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Why Personal Growth Is A Vicious Cycle (According to Alan Watts)
How to get off the hamster wheel and live a good life
The term self-improvement has been around since humans have reflected on their behaviour.
Ralph Waldo Emerson spoke about it in his essay Compensation in 1841. Ancient Greek and Chinese philosophers — Aristotle and Confucius — both said it led to a “good life” in their own unique way. And people like Marcus Aurelius, Jesus, Buddha, Joseph Campbell, Wayne Dyer, Lao Tzu, Socrates, Epictetus, Carl Jung, and Tony Robbins have all said similar things over the years.
So, it’s widely recognised as something important, even imperative to our well-being, and there are tons of self-help books and mindfulness techniques around for every body to try.
However, there is a problem. Self-improvement has its limitations. We have one hand tied behind our backs from the get-go.
Alan Watts called this a vicious cycle because “the one who wants to improve needs to be improved by the one who wants to improve.”
It’s like a brain surgeon operating on their own brain. A dentist pulling out their own teeth. Or an eye trying to see itself without a mirror.
