I’m kind of ambivalent on self-help gurus these days. There are just so many. And we're so self-absorbed already. The fact that they work as click bait only reinforces the issue that we're obsessed with our own improvement. That said, I'm a total child of the 80s and inbreed to have a hard time resisting self-helping myself. It's also the beginning of a new year, the time when you try a little harder on new resolutions. Medium.com keeps serving me up self-help headlines, appealing to my weakness. But here are three particularly good ones that have surfaced recently.
19 Habits That Lead to Huge Results
This list is all about small habits that can help you in big ways. The first item on this list is great. And although hard to learn to do consistently, it pays off. Setting expectations with others and yourself is a big deal, in relationships and personal goals. There are
And the only items I’d quibble with are: #2, I don’t think journaling is really all that. Some people send emails instead, or do other writing projects or blog.
And #3: to say I never lie is to say another lie. But that said, making every attempt not to lie is a good idea, because as Mark Twain says, “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” It’s not just an issue of bad karma, it’s just more efficient thinking.
And #10, never eat alone. That sounds a bit extreme. I would change that to “don’t be afraid to eat alone but look forward to eating with people too.”
6 Things You Need to Recover From Every Day
This was an awesome list and explores not just why you need recovery from things like work, technology, people, food, fitness and being awake, but how to take these breaks. Even poets can overwork!
7 Brutal Life Lessons Everyone Has to Learn Multiple Times
All the work ethic items in these lists are great. Even the love advise is sound. Self-knowledge is the holy grail, and Dolly Parton is a big proponent of item #5, an idea which is also gets ink in item #7 of the first list above. I’m still struggling with some of these myself. Especially #6 and particularly #7, to which I retort, "What if your tiny voice is a crazy person?"
