The World of Personal Development

If you had mentioned the world of self-help, personal development or new age concepts to me two or three years ago, I would have laughed in your face. Today, I daily check out StevePavlina.com and BrianKim.net, the web sites of two personal development gurus.

There is a reason why “The Secret” has been so successful. People (including myself) are screaming for hope. We’re looking for reason in our lives. We’re looking for happiness and fulfillment. Not just in our personal lives but also in our professional careers. People no longer stick with one job for 40 years and then retire with a gold watch and a retirement dinner. Technology and globalization has rapidly transformed all areas of business: from call centers in India to marketing personnel shifting companies every few years. The world is moving exponentially faster and there are no signs of it slowing down.

People are looking for answers and unfortunately our leaders do not have them. The current Bush administration just reveals one disaster after another, from failing to prevent 9/11 to Iraq to Katrina to countless breaches of constitutional protections. George W. Bush’s approval ratings are in the low thirties-high twenties. Vice President Dick Cheney is at 9%. Clearly, they are ineffective.

So, we see books like “The Secret” and “The Law of Attraction” as bestsellers. The war in Iraq has become a 21st-century Vietnam. Everyday costs are increasing at a faster rate. College tuition has skyrocketed to where many private 4-year institutions cost $50,000 a year.

I personally believe that this hypercompetitive capitalist environment will eventually subside. It’s too much. We’re already seeing this in young people; climbing the corporate ladder isn’t worth wasting your youth with 80-hour workweeks. People are beginning to search for meaning in life.

So my answer for today is a lesson best taught by Joseph Campbell: follow your bliss. The rest will come.

Technology Is Less Convenient

Every time I hear about another technological innovation, I’m informed about how the new device will make my life easier, will make choices simpler, and the convenience it brings will change my life. Cell phones now double as cameras, walkie-talkies, PDAs, alarm clocks, whatever. The trains on my rush-hour commute are filled with people thumbing through their BlackBerries (derogatorily nicknamed “CrackBerries” by some). This “technological convenience” will now make you smarter, faster, better, more efficient. It will also allow you to have a life too. Or so that’s what’s promised.

Ask yourself this: are you now more convenienced? Is your life simpler or more complex because of technology?

The first decade of the 21st century is now over half over. The latter half of the previous decade promised all sorts of conveniences that technology would bring. People could telecommute. People would be able to leave work early. In other words, technology would bring “less work” and “more fun.”

Instead, it seems all this technology has had the opposite effect. The 9-to-5-workweek is an extinct dinosaur, replaced with late-night sessions checking the BlackBerry. The “virtual office” has now crept into recreational time. Proponents of this “virtual office” culture argue you can work anywhere at any time, even on the beach. Anyone who has done this knows that instead of having a great day in the office, you have a crappy day on the beach.

My point is that diluting the boundaries between work time and recreational time doesn’t conveniently allow you to define your own boundaries, it forces you to work…all the time! If you can check work email at home, sooner or later you will be expected to do so. If you can be reached by phone from anywhere on the planet, you’ll be forced to work. The lack of an inability to work thus forces you to choose when to work…and when you choose not to work, your colleagues will be wondering why you’re not working, especially if they want to work all the time.

No wonder why so many Americans are unhappy. The U.S. is the wealthiest country in the world, and yet billions are spent on self-help books and therapy.

I have yet to own a cell phone. I imagine I will eventually cave in but for now I’m fine not having a 24-hour connection resting next to my hip. God forbid I should be forced to get a BlackBerry.