Sydney Barnett
@sydbarnett
Writer. Singer. Coach.
Sydney Barnett
sydneybarnettmusic.substack.com
Self-Improvement Industrial Complex
Trusting your inner wisdom… honoring your mess… practicing discernment amongst all the “self-help” chatter
Ishika Dhawan
1d
It takes a really long time to understand that accepting yourself as you are and trying to be better is a delicate balance. Self-improvement became a billion dollar industry because it sells a dream state of perfection. We always chase it but never reach it (hamster wheel situation if you ask me).
Self-improvement is good when it mak... See more
1d
It takes a really long time to understand that accepting yourself as you are and trying to be better is a delicate balance. Self-improvement became a billion dollar industry because it sells a dream state of perfection. We always chase it but never reach it (hamster wheel situation if you ask me).
Self-improvement is good when it mak... See more
Annie Scott • Annie Scott (@anniescott)
The urge to "provide value" is killing creativity and Self-Improvement Industrial Complex
I completely agree, it comes down to finding a delicate balance. Self-improvement is good when it makes sense for you.
The Unread Shelf
1d
The irony is that the self-improvement industrial complex has convinced us that contentment itself is a problem to be solved. “ You're happy? Well, you could be OPTIMIZED happy. You're calm? But are you PEAK calm?” It's exhausting being marketed to by your own potential. Sometimes the most radical act is sitting still and thinking... See more
1d
The irony is that the self-improvement industrial complex has convinced us that contentment itself is a problem to be solved. “ You're happy? Well, you could be OPTIMIZED happy. You're calm? But are you PEAK calm?” It's exhausting being marketed to by your own potential. Sometimes the most radical act is sitting still and thinking... See more
Annie Scott • Annie Scott (@anniescott)
The urge to "provide value" is killing creativity and Self-Improvement Industrial Complex
Absolutely on point. “It’s exhausting being marketed to by your own potential.” What a line. I also think he’s right in that presence and gratitude are key tools.
I’m so over coaching. I’m so over self-improvement. I’m so over optimising and habit stacking and morning routines. I’m over nutrition and longevity and gratitude journals and supplements.
I’m so over a culture that tells me I’m not ok as I am at every damn turn and tries to sell me a solution.
___LINEBR... See more
Annie Scottsubstack.comThe urge to "provide value" is killing creativity
I agree with you about finding the delicate balance. I would expand on that to say, I totally believe we can find healthy forms of self-improvement when it comes from a place of curiosity and excitement, versus inadequacy.
If you want to improve an area of your life because you genuinely enjoy that process, and it’s coming from a place of passion and joy, well, that’s glorious.
In line with Annie’s example, I want to become a better writer and that’s something I find deep fulfillment in. I love where I am now as a writer, and I am even more excited to see where I will be in 5-10 years from my daily practice.
If, however, a writer was beating themselves up, comparing themselves to other writers, dragging themselves to workshops, and seeking improvement from a place of scarcity or lack or “I’m not good enough” - then obviously, that is harmful.
So I appreciate your input as, “Self-improvement is good when it makes sense for you…” and… when you already believe in your inherent worth.
I also do agree with Annie, that the vast majority of our society is perpetuating a deficit-based ideology of self-improvement. It takes discernment to detangle what we genuinely would love to pursue improvement in from that place of love, versus what we are being sold to pursue from that (fictional) place of lack.
When people come to me and say, “I’d like to be an artist.” I say, “Well, you’re not. You either are or you’re not.” It’s like breathing. You don’t question breathing, you just breathe. So you just wake up in the morning and you create. That urge to create makes you an artist but it doesn’t make you a great artist. The great artist has to really, r
... See moreIn nature, some seeds lie dormant in anticipation of the season most conducive to their growth. This is true of art as well. There are ideas whose time has not yet come. Or perhaps their time has come, but you are not yet ready to engage with them. Other times, developing a different seed may shed light on a dormant one.
Rick Rubin • The Creative Act: A Way of Being
A writing example: when I look back in my notes I realize so much of what I write about today I was ruminating about 2-3 years ago. I always knew what I was going to say. I just didn’t have the tools, I didn’t have the maturity, I didn’t have the language or sensitivity to beauty to recognize what that was. So much of what I learned was latent, une... See more
Nix 🕊 • things that take time
I don’t believe in 50 friends. I believe in a smaller number. Nor do I care about society events. It’s the most senseless use of time. When I do go out, from time to time, it’s just to convince myself again that I’m not missing a lot.
Red Bull’s billionaire founder - Colossus
I guess what I’m trying to say in this essay is: I’m awed and surprised and deeply pleased that this turned out to be a good strategy. You don’t have to be a content farm to find a community of readers; you can just put your heart into making unreasonably thorough stuff.