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I love self-improvement. There’s many in this camp of “you’re perfect the way you are”. I don’t agree at all. I believe more in Kaizen, the idea of changing for
by thenerdhead 5y ago
I love self-improvement. There’s many in this camp of “you’re perfect the way you are”. I don’t agree at all. I believe more in Kaizen, the idea of changing for the better. It’s similar to the ship of Theseus paradox where you slowly replace each plank on the boat, is it the same boat?
Knowing about your short comings is the key. Knowing you are lazy will help you be more productive. Knowing you’re depressed will help you break the cycle.
People typically say they wasted certain years of their lives. I would also say the same thing. I was stuck in terrible loops of internet addiction and playing too many video games while doing the bare minimum at work.
These cycles didn’t break themselves because I embraced my mess. They broke because I became aware of them in comparison to my larger life goals of getting married, having kids, getting a prestigious tech job, and retiring early.
Many of those behaviors still cast shadows of my life many years later. But the secret to it all is that I can become aware of them when they happen and disrupt my pattern to put me back on track towards my life goals. That way I’m not a total waste man most days, and do something worthwhile instead.
- snarf21 5y agoIntrospection is a superpower.
- jatins 5y agoThe only problem with Introspection is that there is no end to it.
- snarf21 5y agoThat is something to introspect on. :D
- thenerdhead 5y agoAwareness is self-perpetuating. That definitely makes it a superpower.
- goodpoint 5y ago"you’re perfect the way you are" and "acceptance" are poorly phrased and easily misunderstood. As the article tried to explain, this is about making peace with ourselves and handle feelings of self-rejection, guilt, shame and so no. Then the healing begins.
- thenerdhead 5y agoAgreed. Unless you have the context of the authors journey from their book or other works, it can read both ways. Usually it’s the whole “I embraced my mess when I became aware enough”. How do you become aware enough without first trying to change? Catch-22 in my opinion. That’s why I think changing for the better sometimes starts with no awareness, but rather a feeling inside saying you need to make a change (Japanese concept of Yugen)
- suketk 5y agoConsistent reflection is a huge force multiplier, but it's sadly underrepresented in self-improvement because it's not sexy or fast. Yet it's the only sustainable solution. You can't fix what you don't know. Once you find out what's holding you back, you can put a plan in place to address it. This is a slow , iterative process - but it works. Shameless plug, but this is my free program to cultivate regular reflection: https://themoai.org/intentionality https://themoai.org/intentionality