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Home  | Flourishing in Life  | Human Growth | Five Minutes a Day

 FIVE-MINUTES A DAY

BY: T. Franklin Murphy  | January 2013 (edited 2018)
Navigating the Self-Help Industry
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Navigating the billion-dollar self-help industry to discover true solutions to our problems.
We have seen the advertisements; three monthly payments of 19.99 to achieve magical results—the body of your dreams. We want a successful life; but are misled by remarkable promises of results without remarkable effort—simple and fast. DO THIS; RECEIVE THAT. Marketing creates want. “You need this,” they tell us. Companies research what people want and then market and sell it (for a profit). By increasing the want, they increase the market. If enough people want something, someone will offer it.
#selfimprovement #wellness #flourishinglife 
We want to feel better, achieve more, and work less. Marketers know this. The well-being industry has exploded into a multi-billion-dollar industry, wrenching money from our pockets by promising happiness with ease. While promises tantalize desires for happiness, requiring little effort, the results usually fall short of expectation, leaving us disappointed and discouraged.
Significant change, toppling entrenching habits, demands more than a magical cure. Before beginning any program to change, we must prepare for the insignificant results likely to follow. Benefits stubbornly wait for consistency before blessing our lives; change first arrives in small imperceptible drops, slowly accumulating. But over the years, changes pour in, soaking us with opportunity and joys. Evaluating progress early in legitimate processes is difficult. The complexity of life blurs direct correlations. Our minds manipulate facts, confuse feelings, and bias results. A simple musing over costs and benefits succumbs to hope, pessimism and present moods; exploiting assessments to produce the answer we prefer.
 
A single compassionate act, even when properly motivated, may not be rewarded. Those unfamiliar with a new commitment to kindness may suspiciously view our benevolence as manipulative. Thoughtful decency may prompt a hurtful response. We need patience; change isn’t a single act. Transformations occur in the heart, eventually expressed in better action. We’re not faking action when a behavior is not natural; we’re showing commitment to new action that doesn’t flow easily. There is some substance to the oft used dictum, “fake it till you make it.”
 
For example, a compassionate life, sprouting from character, doesn’t grant immunity from sorrow; but does, however, build connections. Over time, as compassion blossoms, we experience the delights of living, free from burdensome jealousies and vexing competitions. Strengthening connections provide toughness and vitality. The kind-hearted aren’t exempt from the pains of disloyalty; but they do have additional support to work through the emotional injures when disloyalty strikes.


In order to grow, we must sift through the hubris of misguided advice, giving attention not to be deceived by alluring promises. Marketing won’t stop, relentlessly casting in their lines when the fish keep biting (buying). We will constantly be bombarded with promises of ease. Step back before you succumb to the seductive offers, recognize the emotional pull, and then engage life in a constructive way.
 
Our growth will come by consistently making healthier choices, abandoning the ridiculous in exchange for the proven. We do this through mindfulness, understanding our feelings, identifying influences, and maintaining a clear vision of the desired future. As awareness improves, so does skilled responses. This path to improved living requires a life time commitment; never mastered from mindless dabbling. We can be persistent, mindful, and skilled at living our lives. We can enjoy the moment while preparing for the future. Spare the 19.99, and soak in the current beauties surrounding you. Here, in the peace of the moment, we expand, love and live. 
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FLS Link. Realistic Optimism: Optimism brings energy to action, motivating persistence in the face of difficulty. Our wellness benefits most from optimism when it is based in reality.
FLS internal link. COVID-19: The Mental Health Crisis. The virus is attacking more than our respiratory systems, it is damaging our minds. The anxiety and isolation will leave a notable impact on the mental health of the world.
FLS Link. The Motivational Influence of Anticipatory Joy: Episodic thought can propel us towards our dreams or fearfully tie us to our deplorable present. How and what we think matters.
we are self-empowered to change our futures through healthy choices in the present
Complex world
Our past and environment determine who we are, but we can change.
Internal Link: Flagship article. Ten Beacons of Light. Improving our lives isn't from follow a simple list. Science and experience has provided some clues, beacons of light to follow. Here is a list of ten distant lights to guide us in the path of growth.
Link: Healthy living isn't all logic or all emotion but a smooth blend of both. The aliveness of feeling mixed with the preparedness of thought.

External Articles:
External Link: Your Mindset Matters – Learn to Grow
External Link: Mayo Mindfulness: Overcoming negative self-talk
External Link: How to stop second-guessing your biggest decisions
There is a lot of hype on what we should and shouldn't do to be well. The mind and experience are complex. However, our lives improve immensely when we concentrate on a few of the basics.
oversimplified explanations slow growth and discourage action
FLS internal link. Courage to Become: We need to courage to reach past comfort zones and encourage personal growth.
External Links:
External Link: Continuity of Future Self Tied to Being Happier in Later Life
External Link: 10 Ways to Step Up Your Personal Growth and Succeed in Life
external link. Here’s why it’s so hard to get rid of bad habits
Banner link: 13 habits that are sabotaging your day
Marketing appeals to our emotions with magic promises of transformation. This is a fools game.
Topics: Self-Improvement, Complexity


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