The Self-help Industry Is Crashing but Spiritual Growth Still Stands

All else will fail so you can return to your essence

I can’t understand the hate the self-help industry is receiving. I believe in its foundation and its mission to help. Self-help served its purpose in my life but a lot changed and I realize some truths.

The work doesn't end with self-help but the journey to self-mastery begins with the strong desire to help one's self.

I was lost for a long time. My life was chaotic in many ways and self-help did a marvelous job leading me back to myself. It served as the basis of my self-discovery journey.

Self-help led me back on track but there was more I needed to learn and do. It did not cover everything I needed to be fulfilled but it showed me the way.

It led me to discover “spiritual growth’’ which is the thing that actually changed my life for the better.

Self-help brings you back in touch with your body and spiritual growth leads you to connect with your soul.

Self-help is wonderful work and it means well, but it can lead many people to become easily overwhelmed and unfulfilled than when they started.

When we discover the hacks and tricks to doing things better, we do it over and over again until we realize there has to be more to life. Self-help works, so many of us talk about it over and over again until it starts to sound the same while leaving us unfulfilled and yearning for more.

From the evening routines to making one’s bed in the morning to going to the gym being repeated, it all starts to be quite exhausting.

A person can do the work to improve the physical body and improve mindset, but when we feel disconnected from the universe around us, we will always feel something is missing no matter how many routines we have.

While self-help can show you how to get your life in order, it doesn’t show you how to ‘know thyself’.

Self-help doesn't show us how to find ourselves. It shows us how to live our day to day life but it teaches us little about self-discovery, self-mastery, and self-awareness.

When we don't know who we really are and why we do the things we do, we will always feel a void that needs to be filled. A void that can't be filled with material gains or constant doing.

And we soon realize that simply having a list of things to do in the morning doesn't fill that void but only makes you late for work, which causes more frustration.

Self-help’s primary focus is the mind and the body, and it fails to acknowledge the spirit within us and the soul that leads us to peace.

We train the body constantly and we follow the mind which only leads us astray. We are ruled by the ‘ego’ which doesn't really know much.

It leaves us unhappy and we take that frustration out on others and self-help for failing to bring us happiness which can never be found outside of ourselves. Self-help doesn’t show us how to connect with our soul because self-help lacks a soul.

The missing key ingredient to self-help is ‘soul’.

Spiritual growth on the other hand focuses on the body, mind, spirit, and soul. It focuses on all aspects of the self, and that’s what makes it so fulfilling.

Spiritual growth is becoming aware of your inner consciousness or being, which transcends the boundaries of the mind and ‘ego’ to find the person you are deep down within you.

It is about connecting with your soul and becoming one with life around you. It is developing our inner power and strength which leads us to live happier and more fulfilled lives.

Spiritual growth leads us to understand ourselves and why we took the actions that led us to where we find ourselves. It helps one to take responsibility for their own actions instead of playing the victim and pointing fingers.

When we point one finger at another, we have three fingers pointing back at us.

While self-help has the “do, do, get up, and go’’ mentality, spirituality is about being still. It is about not doing. It is about silence and solitude.

It is about being still and thinking about things that fascinate your mind and your imagination. It is about asking important questions that lead to discovering what makes you feel alive.

Spiritual growth leads to a heightened sense of consciousness, which brings a sense of connectedness with everything around us.

Spiritual growth is available to everyone. In fact, it is our life’s purpose to discover who we truly are. It doesn’t matter what life you’ve led until now or what you've done in the past.

Maybe you've been selfish and have only been motivated by financial gains. It doesn't matter. Every one of us has a soul that can be tapped into at any given time to lead us back to ourselves.

It doesn’t take deep intelligence and it shouldn't take some terrible life event causing an awakening within us, although that is mostly the case. A soul lies beneath the surface of the ego, waiting on you to see it and begin exploring that aspect of your being.

And once you do, you will find many things about yourself, things that have been buried by old thought patterns, outdated beliefs, and negative habits.

So while self-help crashes and burn, spiritual growth will always stand. It's your call.

The only thing to ‘do’ in spirituality is about doing what feeds the soul.

This is an article by Michael Thompson where his friends ripped self-help apart. It is hilarious! But it isn't funny, it's actually quite sad.

And this is my article, where I couldn't understand why people were so frustrated with self-help. But I now understand their frustrations.

What do you think? How do you feel about self-help? I’d love to know what you think about this topic.