Hope can work for limited time only, because“hope is not a strategy”.
However today, I didn’t want to write about hope, but about personal development.
And IMHO they have a lot in common.
Why? Observing people involved in the personal development made me think that there are two groups of people there: “evolved units” and total newbies. And they feed each other.
Enlightened write books, teach seminars, have popular YouTube channels or Instagram accounts, some even are lecturers for TED Talk. They KNOW, they already “arrived”, and rest simply needs to follow their instructions to reach the destination.
And the rest is… literally the rest. They don’t know, they might be seminar junkies, they watch YouTube videos or Instagram stories, the most dedicated watch TED Talks too. They chase enlightenment.
The division is obvious, clearly visible and in 99.99% stable. And it’s not because preachers preach lies or false statement. No, they are mostly honest people who want their followers to do well too.
However, success is such a complex creature that it is extremely difficult to emulate it. Model that, by definition, is a simplification might omit a crucial element, simply because the person creating it was not even aware of its influence. You might do everything what Steve Jobs or Warren Buffett did, but without the same parents, similar neighborhood, same teachers or university, or simply similar political or cultural environment you would fail miserably. Maybe just one element of this puzzle was crucial, maybe more – nobody knows and it’s impossible to know.
That’s why it always make me suspicious when I hear about yet another required/missing piece of success, new healthy diet based on brand new scientific evidence or the easiest (e.g. 21/63 days – pick your number) building habit routine. The person on the other side speaks from the position of a wild, tropical palm to a potted plant kept in the household where the owners used to forget about watering their green fellows on a regular basis.
The formula might work for other wild plants, or even to potted plants kept in tropics, but most probably it won’t work in your latitude;)
My youthful enthusiasm has evaporated long time ago: firstly because I am no longer young, secondly because, with age, I am less naiive. Older people call this experience;)
Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that change is possible, progress can be made – just take a few pieces from others’ people puzzles and build your own way there. Simply, don’t expect to find a tailored fit solution for yourself out there.
And later let others build a simplified model based on your path.
