The Self-Improvement Trap: Are You Stuck?

2 min readApr 5, 2023

Can you relate?

At 16 years old, I dove headfirst into the self-improvement sphere and saw profound mindset changes.

Gaming dropped to zero.

Reading skyrocketed to 20 hours per week.

Literature exposed me to a new world — from lifestyle to relationships to health to wealth…

It showed me I could dominate all areas of life.

However, once that new mindset was built…

I continued consuming self-improvement books and motivational videos.

Only later did I realize…

They REPLACED video games as my entertainment of choice.

I had a new mental framework.

It represented POTENTIAL to do great things.

However, I was not putting in the work to create content or learn specific skills.

Admittedly, I worked hard for two years to become an Eagle Scout.

But upon completion, I fell off the grind.

Influencers tell stories about “Jeffrey,” the loser who:

For years, I was proud of myself for doing good things and not doing bad things.

I had already built a positive mindset.

However, I SHOULDN’T have felt good (in my opinion).

I had the same problem as Jeffrey: I wasn’t learning skills or creating much (other than my body in the gym).

Consider if what you are doing is getting you closer to your listed goals.

If not, you are doing something wrong.

Consuming positive content was useful to develop the mindset.

However, once it was strongly developed, more content did not advance my goals.

Self-improvement books and videos don’t mean anything if your life is the same six months later.

Yours in Solutions,

Jonathan Chamberlin

Written by Jonathan Chamberlin