How you do anything is how you do everything". I can speak on this about bodybuilding because I've built a pretty good physique. Everything matters when it comes to building muscle; your sleep, your diet, your training, your rest and consistency of course. All those things are needed to build a jacked body. Same thing in business; you need to be consistent with your work, your customer service needs to be great, your service/product needs to be very good, your marketing, your execution, your client retention etc.

-There is no one "right" way to do something. If there really was one way in everything, then everyone who'd do it would have massive success, right? That's far from the truth. Like take buying cars for instance, I've heard this information from so many people on this forum to only buy cars in cash because wealthy people don't finance/lease their cars which is bs.

I know a couple very wealthy dudes(not gonna say their names) who finance and lease their expensive cars and guess what? They're way more successful in business than most people on this forum. Probably more like 99.99% but whatever.

Grant Cardone is a perfect example of that. His advice is to never pay cash for a car, but lease it everytime because leasing is tax deductible when you're a company. And the dude is a multi multi millionaire himself.

Same thing in business. I'm probably not qualified to say this because I'm not where I want to be yet but I see so many guys on the internet who says: "Oh, this is how it's done" or "No, just focus on this". Try to learn something from everyone and see what works for you.

 

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[David Fitz]

You create your own habits that suit you and your values.

Just because Tony Robbins wakes up every morning and dives into an ice bath doesn't mean you have to aswell.

 

[a.nigg]

The trick is finding out what works and what does not. And stopping to do what's not working.
For me, the following works: Get up at 6AM, Meditation, Journaling, Affirmations (from time to time), Reviewing my goals for some minutes. All in all it takes about 45 minutes and sets me off to a good start.

One thing I recognized: For me it's super important to more or less scientifically KNOW why things should work. If I read suggestions and I don't understand, WHY they should work, I don't even start.
For example, I didn't do Affirmations for a long time, because I thought of it as being esoteric BS. However, one day I stumbled upon a reasonable enough argument, WHY they could work: Basically because our brain is filtering out 90% (or more) of the information it receives. Doing Affirmations shifts the focus of the brain to include things which are necessary to reach the content of the Affirmations. And for me, this now works wonders.

 

[AristotlesPupil]

The trick is finding out what works and what does not. And stopping to do what's not working.
For me, the following works: Get up at 6AM, Meditation, Journaling, Affirmations (from time to time), Reviewing my goals for some minutes. All in all it takes about 45 minutes and sets me off to a good start.

One thing I recognized: For me it's super important to more or less scientifically KNOW why things should work. If I read suggestions and I don't understand, WHY they should work, I don't even start.

I am the exact same way.

I also started journaling not too long ago. That habit is too good, it spreads your discipline to everything else in your life. Affirmations help when you are facing a lot of internal resistance, from inside your own head.

 

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[Voice Angel]

This thread is wonderful…

As someone who had very little discipline or willpower not too long ago, I had to build them. And that took trying many different self-help practices until I found not only what worked, but what worked consistently.

Even now, I don’t do the same things every morning, but pick and choose from the ones that work depending on how much time I have. Trying everything (and discarding ones that didn't work for me) gave me a "toolbox" so I can rotate different practices as needed.

Scripting (journaling in an affirmative way), affirmations, meditation and intentions start my day off incredibly focused. And keeping a daily to-do list and spending less than 10 minutes a week on social media really multiplied productivity.

 

[Thinh]

I think the problem is that people have it in reverse, as in: Famous successful people wake up at 5 AM because they are successful, they’re not successful because they wake up at 5 AM

 

[krypticsilver]

spending less than 10 minutes a week on social media

The Fastlane Forum is kind of a social media though tbh.

 

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[Voice Angel]

The Fastlane Forum is kind of a social media though tbh.

I'm on here once in 2 weeks

 

[Kevin88660]

Like a good little boy, I've been doing my meditation, gym, nutrition, journaling, affirmations (few years ago), cold plunge, sauna, wim hof, waking up at 5:30am, and bought all the planners etc etc, did ALL the popular strategies. If you told me something would help me, I would do it every day, religiously.

It's taken me a few years, but I am beginning to realize, the true killers in business don't usually do all these fancy routines. They get up, grab a coffee, take a piss, and do the work...

I am not saying there is no value in healthy habits, not at all. But first things first, the work. Not your 2:45hrs morning routine.

In your opinion what are the biggest traps we fall into as entreprenurs and people who relentlessly optimize and strive to improve?

What lies have we been sold that are far from the truth of success?

Test and reflect and see what works.

I switch from doing gym to walking 10-15k steps everyday with my computer bag around since I am traveling to Cafe to do most of my work. That Rucking could fulfill my exercise obligation easily whereas travel to gym, exercise, showering and changing cost much more time.

Fasting doesn’t work for me because the hunger lowers work productivity. No one pays me money to lie on bed to fast. So I stick to calories counting and just eat when I am hungry.

Cold shower doesn’t work for me as cold trigger my mild allergy. Quite the contrary I stick to a “hot routine” which is better for my health. Drink warm water and warm tea. TCM theory suggest coldness undermines your “Yang” (positive) energy and exhaust you.

Abstinence(no fap included) works for me because I feel more energetic with less sleep needed. Wake up at 6-7am automatically even when I sleep at 12. Not in the cause previously where I need at least 1-2 hours more sleep and wont feel as fresh. Consistent with TCM theory that male sexual activity undermines “Yang” energy and weakens/exhaust you.

So to me “waking up early” is not addressing the root issue. If you sleep too late then you should sleep early. If you need too much sleep to rest your exhausted body then it is time to examine what has weakened you. If you have a depleted battery changing the time when you charge it the power bank Is not addressing the root issue.

On productivity (macro level) I have formulated my own way. It is largely behavioral and environmental. So I focus on driving my body to the right environment. Doing work in office or public places always force myself to be more productive because there is no bed to fall back to rest. And by leaving the house you clock more walking distance which helps to exercise.

On consuming/interacting with media/online content this is where most people waste a lot of their time. I developed another personal rule that when I can consuming this content i must be walking about at a fixed spot at the same time. I don’t have to worry about overconsuming/wasting time because I am clocking milage on the legs. If I want to rest I will stop consuming. Head or tail, I win. Right now as I am typing on my phone I am walking about in my room.

For productivity (on a micro level) I developed my own games of punishment routine. By this time, I must finish xyz, or else ____will happen to me. It could be a set of exercise , or a small donation to your favorite charity. The game could be also designed as do the task standing and only allow sitting when I finish it. Or finish it before the next meal or stay hungry. I only use that when I feel my distraction level is going up and productivity is dropping. This is to enforce accountability on an hourly basis.

 

[Costa]

A lot of people just say this because that gives traffic and sales.

It's like the 2nd black mirror episode, the guy tried to warn people and help them, people don't give a F*ck cause they are distracted, at the end he has his own "Show" talking about freedom and motivation for entertaining purposes and getting money from that, yeah he couldn't change other people's lives but he changed his own life.

 

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[John D.]

An interesting video I found discussing this topic:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJOsPyyYork