.stop reading articles like this.
Dear Reader,
This is a call to action. A call to stop reading self help articles. A call to stop reading articles like this.
Why? Holistic Stoic, isn't what you write in this category? Yes, some of my articles may well be. I write often to externalize what my mind is processing at the moment and on what I personally am focusing.
That said, this is also an article responding to a recent revelation of sorts that I had.
By constantly reading articles and books, watching documentaries and films, I wasn't helping myself! Sure, I was ingesting theoretical tons of information, but essentially the buck stopped there. After the mounds of articles and scores of films were read and watched... I took no action. I jumped from one piece of interesting information to another piece of interesting information that may just be the key to set me free from my tragic ineffectiveness.
In reality, this was just taking me down a rabbit hole of indecision. Some articles agreed with other articles. Some films had vehement opposition to other films about what was the "best" daily routine and how to craft it. I was enticed by multiple articles with that ‘one thing you should stop doing today’ or ‘five steps to improving the morning’. Some readings were interesting but not memorable. Others were redundant.
Actually, most of them started seeming redundant. I was picking up on themes and habits many well-to-do people recommended. That was when I realized: it wasn’t that I wasn’t reading the right information. I was clearly reading plenty of good advice. And I was missing the most pivotal advice of all.
Apply.
Read to learn suggestions. Read to discover what works for others. Read to learn how to do. Then apply this new knowledge and do. !!!
Doesn’t that sound simple?
Clearly for me it hasn’t been. But by phrasing it in this way, it was much more clear on what I should start and what I should stop.
Start applying knowledge. Stop reading self help articles (I’ve read enough at the moment!).
Self improvement is another way to phrase self help. You know what? Help yourself by improving your actions, then review and redo.
Derek Sivers phrases this well. ‘If information was the answer then we’d all be billionaires with perfect abs.’ I know I’m not the only one that thinks, ‘this is great to know!’ But not then, ‘I’ll start today!’
Ask to yourself, what do I know (maybe from self help articles) that I am not currently applying? It might not work, but it might. And that’s better than the now.
Stop reading and Godspeed.
—.—.H.S.
accurate depiction of the weight of my thoughts. this is art by John Pena (@JohnPenaStudios)
Side note: all this said, if you don't have an accumulation of tools from articles, films, TED talks, scholarly speeches, then goodness-sake the internet is your oyster and read away! (I have a few favorites if you're interested).
I may post some articles in the coming weeks or months. They may seem like self-help articles. They may in fact be. But for me, above all they will be the manifestation of my own escape from this rabbit hole of self-help bombardment.!!
