Shamou - Why Self-Improvement May Not Work For You

You’ve read a few books on self-improvement, attended a few lectures on the subject and even attended a seminar but somehow nothing seems to change. At first, you were quite enthusiastic and felt upbeat for a while but then, the enthusiasm evaporated and now, it’s as if you had never heard of self-improvement in the first place. Why is that?

If you can see yourself in that portrait, you’re not alone. Many have shared your experience and obtained the same results. The main reason for that is the fact that unfortunately self-improvement is sometimes presented as a quick cure-all for all the problems that ail you.

Self-improvement does works but only when used as it should be. It works when we understand that it’s about personal transformation and not about get-rich-quickly gimmicks or slick techniques to influence people.

Self-improvement is about changing the way that we see the world. It’s about changing our pattern of thinking, about changing what we choose to focus on and mostly about changing our fundamental attitude.

Many don’t even know what is meant by a positive attitude. The general feeling is that it means seeing everything rosy. Nothing could be further from the truth. A person with a positive attitude will see the challenges and the problems but will focus on the solutions rather than on the possible consequences of those problems.

A positive person will focus on where he wants to go and not on what he is afraid could happen if no solution is found. That person will focus on the good rather than keep dwelling on what is wrong in the world. We can read and hear about changing our attitude until the cows come home but if we don’t actually do it, nothing is going to change.

On the other hand, some people will have the right attitude, practice what they have learned about self-improvement and still don’t get any lasting results. Things will improve for a period of time, they will enjoy some success but then, something will happen and they are back to square one.

That is the classic case of self-sabotage. We cannot enjoy lasting success unless we feel that we are deserving of success. It may be hard to believe but some people who were brought up in modest conditions will feel uneasy about succeeding.

Success is not who they are. Their parents did not enjoy affluence, their friends lived with modest means and somehow, they don’t feel good when they step out of that world. Hard to believe but true. Unless a person feels deserving of success, any success encountered will be sabotaged.

The way that we see ourselves has a tremendous influence on how financially successful we can become. It is said that if all the money in the world were divided equally among the world population, in less than five years, almost everyone would be right back where they were before.

Self-improvement is a tool. Like any other tool, buying it and learning how it works is only the first step. Unless we actually use that tool, it wont ever be of any use to us. It is the same with self-improvement. Learning about it is only the first step. Implementing what we have learned is where the work really begins and where the payoff is finally reached.

Shamou is a very successful, semi-retired chiropractor living in Canada. He is an expert on Tony Robbins' classic Awaken the Giant Within and attributes much of his success to the ideas laid out in that book. Shamou now occupies his time writing his own blog and formulating his own philosophy of personal development for personal success. To read more of his work please visit his site at www.shamoublog.com.

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