Stop the pointless self-development signalling

Instagram is an absolute mess for this type of shit.

Thousands of “influencers” have built their social media platform on a foundation of what have become increasingly known as “shit-quotes”

You’ll already know what I’m talking about.

These are the quotes which are a couple of lines long, typically with a cliff top or sunset as a background.

They’ll make some reference to change and to knowing yourself etc.

Here’s a couple of examples

“You owe yourself the life you have always dreamed of”

And 

“Don’t trust what you see, even salt looks like sugar”

Some clarity

Before I say anything else, I want to be absolutely clear on something.

I am a big fan of having a mantra and of having quotes to guide you.

What I am absolutely not a fan of is people sharing this shit for the sole reason of trying to make people think that’s how they live their life. 

Or worst still sharing quotes with the intention of it being seen by someone so that they feel that it is about them.

A differentiation

If you follow GYST Coaching on social media then you will have seen quotes from both myself and other much more prominent people.

These quotes are handpicked and designed to genuinely inspire with the intent that you should actually try and live your life in that way.

Let’s look at the quote above “You owe yourself the life you have always dreamed of”, now there’s not that much wrong with that quote per se.

Someone sharing this should actually be taking steps towards earning that dream.

What’s the actual point in sharing it and then just slumping on the sofa eating chilli heatwave Doritos? (unless this is directly linked to your dream life)

It’s this, what I’m calling, self-development signalling that needs to stop because it’s bullshit.

It’s infuriating that in this social media age it seems that is a lot more important for people to be thought of as doing something rather than actually doing it.

As long as your followers think that you’re on a journey of genuine self-discovery then that’s all that matters right? Who gives a shit if you’re actually putting in the hard yards.

And if times get hard you can just dig out another shit-quote about the journey to self-improvement being up and down, not a straight line, right?

If you do this and you’re reading this then stop this nonsense right now. 

The harm

If you’re sitting there thinking that I’m being as preachy as shit then you’d be utterly forgiven, I absolutely am but it is preachiness with good intentions.

Let me explain why I’m being so god damn preachy by talking about something entirely different.

Golf.

Golf is a ridiculously difficult sport, it really is. There are such a range of different shots, techniques, club selections, condition changes yada yada yada.

As such YouTube is absolutely full of golf channels and experts all happily telling you how they’ll make you hit the ball further or make you putt better or whatever.

It’s really easy to sit there and watch 3-4 hours of instructional golf videos and you feel like you’ve learnt a lot.

And sure enough your golf game doesn’t improve at all.

But why?

Because by simply watching the videos you’ve not actually put in the practice that you need to in order to improve your game.

You’ve simply convinced yourself that watching golf videos is the same as practice.

Hopefully my analogy is clear.

If not, let’s make it so.

Sharing a motivational quote doesn’t actually mean you’ve done any work on yourself.

Do not confuse sharing a quote on social media with actually putting some work in.

They are categorically not the same thing.

If you’d like to know how to actually take a quote you’ve read and apply it to yourself then please see this post.

If you’re looking for help with improving your mindset, making better decisions for yourself and giving yourself a better life then fill in your details below to find out more about working with me directly.