While the benefits of working on yourself are obvious, there are a few challenges, pitfalls, and curve balls that you need to be mindful of your search for their best self and best life:
1. Self-Help Selfishness
One of the potential dangers of constantly working on you is that you can inadvertently become self-absorbed, selfish, unaware of the needs of others and disconnected from reality. Some Personal Development devotees are so ’self-focused’ (their world, their issues, their problems, their relationships, their body, their finances) that they struggle to relate to, take an interest in, and connect with people who don’t have the same mindset, values, attitudes or thinking.
2. The Self-Help Evangelist
If you really want to alienate people, point out all their faults, show them the error of their ways, demonstrate how clever you’ve become on your self-help journey and do your best to convert them to your Religion. After all, it’s for their own good right?
3. Theory Isn’t Reality
There’s a lot of space between knowing what to do and doing what we know. Far too many people are champions at the knowing part but completely useless when it comes to the doing.
4. Guru Worship
By all means, respect people (if they deserve it) but don’t worship them. Instead of empowering themselves, some people actually empower their Guru and turn them into a demi-god.
5. It’s Expensive
Make sure you get a good return on your investment and know what you’re buying. Spend your self-help money wisely and thoughtfully.
6. Some of It’s Useless
Some personal development material is not practical, not realistic and doesn’t change lives over the long term. Some writers and speakers are more concerned with making friends and winning fans than speaking the truth, no matter how popular or unpopular that message may be.
7. Creating Life-Long Results is About You
All the personal development resources in the world can’t change your life one bit. The only thing that can change your life forever is YOU.