Self-help ideas that really suck.

mei 27, 2022 | Anxiety, Awakening, English, Insights, Personal, Purpose and Meaning, Spirituality, Typically Me

On YouTube, I saw a woman talk about the power of words.

The words we use when we talk, but especially the words on the inside.

The unconscious words.

The words the universe doesn’t really like, or responds to in a detrimental way.

The words that eat away at our bright future.

The undermining words.

Uhu.

These ideas, these clips, used to mess me up completely.

Because it makes total sense that harsh words or limiting words or ‘negative’ words come with their own yucky vibe, and so it looks like a really good thing to start replacing them.

Just use better words!

And bit by bit delete the ones that don’t serve you and put new ones in their place.

It’s all about inspiring yourself from within, right!

A matter of mental impeccability.

Or something.

Ugh.

I’ve come to really dislike these ideas.

So much work, so little result, and, come on: will there EVER be a moment when you’re done replacing all the unconscious trash talk?

Of course not.

Ideas like these are just juicy oversimplifications.

Hope sparkers.

Book and course sellers.

They take something obvious (‘positive words feel better!’) and transform it into a method, or even a way of life.

As if we have control over the words we (unconsciously) think, as if we get up in the morning and prepare all the thoughts for the rest of the day.

It’s all so fucking useless, these Glorified Change Trips where you have to grind your way through a lifetime of preferences and habits and stupid second-hand ideas, and change every single one of them.

Over and over again.

Is there even ONE person in the world who’s completely aware of their unconscious use of words, and what would their life look like?

The self-help and spiritual world are full of these tasty non-ideas.

They sound cool, they make sense (‘Happy people smile more, so if you want to be happy… start smiling!!’), they create some optimism, but in the end, they get lost in the daily messy mess most of us find ourselves in.

It’s just not how we operate.,

Now, of course, if you love doing these things, if you enjoy catching all your thoughts so you can crush them with 4 questions, if you want to go explore all the hidden beliefs in your unconscious mind, if you really want to do ALL that kind of work, by all means, go for it.

It’s your life.

But I’m telling you: there are simpler ways.

No hard work involved.

(Photo by @glencarriel for Unsplash)