Five years ago, right after picking up my first self-help book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, I got hooked on self-improvement. Every new insight I gained, every new paradigm shift that occurred and every limiting belief that got demolished was as exciting as counting down on New Year’s Eve.
It wasn’t really a surprise that I got hooked on self-improvement. You see, in the months prior to picking up The 7 Habits, I completely self-destructed. I was stuck in a 9–5 job that I absolutely hated and I was struggling with a serious gambling addiction that no one knew about.
After having gone through enough pain, I decided one day that I had enough. I had enough of being broke. Enough of feeling like a failure. Enough of the pain and misery. I literally Googled ‘how to become successful’, and I quickly learned that successful people are readers. That’s when I had my first glimpse into the world of self-improvement, and I never left ever since.
The hope, ambition and dreams that it offered were a much-needed source of light after hitting personal rock-bottom.
Fast-forward about a year and a half later, and I had read more than 40 books and followed a bunch of online courses. I felt pretty good. Instead of self-destructing, I was setting self-improvement goals. I even decided to start my first ‘business’ after reading Tim Ferriss’ 4-Hour Work Week.
However…
Aside from a few changes, my life didn’t change that much. I was still broke. I still lived at my parent’s house. And, despite setting many goals, I struggled to actually achieve them. Even though I started a ‘business’, I didn’t really know what I was doing nor was I working on it with consistency and focus.
Yes, my mindset had definitely changed, but my external reality didn’t change that much.
