Good article. The author's focus on the Environment more than the Individual is very right. It helps explain why when people move away from cloistered/detrimental environments to a more nurturing one for their talents, they often bloom. There is a symbiotic relationship between the Environment and the Individual with the former often holding the upper hand. An Individual can be easily shaped by the Environment while the reverse is quite hard to do (and thus the reason for the self-help industry).<p>The above may seem like a mere platitude but unfortunately people often focus too much on the Individual and forget the Environment. For example see research on "Behaviourism/Operant Conditioning" and also "learned helplessness". Nature only gives you possible potential, it requires tremendous Nurture to activate and make it bloom.<p>Finally; a caution, we should NOT make the mistake of assuming that the Individual is helpless. Willpower, Attitude, Fighting Spirit etc. are all to be cultivated. So self-help is still needed. It is just that their effect in changing ourselves and the Environment is often overemphasized. This is the crux, if the Environment is not conducive, no amount of self-help practice is going to help, you need to move out of the bad to a good Environment for you as an Individual to win.
This is a difficult article to read because on the one hand there is a lot of truth in it, but on the other there is a fair bit of confusion.<p>Trying to build resilience in the middle of a crisis is like teaching prevention to someone who is seriously ill - it is simply too late. At that point the person needs outside help to recover.<p>This does not mean that taking responsibility for your well-being is somehow pointless and that adapting essentially a victim mentality is all that one is reduced to. And yes, you will most likely need someone's guidance and yes, the environment you are in will make a big difference. But dismiss personal development and the taking of responsibility for it is simply nonsense.<p>I wish I had the time to write a longer response but I don't and anyway who's going to bother reading it anyway. ;)
Very revealing, especially in a forum where often overachievement is praised and it is not rare to read testimonials of burnout. It also highlights the importance of having a supporting net and an environment... I guess the same applies to Startups, after all Y Combinator offers such kind of environment, not just financing.
This section resonated with my experience:<p>"For example, we heard stories of school guidance counsellors who insisted that parents take time off from minimum-wage jobs to attend case conferences because guidance counsellors and psychometricians do not work evenings."<p>This is indicative of a lot of service providers especially government departments. Pure arrogance and inflexibility. Those same departments then complain about low participation and/or lazy people "who can't be bothered" or who "don't follow up" their various "government intervention" plans.
" Change your world first by finding the relationships that nurture you, the opportunities to use your talents and the places where you experience community and governmental support and social justice. Once you have these, your world will help you succeed more than you could ever help yourself."
-- but how?
I find self-help books and self-help gurus like Sampson to be something akin to placebos for willpower, but placebos work for a lot of people so I guess I just go through life gritting my teeth and bearing it rather than spending my time complaining how it's all a bunch of bull.