I’m Growing Weary of Growth

Summary

The author expresses frustration with the oversaturation of superficial self-improvement articles and questions the necessity of constant personal growth.

Abstract

The article titled "I’m Growing Weary of Growth" reflects the author's exasperation with the proliferation of generic self-improvement content across their feeds, which they find to be devoid of substance and originality. The author distinguishes between substantive, well-researched pieces that offer genuine value and the formulaic articles that seem to be produced merely for content's sake. They challenge the notion of growth as an inherently positive and necessary pursuit, suggesting that the obsession with growth may be an imposition of the self-help industry. The author ponders whether growth is always beneficial, citing examples such as the bittersweet nature of children growing up and the potential satisfaction in stable, unchanging careers. They question the societal pressure to continuously improve and whether every aspect of life needs to be "hacked" for progress.

Opinions

The author is critical of the repetitive and low-quality self-improvement articles that lack depth and original thought.
They believe that content creators should focus on delivering value rather than adhering to a template for the sake of content production.
The author suggests that growth is not always positive and can sometimes lead to negative outcomes.
They argue that the concept of growth may be overemphasized by the self-help industry, creating unnecessary pressure for individuals to constantly seek improvement.
The author implies that personal satisfaction and meaningful work can be sufficient without the need for continuous growth or "hacking" life.
They point out that the term "growth" in relationships may simply refer to investing effort, which should be a given rather than an exceptional achievement.
The author is open to reader engagement, inviting comments from those who share their fatigue with clichéd growth advice.

It’s okay to not be into it.

Photo by Yan from Pexels

I’ve had another paint-by-numbers self-improvement article appear in my feed. Actually a lot of them.

They are clogging up all of my timelines. Probably yours too.

I’ve had enough. I’ve grown weary of growth.

I’m not talking about substantive articles. I’m a sucker for well-researched or experiential pieces. I can-and-will-read those all day.

I’m talking about the formulaic, vapid pieces you can tell someone wrote just to crank out more content. The empty calories leap from the page. Everyone must be using the same template, because the styles are all similar. It’s annoying.

Want to stand out from the crowd? Deliver value? Want people to actually read what you have to say? Try addressing some of the points below.

No, it’s not your job to write something just for me. It’s your job to deliver something of value.

How do you grow? For something non-quantifiable, what benchmark(s) do you get to use? When we think of growth, does it always have to be positive? Maybe there are times when we grow in a bad way. After all, how many times this year have we heard, “things are growing worse?”

My kids are growing, and that’s good. But it also means they’re getting older, and that’s bad (for me, anyway).

People talk about “growth” in relationships, but isn’t that just a cute way of saying “I give a shit and put in the work?” That’s the default option, not something medal-worthy.

How does a guy on an assembly line “grow” his career? If he enjoys the work, isn’t that enough?

Do we even need to grow, or is that a construct that’s been forced on us by the self-help industrial complex? Do we need to “hack” everything?

What happens when we grow weary of growth?

Have you seen one too many boilerplate “4 career/life/relationship growth hacks” articles lately? Let me know in the comments below!