“Before self-improvement was a thing, do you know what self-improvement was called? Improvement. - Joe Delaney
Self-improvement is a trend that has seemingly reached significantly more mainstream awareness in the US in the past couple of years.
The popularization of books like Atomic Habits and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.
The increase in popularity of content creators such as Jay Shetty, Brene Brown, and Matt D’avella.
The general perspective shift of Millenial and Gen Z values to orient more around personal health and personal development.
And while I think the intentions behind self-improvement are rooted in good philosophies, there is a certain mentality associated with self-improvement that becomes problematic.
“The Antithesis of Presence”
The main thing I’ve started to understand is that with a “self-improvement” mentality first and foremost, it can be easy to fall into the trap of looking at everything you do with an “improvement” or “productive” goal in mind.
For instance, going on walks should be enjoyable in it’s own right.
But after flooding my brain with self-improvement information, I started to view it only as a way to “improve” myself, completely ignoring the act of walking as something to just be enjoyed.
I would look at it as solely as a method of receiving the benefits as stated by online personalities: sunlight to improve my circadian rhythm and to foster creativity.
And while these are good benefits, not all activities we do should be to optimize all the time.
In his video The Self Improvement Trap, Joe Delaney equates this mentality to the idea of social climbing.
When you’re spending time with people, is it because you legit enjoy someone’s company and friendship, or are you just spending time around them to boost your reputation and social status?
Generally, people in the second category are more frowned upon because they’re not trying to build relationships for the relationship itself, but because of the benefits the relationship provides.
This mentality of, “I do this not for the sake of the activity itself, but because it leads to this other thing I think will improve me” can unknowingly become embedded in a lot of traditional self-improvement habits.
You read not because you enjoy reading, but because you feel like you need to learn something and get some meaningful lesson out of a book.
You run not because you enjoy running, but because you hear that 150 minutes of zone 2 cardio a week is necessary for aerobic capacity and mitochondrial health.
When you start to look at everything you do with the objective of improvement in mind, it becomes the “antithesis of presence.”
The constant pursuit of improvement can become a vicious cycle leading away to your enjoyment of the present. Some things should be left for the sake of the thing itself rather than being done for some lateral reason.
And that’s not to say there’s not a time and place to optimize. Just be intentional with what you’re actually doing something for and strike a balance between embracing growth while still being somewhat grounded in the present.
Don’t fall too head over heels with the idea that everything needs to be done for the sake of self-improvement.
Hope something here helped,
David
QOTW
It is easier for a team to do a hard thing that really matters than to do an easy thing that doesn’t really matter; audacious ideas motivate people.
- Sam Altman