tldr; they are filled with anecdotal reference. And can’t replace religion
Self-help literature has seen a significant surge in readership. Because, thanks to internet we all get to read/see the people who are excelling at their domain. And some hidden part in us cries out to reach our unfulfilled potential.
But how do we achieve that? Through reflection or imitation (Mimetic Desire and the Scapegoat). And we say,
“Mirror, mirror, mirror on the wall- why can’t I reach my potential?”
And the mirror says,
“You don’t have discipline”
And we go on to the internet, search how we can achieve discipline. In youtube theres this guy name David Goggins. We listen to his rant -
“The vast majority of us are slaves to our minds. Most don’t even make the first effort when it comes to mastering their thought process because it’s a never-ending chore and impossible to get right every time.”
You feel motivated to do some pushup. But theres your roommate. You can’t go and do 100 pushup in front of him now. If he wasn’t there, you would definitely do it. How about this evening? We know evening is a good time to workout. Evening comes and goes but you forget. When you remember you just realised, morning is the best time to workout. You are gonna run some mile in the very early morning. But you have many unfinished work because, you lack discipline. You work a little late at night and end up oversleeping. You miss your morning workout. And feel depressed. You look in the mirror and say -
“Mirror, mirror, mirror on the wall- why can’t I reach my potential?”
And the mirror says,
“You don’t have discipline”
You watch some more motivational videos. And the day repeats. You are caught in a time loop. But someday you break out of this cycle. You gain some discipline in life. One day you stumble upon a guy named Andrew Huberman. He drops some neuroscience knowledge -
It doesn’t matter what you eat; if you eat too much (volume) of food, you’ll be tired. It’s called blood flow diversion.
Eat to 85% full and you’ll avoid this source of fatigue.
You end up seeing his talks and learn some neat brain hack to stay focused and all. But may be… May be… You are still not there yet. Some day you stand before the mirror and ask:
“Mirror, mirror, mirror on the wall- why can’t I reach my potential?”
And the mirror says,
“You need some Jocko Willink content” 😝
And Jocko says:
“Stop researching every aspect of it and reading all about it and debating the pros and cons of it … Start doing it.”
You have achieved some improvement. Certainly you didn’t reach your potential. But you fought and survived. Doesn’t matter what it was. As long as something along the way worked. You were used to getting kicked in your 🥜 . But finally you learned some 🥋. Now you can throw some 🥊 . But one question,
How did people like Al-Khawarizmi, Ibn Sina, Euler, Newton or Benjamin Franklin did it at their time?
They didn’t have access to modern neuroscience research. But how did they produce works at bulk? Well, in Eulers case may be:
Euler’s vision in that eye worsened throughout his stay in Germany, to the extent that Frederick referred to him as “Cyclops”. Euler remarked on his loss of vision, stating “Now I will have fewer distractions.”59 In 1766 a cataract in his left eye was discovered. Though couching of the cataract temporarily improved his vision, complications ultimately rendered him almost totally blind in the left eye as well.39 However, his condition appeared to have little effect on his productivity. With the aid of his scribes, Euler’s productivity in many areas of study increased;62 and, in 1775, he produced, on average, one mathematical paper every week.39
Ultimately, it ends up reflecting on you own situation. Pause and Ponder. Devising our very own formula with carefully thought out tests.
May be you are a muslim. You wake up very early in the morning for Fajr Prayer. You have this practice for more than a decade. Yet you can’t find energy to do some chore. What do you do?