“Stimulus” .. an industry that generates billions of dollars, but it may cause frustration

Have you experienced the feeling of achieving an achievement but feeling incomplete or not feeling happy at all, because you have not achieved another achievement or feel that you still lack more to reach it? The motivational letters of self-development and human development may be the reason; Some psychologists accuse it of causing a continuous feeling of frustration in some rather than motivating them, and theorists market this belief as psychological reasons for this.

In addition to the psychological reasons that we will mention; There is an economic factor that may be behind this feeling of frustration that may follow stimulus speeches, which is the concern that a certain group of people continue to consume stimulus speeches and self-development, as this industry generates billions of dollars annually, which raises a question that is clearly unanswered; Do some self-development rhetoric live off of motivating the audience with a little bit of frustration to ensure they keep consuming content and making their money?

The self-development industry makes billions in profits

According to self-development market research , the profits of this market amounted to 9.9 billion dollars in 2016, and it grew to 11 billion dollars in 2020, and the global market is expected to grow to 13.2 billion dollars during the current year.

According to figures published by sites interested in this industry, such as "Business Wire" and "Market Research " ; Millennials have led the consumer audience with the credit for the industry's growth, and 94% of this market's millennial audience is willing to spend nearly $300 a month on self-improvement, with various services and products in this market, from listening to motivational speaker speeches, Or enroll in online courses, training programs, seminars, e-books, applications, personal training services and other services.

These figures indicate that more than 5,000 American speakers earn more than $1.6 billion annually, with $296 million earned by only 17 of those speakers. As for the personal training market, this market in the United States reached $1.29 billion in 2019. The self-improvement audiobook market grew by 20% in 2021 to $541 million.

Frustration in pursuit of self-improvement

A major part of the goal behind self-development letters is to motivate a person to improve themselves and their lifestyle and increase their productivity through organizing their time, doing more, striving for better, and other tips related to productivity culture. But does this quest cause something supposed to be positive; Lots of negative feelings? Here Cal Newport, a professor at Georgetown University and a writer for The New Yorker , points to the experiences of people who have developed negative emotions such as stress, more preoccupation, and increased feelings of frustration and guilt if they are not productive.

Newport linked terms used in self-development such as "increased productivity" to economic contexts and the emergence of capitalism, referring to the term "product" by Scottish economist Adam Smith in his book " The Revolution of Nations " when describing labor that added value to resources, meaning that a carpenter who turns a pile of boards Wooden to cabinet is a "product", because the cabinet is worth more than the cost of the original panels, so this term is mainly associated with economics, but man considered part of the tools that achieve production.

Despite this, productivity in the past decades focused more on tools, inputs and systems improvement, but it began to take a different turn in modern economic history when it focused on people.

The problem does not lie in productivity that focuses on people per se, but rather in the way this productivity is achieved, as it may be toxic when it negatively affects the “productive” person and focuses only on achieving a greater increase in production regardless of the impact on this individual who works For additional hours to improve and increase productivity, instead of spending more time with the family or taking time to exercise or rest, which makes it a burden rather than an achievement.

Productivity that focuses on people overlooks an important aspect, which is their need for time to rest, recharge and recreation, because without these things a person becomes less productive, and this feeling may frustrate him in light of a greater pursuit of productivity that he cannot achieve with his need for this comfort, and it also causes a constant feeling of pressure and pursuit. of unfinished tasks, and then becomes " toxic productivity ".

self-improvement addiction

The desire for self-improvement is not a bad thing, because we are determined to develop and learn from our childhood to our adulthood, but what if we try to develop ourselves in a field and do not succeed, this may frustrate us even though some methods of self-development and self-improvement require longer periods of time than we give ourselves, What is to blame here is the discourses of self-development that call for self-development in a certain period of time and a plan and timetable for that, and give advice on how to use up our spare time.

The report of the “ Very Well Mind ” website, which is interested in mental and physical health issues, pointed out another point related to “self-development addiction” and a constant feeling of dissatisfaction with the current situation, which means focusing efforts to continuously improve our thoughts, behaviors and lives, which is something Weary because a person constantly feels “inadequate,” that we are not enough or that we have achieved enough, and we run after achieving more in an endless cycle of “self-improvement.”

Mental health expert Dr. Gregory Gantz talked about the signs of this addiction, such as the pursuit of a goal in a way that makes it a priority over the rest of the things in a person's life, or the feeling of anxiety and that things are out of his control if he does not reach a certain point or goal.

Feelings of shame and impulsive decisions

What happens when someone is constantly telling you all the ways you need to improve that just don't work for you? It can lead us to feel ashamed of ourselves, and to be "disappointed". And the pursuit of more and more self-improvement may push us to make impulsive decisions only to achieve this goal, such as participating in certain training programs or downloading applications to reach this expected improvement, without carefully and carefully considering how useful it is for us, in the end we are different people and each His way of dealing with things.

Is self improvement a selfish behavior?

Self-improvement is of course about the self, and if self-help is an endless cycle of self-improvement and personal growth only, it may affect other social roles, being a part of society and having other roles to play that do not focus only on us. Therefore, Six Seconds , which is designed for a program that supports emotional intelligence, advises the need to look at others and see them in the midst of this daily struggle for self-improvement, by working to improve the lives of others around us, especially if they are within the circle of social responsibility such as children and family.