I Think Most Self-Help Content is Wrong (Mine Included)

I’m going to let you in on a secret:

For the five-plus years I wrote self-help content, most of it was simply me paraphrasing what I’d learned by reading 100+ self-help books and attending therapy.

Basically, I was just writing out what I was learning along the way.

But after I burned out of my old writing career and stopped producing that kind of content, I’ve had years to think about what I really believe about personal development.

And the truth is, I think the vast majority of self-help is off, skewed, or just plain wrong.

And frankly, a lot of my old stuff reads like that to me.

It feels like most self-help stuff is directed to able-bodied workaholics in their 20s with only their careers and future to think about. Do you know how many times I’ve read that you should schedule your day? Do you know how many times I told people to do that? But then my wife and I had a kid, and then another one. And suddenly, trying to wake up at 5am to be “productive” as a parent with two kids under three years old went from being an admirable badge of a self-disciplined go-getter to being something that only a literal insane person would do. I eventually succumbed and admitted…