How Do I Stop My Personal Development Addiction?

[JasonBeen]

Hi everyone,

First time poster here. I was wondering if I could get some advice on how I can stop devouring PD books and articles. I've spent hours going over Steve's articles and reading tons of books, but I can't seem to get any traction. I can't get anything done. I feel like pulling my hair out!

[Ree]

Have you read this?

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...-help-junkies/
Self-Help Junkies

[Shamou]

Hello and welcome a board JasonBeen...

You are not alone in your situation... it seems that the hardest thing to do for most people is to take action... So, my advice to you is to change your, "I should do" into, "I must do."

You write down today the very first thing that you "must" do in order to get started on you way toward achieving your goals and objectives... and, tomorrow... you do it... and you don't go to bed until you have done it...

Then you repeat the process every day, plan your tomorrow and make a commitment to yourself that you will do it... and, by gawd... do it...

Soon it will become a habit... a day by day... little by little you will advance toward those goals/objectives and eventually become who you want to become and have the things that you want to have...

The very best of luck to you...

.

[JasonBeen]

Thanks for all the info guys. Shamou's advice looks like it's going to help.

[A.K.Light]

Maybe you should restate that. Shamou's advice WILL help you, because you're going to make it happen! That sounds a bit more definite to me.

[1000feet]

At this point you know all about planning and the things you should be doing, but it's a very different thing to actually do them. That's a strength that you can train over time. It's possible to start small and keep improving yourself.

I would say one of the best ways is to go at it from both ends. At the end of the day you can review your goals and small things you could have done to get you closer (just make sure they're actually meaningful), and think for a second about how much further you could be right now.

To balance this, you need to get used to the feeling of accomplishment by starting with a small step - find something that's not too complicated but productive, and do whatever it takes to make yourself do it today or tomorrow. Like Shamou said, you can plan what you're going to do tomorrow; other options are starting it now (and finishing too if it's short), or fixing a time period in the near future when you won't do anything else until it's finished.

It can be hard sometimes, but if you can trick yourself into getting things done a few times you'll get used to the feeling. Of course, after you start small you still have to keep pushing yourself to get closer to the level of performance that you want. If this is too hard, it might not be something that really fits with what you want.

[Ilya]

Originally Posted by JasonBeen

I was wondering if I could get some advice on how I can stop devouring PD books and articles. I've spent hours going over Steve's articles <...> but I can't seem to get any traction.

Have you read this?

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...-help-junkies/

Ree, I'm sure that your intentions were very good, but your advice caught my eye as rather ironic.
Actually you've made a great illustration of the problem. In PD the first reaction is to offer some more PD, even if the problem is too much PD!

JasonBeen, I'm going to enter my provocative mode now. The following is not intended to offend you, just to change a perspective a bit.

Now stop. Stop reading. If your conscious mind knows you've had enough, then your subconscious should be already overflowing with solutions to whatever problem you have. If you got addicted to reading and can't stop, then do not stop reading. Just stop stressing about your inability to stop reading. I hope you are not addicted to stressing about your inability to stop reading PD either?!
Then go live your life. Pick one thing that you've been doing for years. Brushing teeth, cooking a dinner, tying your shoe-laces, watching TV, reading PD articles. Anything. Then try to do it better. Or at least tp do it differently.
Chances are that you will screw it up. Your new way of doing things will be worse. Or may be not. Either way, think.... no, don't think. Just wonder, why on earth the new way was better or worse?
This is a tricky question. There is a secret in it. If you answer this question, you will know more about this world than from reading a dozen articles.

Now I will sum it up for you:
- Pick a mundane activity
- Do it differently
- Wonder, why on earth the result was the way it turned out, until you understand
- Repeat forever (this is optional)
Now you really can stop. C'mon push that little button with a cross in the top, right-hand side corner of the browser window (hope you are not using Mac, or this is not gonna work).

[jbsmith]

Try pulling one single thing out of all of your readings each day, set aside 30-minutes to work on it and most important - get away from disruptions, that means the computer, TV, telephone, and yes, even your family or job.

We are in a generation of information and technology overload, you are going to see (in the very near future) an epidemic of "information junkies" that become so enticed by the availability of information that they will become dysfunctional - it's an addiction just like any other...

Jeff

[Ree]

Originally Posted by Ilya

Ree, I'm sure that your intentions were very good, but your advice caught my eye as rather ironic.
Actually you've made a great illustration of the problem. In PD the first reaction is to offer some more PD, even if the problem is too much PD!

I see your point, and I had a good chuckle at myself over this. I would not, however, throw the baby out with the bath water. The problem of course is not PD, it's the addiction. I found that particular blog pretty powerful and suggested it with the best of intentions. Thanks for your post, Ilya

[Max Power]

Originally Posted by JasonBeen

Hi everyone,

First time poster here. I was wondering if I could get some advice on how I can stop devouring PD books and articles. I've spent hours going over Steve's articles and reading tons of books, but I can't seem to get any traction. I can't get anything done. I feel like pulling my hair out!

You probably haven't adopted a belief system yet. How do you think things manifest? Who's running the show?

I spent years reading and learning and discovering until I realised I hadn't found the right way (for me) to approach the creative process of my existance. Once I did that I stopped looking for the answers, I don't need any more information, I've found what I'm looking for.

The real problem with the self help industry is that it is the same basic simple message branded to each particular guru, so we're forever getting the right info, but it's so packaged up into marketed hype it's a confusing mess.

Max

[Sunnybayes]

Hey here's how,

If you don't have a life purpose everything you do is learning but not doing.

Then read that whole thread.

Then read this post about what it means to have a purpose.

If you are looking for a purpose, help us figure out how to help out the planet better.

Or if you want to start your own, and you like to share it, then let us know and maybe we'll help you out with it.

[leshka]

Originally Posted by JasonBeen

Hi everyone,

First time poster here. I was wondering if I could get some advice on how I can stop devouring PD books and articles. I've spent hours going over Steve's articles and reading tons of books, but I can't seem to get any traction. I can't get anything done. I feel like pulling my hair out!

First thing - don't stop devouring PD books and articles! Don't create any kind of resistence. Try to change just your way of devouring PD books, set a rule to practice for two weeks what you read in a book before you start reading next one.

[John Hill]

I know how you feel, personal development gets very addictive when you first get into it and this addiction can last for years.

There is only one way to get over it and that is to take ACTION.

John

[bradb]

When I started my own business/website/blog, I sat down in front of my computer and started writing some HTML. I literally plowed through it. I had no idea how I would ultimately lay everything out, no "great vision", and what was coming out was ugly, and has since been completely redone. But had I not taken action, ANY action, I'd still been planning right now.

And now that the site is live, I'm insanely motivated to make it a life-changing experience for the people that use it.

Here's a plan of action I'd suggest for overcoming PD addiction:

1. Make it a 30-day challenge to read no PD material. No books, no forums, no nothing. You can resume reading on day 31. The point is to break the thought cycle you're trapped in, and replace it with actionable items and measurable output. You're addicted, so even logging in for "just half an hour" is likely to turn into a few hours.

2. Make a parallel 30-day challenge to pursue a goal. Any goal. Any. Goal. Whatsoever. It will probably not be your One True Goal in Life, and that's totally awesome. Just pursue anything you can. For a simple starter (borrowing the idea from FHWW) ask yourself "What do I hate most about the world?", and find one thing, anything, you can do, or start doing, in 30 days to improve it. The answer to that question for me was that "90% of people live at 10% of their potential", hence I started a site to help build a community around setting goals and achieving them.

3. As soon as you're done writing down that goal, do one thing that will bring you closer to achieving it right away. Building a website? Register the domain. Writing a book? Write a rough outline. Motivation truly does follow action.

4. Do at least one or two actions every single day thereafter, that bring you one step closer, no matter how small, to achieving that goal. And do them before any other tasks in your day (even before showering, if they're short enough.) If you don't have time in the morning, then do them right after you get home from work.

Have fun.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by JasonBeen

Hi everyone,

First time poster here. I was wondering if I could get some advice on how I can stop devouring PD books and articles. I've spent hours going over Steve's articles and reading tons of books, but I can't seem to get any traction. I can't get anything done. I feel like pulling my hair out!

It's possible that you are in the stage of gathering information and the time to effectively act on this information is not yet here. If the self help research is likened to planting a seed the fruits of reading and devouring those books and articles may yet blossom into the change you desire in your life.

Happy trails on your journey through life!

[albertlee25]

Originally Posted by JasonBeen

Hi everyone,

First time poster here. I was wondering if I could get some advice on how I can stop devouring PD books and articles. I've spent hours going over Steve's articles and reading tons of books, but I can't seem to get any traction. I can't get anything done. I feel like pulling my hair out!

Hi Jason,

I have read all the advices above and they are very good. I only wonder what exactly is your problem here Jason?

You want to stop devouring PD books and articles, because you can't seem to get any traction? You can't get anything done?

Jason, can you elaborate more, are you getting information overloaded? Or you just cannot put down that book on your hand and start doing what you have learned because you wanted to read more? Why you cannot get anything done? Is it because you do not know where to start? Or is it because you tried to do too many things at the same time?

Jason, we all can only give you general advices, and there are many good advices given to help you, but it will be better you can give more details and elaborate your problems.

Until then, you can try my One Task A Day! It works miracle for me!

Cheers!!

Albert Lee