Penn and Teller -Bullshit! - Self-Helpless
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Stumble ThisPenn and Teller expose the self-help industry. They address everything from Tony Robbins and Dr. Phil to walking on glass and hot coals.
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Today, I'm on my way to getting my BA in Theater, I have a 4.0 GPA, I'm starting Improv classes, no longer addicted, I'm losing weight and I've got a great job. It may not work for everyone and everyone may not agree with it, but it works for me.
Really, you don't need somebody else to tell you that you can motivate yourself. Hell, you can get that for (sort of) free from religion, rather than paying people to have shitty pseudo-careers.
I think the bullshit part of these self help seminars isn't the notion that people are unable to help themselves, or through attitude or behavioral changes make significant positive adjustments to their lives. I think the bullshit is the notion they're trying to pass off that you can do anything if you put your mind to it!
Well, it is truth actually. You can do practically anything if you have the motivational power and don't give up. Of course it excludes impossible things as flying, becoming a world champion at boxing at age 44 or becoming a model if you are ugly looking. However, if you have realistic goals, for example, build a condo, buy a lamborgini or become very professional at something you are just good at. With huge effort+willpower+mind state+self hypnosis you can attain any almost any goal you want. The problem is - a lot of people can't motivate themselves, they don't have enough willpower, they give up easely and then they deside they have to pay for this simple information you can find practically anywhere.
BTW - That self hypnosis thing is not bullshit, I've tried it and it works. You can somehow hack your subcosncious mind to be in the positive state and it will come out and you will be another person. I didn't pay for it tho' (read: torrent shop).
I have a simple advice to happiness - don't let shit influence your feelings, live in the moment. Hmm...actually I need some money right now, I need to write a book on this topic, no - I will write 1 book and split it in 5 so I get more money.
you went out, and the act of buying the book was the change.. you said that's it, i'm not happy how things are, i want to change it..
the book was just a comforter.. it may have suggested that you do 1 or 2 generic things, which you did, and your brain made the connection between doing those things and success. it probably spent 10 pages telling you in flowery terms that you had power, to build your power, conserve your power, focus your power, now go out and find a subject you enjoy, and you decided to study it. all it did was tell you to get out and do something. something anyone would have told you on an internet flame post.
maybe it didn't happen in that exact way, but believe me, in one way or another, that's what happened.
it's all bullshit.. you did it, the book didn't help at all.
I must say I unfortunately disagree, I think that presents the illusion we have near complete control over our lives, our ability to motivate ourselves, or to work towards a goal is only partly responsible for success. Its almost a requirement if you want to achieve a goal, unless you just happen to fall ass backwards into it.
If I want to be a millionaire I need to work towards that goal, the amount of work I put into that most likely has an effect on my success, am I trying to start my own business or am I just buying lottery tickets. But there are other situational factors, the right opportunities have to present themselves, the right decisions have to be made. Do I invest in firm A or firm B, what if firm B turns out to be Enron or any of the other wildly successful corporations that go belly up because of corruption or some sudden change in the market. I've known a lot of people who've worked hard towards some goal and failed, and a lot who've worked hard and succeeded, each following the path they believed lead to success, did the ones who failed just not work hard enough, weren't motivated enough? How do you know when to give up on something and try something else, what's too soon, what's too long?
My point is unless you posses the ability to see into the future there is no certainty for success no matter how hard you try. I'm not saying trying/working hard doesn't help, I saying its not a free ticket to sucess.
"How do you know when to give up on something and try something else, what's too soon, what's too long?"
That's why I think if you want to succeed in business, you can't focus only on this one thing, which can go bankrupt the other day. You have to have many fields, so if one burns, you can still go on and focus on others. That's a strategy, if you are really dedicated to something, your brain will give more effort into thinking of the best strategies to attain this goal and not waste it's energy on useless stuff. However, I think you still have to be a fairly intelligent person, because your brain cannot work if it doesn't have any understanding of the simple stuff in life. Also people who believe in theirselves, who are strongly rooted in their own reality can that way better affect other people around them. It is called charisma, body language. Your confidence speaks out through other ways than just words.
Intelligence is in part a biological condition, some people are able to learn faster, and understand complex ideas others can't grasp, while others struggle with material most people understand. That seems like a factor that could limit a person's success to me, its not something they can appreciably change. So how does that fit in with being able to do anything you put your mind to? Are they just as guaranteed to succeed as someone who is smarter? If there goal is to be smarter how much smarter can they be? Sounds like a situational factor to me, one that might limit chances for success.
"Also people who believe in theirselves, who are strongly rooted in their own reality can that way better affect other people around them."
I'd label this one 'under what costs'. I'd say George Bush is strongly rooted in his own reality, he's had a lot of success, he's rich, charismatic (
in the way a macaque is charismatic)well connected, and president of one of the largest countries on the planet. You could argue he got there because he's rooted in his own reality, I'd also argue his strong roots in his own reality has caused some very big problems for vast amounts of people. Osama Bin Laden is strongly rooted in his own reality, and by some measure successful (he certainly seems to think he is), but to a lot of people he's a cancer that's killing society. I'd like to think ethics still has a place when achieving your goals.I suppose I'm playing devil's advocate because I really do believe a person's ability to motivate themselves and be persistent can have a great effect on the direction in their life, and their progress towards their goals. But at the same time I don't think there are any guarantees, hell the only guarantee you'll ever get is that at some point you're going to die. There are things you can control in life and things you can't, sometimes things just don't work out (sometimes they work out great). I suppose the smart thing is to set goals that are within your limits, or the ability to recognize what is likely possible. The problem I frequently see (and probably amongst the self-help goers in the video) is that they set limits that are well below their actual ability, so the problem becomes not that they lack the ability to do something, but the belief that they can.
On a side note my book Ten Simple Steps to Demotivation isn't exactly flying off the bookshelves.
Why not? If you aren't mentally challanged I don't see why you can't learn and study and exercise your brain in order to become more intelligent.
"I don't think there are any guarantees, hell the only guarantee you'll ever get is that at some point you're going to die."
If we look from this perspective - of course. I mean, maybe the world will end in 2030 something form that asteroid that COULD hit the earth. Maybe someone terrorist will bomb your home, maybe you get into car accident. Maybe you become really successful and then somebody kills you because you are in someones way or kidnaps your children. A lot of stuff can happen. That doesn't mean we should live in a bubble and be afraid to challange life.
Yes, if you want to become the only and the best one in some criteria and there are many other people that want to do the same, you might not succeed, that is why this strategy doesn't apply to becoming world champion in some sport, for example. It the end it turns out that the competetor was just a little bit better and that is why he won. If you want to become THE RICHEST MAN in the world, you will probably fail because prince of Brunay (whatever it's called) will have inherited a country. BUT - you can become A RICH MAN. Think about those millions of people who sit in front of TV all day, use drugs, spend their time on useless shit - are they your competetors? NO! Maybe you are one from thousands with this specific mindset and that automatically makes a very high success ratio between you:them.
About harm and good - these are relative terms. You have to define your own good and your own harm. There will always be haters. Even if you were the nicest person on planet, there still would be someone who hates you. But will that hold you back from reaching your dreams?
For real self-help, stop and think about your life; really examine it. For years. Answers will come, with time. Get a library card in the meantime, if you need someone else's words.