What's with all the dudes from HS and college becoming "self-help gurus"?

Not sure if quarantine is bringing out the crazy or if this is a new trend, but A LOT of guys from school have gotten into self-development in what seems like a sleazy way. I always thought that self-help was about controlling your own ego, but hey, what do I know.

Anyway, these dudes are blowing up my notifications with a "hey man, check out my podcast. Gotta get 1% better every day. #staystrong #thinkpositive," tagging me in Instagram posts saying the same, calling themselves "investors" because daddy gave them $5K to toss to their uncle's new restaurant or cousin's new app. Dudes are most often identified by having worked a shitty or MO/BO job at a solid firm and then "finding their passion to help people." Weirdly, all their advice is vague on actual self-improvement and predicated on some story about "wanting to make the world a little bit brighter every day."

I'm not hating on them; do what makes you happy. I'm just confused as to how so many dudes from different areas of my life are all arriving on the same path in almost the same way at the same time! Is this the new "IB + PE + MBA = god" path that I don't know about?

18 Comments
 

It’s the male version of being an Instagram “model.”

Either way you’re shilling bullshit

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I think a lot of people got sold the idea of "follow your passion"; which was suppose to mean, don't go work at a bank just to make more money if you really want to help kids, be a teacher instead.

People, I think without a lot of passions, took that as "how can I get instagram famous/make a bunch of passion income so I can do 'nothing'".

At the end of the day, I think there are a lot of people without passions, or passions that can't be or don't know how to be translated into income.

There are also people who has the illusion your dream job is doing everything you want to do all the time and that it should be 100% fun. I always remember when P Diddy did making the band, and the group who hadn't even made a single yet wanted to live like rockstars. Diddy said, "I would love to just sit around all day and fuck and eat turkey sandwiches, but I gotta work". I think a lot of people just don't know how to work, and hang on to other people who tell them its easy. That's where you get these guys from HS/college.

 

You're right. It's weird and sad how we go from having passions and dreams as kids to becoming mini corporate drones in training, with a lifelong dream of chasing prestige. And then you get burnt out and want to hop on the supposed Instaho gravy train.

One thing I've always thought about is what hard work actually entails. I'm not at all against it, but save for manual labor like chopping wood, what does true hard work that leads to results actually look like in the corporate world (giving TED Talks and writing crap self-published books doesn't count)?

 

-Yes, but "dreams" as kids are just that, dreams. Meaning, you might want to be an astronaut as kid (maybe because you saw it a cartoon), but do you really know what it takes to be an astronaut? Yes, you might be entertained by space, but do you have the ability to study science that long? Also, when you're five, you really don't know what your good at or really what you like. Sure, there were people who picked up a football/instrument at 4 and never put it down, but thats not everyone who starts a company.

-"hard work" is more an idea/term than a physical thing. I think its a variable term, but people throw it out like it can be measured. "You make more money than me? at least I 'work hard' ". Are some jobs more physically taxing than others, yes, but the less taxing doesn't mean they aren't hard. I think of someone like Jimmy Kimmel. He started in radio as "Jimmy the Sports Guy", they said he was always the first to show up last to leave, and would do stuff for free, like cut promos. Did he work hard? I would say so, he rose through the ranks. Does that mean he worked harder than the local DJ? Maybe? maybe he just got a different break at the right time.

Also, hard work doesn't guarantee success. Think about it, do you think that everyone in at every job/company is the #1 hard in that environment. They're prob not at the bottom, but it takes a lot more luck than people are willing to admit. Think about it like the Super Bowl, when Eli Manning beat Brady twice, does that mean Brady didn't work as hard as Manning in preparing? The dice just didn't roll his way.

 

The second to last sentence nails it times a million.

That’s the entire reason Tai Lopez, Gary V., Tony Robbins, blah blah blah all exist. Amazing how people latch on to it. Borderline religious-type of followings and belief systems.

That statement reminds me of a pet peeve I have. People who say “I love to travel” or “omg traveling is my passion”. No, you love vacation (from reality) and doing anything other than your job... Me too. You don’t love fucking ubers/airports/packing/shitty hotel beds etc. The reason these influencers reel people in is because people are addicted to the idea/image of doing nothing (plus maybe her rack?).

 
"Dan Egan" Is this the new "IB + PE + MBA = god" path that I don't know about?

You’re not very good at making equations are you.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

God = Love

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Because they saw Tim Ferris or Joe Rogan succeed so they believe that they can also. Of course they do not bother to do a quick google search and see that Ferris graduated from Princeton and Rogan is a former celebrity, and that both have been at it for 6 and 11 years, respectively.

The type of person who decides to crush it as a life coach when he has yet to accomplish anything in life is one who lacks any self awareness. People who lack self awareness tend to also be lacking in deductive reasoning skills, planning abilities, foresight, curiosity, work ethic, etc. These people have always existed, it is just now way easier for them to one-click publish their bullshit and clog up your feed. Probably even worse at the moment due to unemployment, boredom, and/or lack of distractions (music festivals, vacations charged to credit cards, loitering). Chuckle and ignore

 

Repellendus asperiores ipsa suscipit quos. Minus autem autem sed unde. Impedit eum est incidunt sapiente ut magni rem. Exercitationem quos neque repudiandae voluptas.

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