Don't Step in the Poop » Poop Detection

8 Celebrity Self-help Books We Won’t Be Reading

Carlon — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 14:25:52 +0000

Recently, I read that Janet Jackson is coming out with a new self-help book.
Wow. She’ll tell us how she lost all that weight (surgery, probably…I mean, special diet plan). I’m so pumped. And you know I’ll be pre-ordering it..NOT.

Janet Jackson? Self-help? Seriously?

I think, if anything, Janet needs to read one or two (she probably did read some…the bad ones).

But that got me thinking…what about all those celebrities who’ve written self-help books. What are they like? Why should anyone read them?

DSP takes a closer look at the celebrity self-help books we won’t be reading:

1. Mike Sorrentino
Here’s The Situation: A Guide to Ripped Abs, Grooming, and How to Keep Up With Your GTL

I have no idea who this guy is, but it looks like he’s writing a book. I won’t buy it. He looks like a douche.

2. Tyra Banks
Tyra’s Beauty Inside and Out.

A supermodel wants to tell me about being beautiful?

3. Jennifer Love Hewitt
The Day I Shot Cupid: Hello, My Name Is Jennifer Love Hewitt and I’m a Love-aholic

I love Jennifer Love Hewitt. I don’t know why. It’s just one of those things. Maybe it’s the way the camera constantly focuses on her boobs on Ghost Whisperer (watch an episode; you’ll know what I mean). But I just can’t see myself taking relationship advice from her.

4. Suzanne Somers
Knockout: Interviews With Doctors Who are Curing Cancer and How to Prevent Getting It in the First Place

One review from Amazon really summed this book up for me:

“My mother read this book, and believed in it. Right up until she died of cancer. “

I would poke more fun at Suzanne Somers if her advice wasn’t so dangerous.

She should have stuck with the Thighmaster or whatever it is she used to peddle.

Then again, should anyone really be taking health advice from Chrissy from Three’s Company?

5. Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi’s Big Book of Manners

Does this include walking away from people who say things you don’t like?

6. Shirley Maclaine
Sage-ing While Age-ing

Not sure if Shirley Maclaine wrote this book or if her alien friends whispered it to her.

7. Jessica Simpson
I Do: Achieving Your Dream Wedding

I guess she’ll get a do-over on that one.

8. Lynne Spears (mother of Brittany)
Through the Storm

Seriously, Are you going to take parenting advice from Lynn Spears?
Looks like another attempt of a celebrity parent to make money off their kid. Sad.

As a bonus: here is one celebrity self-help book I might read:

Coem on. It’s 50 Cent! You know it’s gonna be AWESOME!!!!

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5 Signs a Self-help Guru is Really a Bullshit Artist

Carlon — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:17:27 +0000

There are thousands upon thousands of self-proclaimed gurus who promise to teach you how to solve all your problems (for a price, of course). We, at DSP, aren’t going to stop you from seeking the answers, but we will help you figure out if the guru you’re seeking answers from is nothing but a bullshit artist.

Here are 5 ways to figure it out if your favorite guru is a bullshit artist:

1. He always speaks in platitudes

What is a platitude?

It’s a trite, meaningless statement that is presented as significant and original.
In other words, it’s something that sounds smart, but is really BULLSHIT.

The wonderful thing about platitudes is that it allows a bullshitter to talk for a long time with actually saying anything of substance. Need an example?

If you want to get something in life ,you need to think big to be big. Don’t go halfway. Go the distance. If you think small, you are small. If you don’t go all the way, you’ll fail. The ordinary settle for what they have; the extraordinary go for what they want. To be great, you have to think great. It’s not enough to settle for the good. Go for the great.

If you have any clue what the above means, please let me know. I just strung a bunch of platitudes together. BS gurus do this with regularity. I’ve heard some of them talk for over an hour hour and never figured out what they were saying.

2. He emphasizes the end result and not the effort

For example, a get-rich quick BS guru will always emphasize a luxurious lifestyle.

People who really get rich have to work for it (unless they inherited it). But you’ll never hear that. You’ll only hear:

You’ll be sitting in your yacht watching the dollars fill up your bank account. Feel the cool breeze on your face, taste the cool drink from your hand, and listen to the sweet melody of the computer alerts telling you that new money has flowed effortlessly into your bank account.

These first two signs alone can tell you a lot.. But a true BS guru doesn’t really show his stripes until you ask them questions–especially “how to” questions because they avoid telling you how to do anything–at all costs.

3. When questioned on the “how to,” the BS guru always goes back to #2.

Q: How will I make all this money with your millionaire mindset program?

A: When you’re on your yacht watching the dollars fill up your bank account, you won’t have to think about making money. You’ll only be thinking about the cool breeze on your face, the cold drink in your hand, and listening to the sweet melody of the alerts from your bank that new money has effortlessly rolled in…as you’re sitting on your brand new yacht.

4. When questioned further about the “how to”, he goes back to #1

Q: But how will I get the money to buy the yacht?

A: You get big by thinking big.

5. When someone asks AGAIN about the “how to”, the BS guru attacks the questioner.

Q: But how will thinking big lead to more money?

A: You know, with a negative attitude like that, it’s no wonder you’re not rich. Just what have you done in the last year to get rich?

Usually, when attacked you’ll shut up. The BS guru knows this. They’ll pummel YOU with questions to deflect from your “how to” questions.

And if you happen to mention that you came to the BS guru to learn a “how to,” he’ll usually say:

Then you should open your mind to the positive things I am saying so it’ll work for you. It won’t work if you have a negative attitude.”

So, let’s sum up. You know someone’s a BS guru when they:

speak in platitudes
empathize results not efforts
answer “how to” questions by
1. referring to results
2. referring to platitudes
3. attacking the questioner

The signs don’t lie!

Photo by Dullhunk

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Should You Be Taking Economic Advice from Motivational Speakers?

Carlon — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 05:24:39 +0000

First my show fails, next up--the economy!

I thought Tony Robbins was a motivational speaker. But lo and behold I realized that he is now an expert on the economy. I watched a startling video he made warning of economic disaster up ahead.

He says a whole lot of things about it. And he really got me thinking about something really hard: why am I listening to Tony Robbins talk about the economy?

But listen I did.

Here’s how I break down his warning:

You, see I’ve got this friend. And I can’t tell you who he is, but trust me–he exists because I say he exists. And he’s really really smart with money. And he, not me, thinks the economy is going to collapse. Oh course, I’m not an expert on the economy. But this one time at band camp..I mean in March….I tweeted about the economy doing bad. And I was right that week! And the thing is I hardly ever tweet, just go to my twitter page and you’ll see that I tweet less than 100 times a day! Anyway, so when I’m, I mean my friend, is wrong don’t blame me. So, look for a bunch of stuff with the economy and then make up your own mind because I wouldn’t want to be held responsible if I’m wrong. Well, gotta go. These economic times are so tough that I’m flying to Fiji.

That’s about it in a nutshell. Of course, Tony isn’t as hilarious as I am. But for fairness, you can watch his videos on this page. I hate to even link to them, but hey I’m fair.

But here’s the bigger point: when did anyone start taking economic advice from motivational speakers? I mean the only advice they ever give is for you to get out your credit cards and buy their stuff. YES! YES! YES!

Who knows? Tony might be right about the economy. I know there’s a larger and larger amount of people out there predicting economic collapse. It’s kind of a popular thing to do right now. And it’s a growing niche of potential customers.

Where does Tony stand?

I have no idea. But if he comes out with a new product that caters to the economic disaster niche (e.g. How to protect Your Unlimited power in the Bad Economy)…just know you heard it here first.

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Michael Shermer on Strange Beliefs

Carlon — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 13:51:31 +0000

Here’s a cool TED talk Michael Shermer did on strange beliefs.

It was worth it just to watch the backwards Led Zeppelin and a more “scientific” version of Katie Melua’s 9 Million Bicycles in Beijing. It cracked me up! And it shows you a good way to deal with nitpicky scientists!

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3 Ways the Media Reports BS as Fact

Carlon — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:23:02 +0000

I don’t watch the news much. Why? Because most of it is crap. Half the time they don’t know what they’re talking about. And since news is more and more about market share, reporting has turned into info-tainment. Hence, a guy like Glenn Beck can get higher ratings than news programs and people think Jon Stewart is a legitimate source for news.

But never fear, newswatchers. Part of my career was spent dissecting news articles. So, I know how to spot BS and now you can too. Here are 3 ways to spot it:

Some people say….

Some people say? Who are those people? Basically this phrase means “I can’t prove jack but I’ve got an opinion and I’d like to say it without letting you know it’s just my opinion.”

Some people say you’re a Communist.

Who are those people?

I don’t know…some people…you know, they send e-mails and stuff.

Some people say your news program sucks.

To me, it’s the same BS that the BS gurus pull with the “secrets they don’t want you to know. Who are they? We’ll leave that up to your imagination.

Here is a thing about Fox News using this BS tactic. But don’t for one minute think this is a Fox thing. They ALL do it. I hear it ALL THE TIME. So, listen for it next time.

Mistakes were made…(why so passive?)

A writer knows there are two voices—the active and the passive. Look at these sentences:

Jill burned the cake.

The cake was burned (by Jill).

One of those sentences completely lets Jill off the hook, while the other blames her. Wanna know where a news organization stands on an issue? Look where they assign blame in heir headlines. Need an awesome example of the passive being used to take the blame off the speaker? Here is this gem by former President George W Bush:

Lack of Context

Recently lack of context in “reporting” has been brought to the forefront with the whole Shirley Sherrod incident involving that blogger that I keep getting mixed up with Justin Bieber. But the truth is this crap happens all the time. How many times does the media put out crap without bothering to explain its context? How many sound bites do you hear without wondering what was said afterwards? Do you even care?

Go on over to Media Matters. They show clips of people on the right. The clips can be informative, but I usually have no idea of what the context was. Thus, the right looks unreasonable (and downright crazy) in pretty much all the clips. But sometimes when you view the whole clip, it doesn’t look so crazy anymore.

You can always tell when you’re being bullshitted when context is not provided. In fact, whenever someone in the media expresses outrage over something another person has said, it’s best to ignore them. They won’t give you the context to understand why something was said. They don’t care. It typically ruins their whole hour of ranting.

On the flip side, taking things out of context can be so much FUN!

A shoutout to the guys at Cracked for this awesome article that I read while researching media BS.Similar Posts:

Video: Baloney Detection Kit

Carlon — Tue, 18 May 2010 01:41:13 +0000

Here’s a great video from Michael Shermer and Richard Dawkins on how to spot baloney.

Watch and enjoy and be sure to load up on other fun poop-detecting articles: http://dontstepinthepoop.com/category/poop-detection

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Why Most “Critique” Sites Suck

Carlon — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:14:32 +0000

I just got back from the TESOL convention in Boston. Nice trip. Even better, I got to see some “Don’t step in the Poop” fans while I was there. It’s nice to see your readers in person for a change.

In case you don’t know, TESOL is the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. As I am in publishing, I went there. Now, in the exhibitions I saw a lot of publishers. But there was an unexpected booth at the convention.

There. Right in front of me. For those who teach English. Was a booth. For the Federal Trade Commission.

The Federal Trade Commission Rocks!

Huh? The FTC? What were they doing there?

But what was cool is that they were there to help spread the word about all these scams. Especially those mortgage scams. And those scams are worse for people whose first language is not English.

I had a great time talking to the FTC people. And I think they will now be loyal readers of Don’t Step in the Poop. We talked a lot about our favorite scammers and said some un-flattering words about Kevin True-dough.

Most of These So-called Critique or Guru Watch Sites are Crap

But what got me irked was how hard the FTC tries to educate people, but most people have no clue. Instead, they go to these “Program critique” “Guru Watch” sites to find out about the scammers.

Don’t know what I’m talking about?

Well, there’s the famous Rip-off Report that lets people post whatever they want about any business and then allows businesses the pay the owner of the site money to investigate the claim and remove it. Of course, if they don’t pay, the claim stays there…regardless of truth. Hmmm..

Or how about this? A site gives you some information about a guru (many times negative) only to say at the end:

”We’ve critiques thousand of opportunities but only one made us money..click here to find out.”

It’s followed by a long-ass sales letter telling you to plunk down money in a “real” opportunity.

Now, here’s the thing. I don’t give a damn if their critique was spot on. Pretending to educate when you’re just selling the same old crap is despicable. I asked the FTC if they would crack down on these kinds of sites, but no luck.

If you’ve ever been to these sites, I say exit as fast as you can. Because they’re promising the same old “opportunities” to waste your money on a bunch of junk that the scammers are. Here’s a clue: they ARE the scammers.

There are good sites out there. I particularly enjoy the Salty Droid’s fabulously hilarious writing on internet marketing scammers, as well as his never-ending assaults on a certain sweat-lodge guru.

If you want some great information about scamming techniques, go to the FTC site for a while. I especially enjoyed the article about those “free trials” that end up costing you a ton of money. My only complaint is that the FTC’s site doesn’t provide you with the humor of Don’t Step in the Poop. But I promise that any new stuff I learn from them, I’ll pass on to you.

I also recommend this page from the FTC site. The page on dietary supplements is definitely worth your time.Similar Posts:

How to Spot a BS Self-help Guru

Carlon — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:30:28 +0000

I think self-help is fueled by a person’s desire for guidance and comfort. Unfortunately, these desires make self-help a breeding ground for charlatans and people who exploit these desires for their own personal gain.

This is a shame. Sometimes it’s hard to tell who is really there to help you and who is there to take you for all that you have.

I’ve already written about how you know the self-help book you’re reading is BS. But today, I am putting together a new list on how to tell if a self-help guru is a BS artist or not.

Well, this checklist should help you. I suggest printing it out and taking it to the bookstore or a seminar (or read it on your mobile phone, Kindle, iPad, or whatever portable device you have with an internet connection). Go down the list and see if you’re heading down that super-stinky road to BS-ville.

Note that I use “he” as a pronoun, but I do that for convenience and not because I think only men are capable of BS. I believe that both male and female BS gurus are equally full of BS. With that out of the way, let’s begin:

1. His book has a shiny cover

I find that some of the worst advice comes in the prettiest package. If it’s got gold foil on it or made to look fancy, then it’s probably BS.

2. The title contains words like “cosmic” perfect” “surefire” or “in X days”. Or the dead giveaway: the title has the word “secret” in it.

Look there are no secrets anymore. Read every book with the word “secret” in it, and you’ll see the same old recycled garbage. Also, anything “cosmic” should be in the religion section. The X days thing is pretty popular, and I’ve used a time reference in posts before. But you should really be able to deliver on it and most books simply do not.

For example, if I wrote a post on how to get rich in 1 minutes, it would go something like, “a lawyer gets up and tells you that you’ve just inherited a fortune. BAM! You’re rich! In only one minute!”

I delivered on my promise. It was poop, but I did deliver. Most crap books don’t even do that.

3. The book features a person with some serious cosmetic dentistry

Is there some correlation between the ability to lie convincingly and awesome chompers? Think about it for a bit and then come back to me.

4. He’s not a big fan of traditional education

It’s funny because one of the BS artist’s selling points for expensive seminars is that you need to invest in your “education.” I laugh out loud when some blowhard compares his get rich quick seminar to Harvard. Apples to oranges…but then again they know this. I blogged about this just the other day.

5.He constantly advertises his more expensive products

I love books. I love a good seminar. I love college courses. But if some guy keeps telling you that his book/course/etc. is not enough, then he’s a BS artist. You can get a general idea from a book. If you finish a book and still can’t figure out what to do, then you’re being played. Refer to my post How to Go Broke Trying to Get Rich to get a taste of how this is done.

6. Instead of answering critics, he denounces them as “negative thinkers”

This is a big one. If someone cannot engage in a debate, then it means they know their stuff is BS. I know a lot of people who disagree with me. Some of my close friends believe in the Law of Attraction, which I think is poop. We discuss it here and there, and we remain friends. Because that’s what people do. We have different beliefs, religion, etc. But the BS guys label anyone who disagrees with them as “negative”. It’s a quick and easy to both avoid answering critics and to look “positive”. Of course, in a pinch they could always compare their critics to Hitler.

7. He sells religion or co-opts religion to sell products

I’m probably going to get in trouble with some people for saying this, but I think religion or “spirituality” should not be for sale.

Religion should NEVER be for-profit. Charging people thousands of dollars to learn “stuff” is not ethical. I’ve been to meditation retreats before. I went on a 10-day course and the whole thing was by donation only. You cannot put a price tag on Truth.

Worse, a lot of the BS artists appropriate religion or religious symbols to look more “spiritual”. But upon listening to them talk, it becomes apparent that they have no idea what the religious symbol/idea/ceremony actually means. Of course, using certain religious ceremonies doesn’t always work out, as James “sweat lodge” Ray found out after 3 people died during his “sweat lodge”.

I’ll be sure to update this list as time goes on.

I’d like to acknowledge a couple of good sources I looked at.

First, I like John T Reed’s Real Estate BS Artist checklist (quite long and thorough). It’s an interesting checklist when trying to see if a real estate guru is on the up and up. I can’t say I agree with everything on Reed’s list. But reading his list saved me thousands of dollars. And some of his points overlap mine..I guess these tactics run rampant everywhere.

Also, Carl Sagan’s Baloney Detection Kit. It’s Carl Sagan. What more can I say?Similar Posts:

Self-help Books I Wouldn’t Wish on my Worst Enemies

Carlon — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:21:35 +0000

A self-help or personal development book should be as advertised: a way to actually help yourself or develop in some area.

But some books present ideas that can actually cause you to regress instead of progress. Or they are so insulting to one’s intelligence that they take you for a fool. In one post, I tried to show how you can know that a self-help book is BS. If you don’t see a book listed here, I advise you to go to that post and see if the book you are reading fits the description.

I can’t possibly read all the bad books out there, but here is my list of those books you’re better off not reading.

I’ll update this page regularly as I come into contact with the worst of the worst. I recommend you subscribe to my feed or get updates by e-mail (located on the sidebar) to stay up to date.

The Secret

This one is tops. The Secret is the WORST THING to ever happen to personal development. The fact that this book is so popular is really no surprise to me. Everyone wants to believe that there’s some magic pill that’ll absolve them of all responsibility to take action and bring them happiness. And The Secret delivers. It delivers a bunch of crap. That whole Law of Attraction stuff is largely BS. But The Secret takes it further than ever. But let’s say I actually believe that the Secret is true. That means:

The Secret on Health: It’s not germs that kill you; it’s your negative thoughts.

The Secret on Wealth: You’re poor; because you’re too negative.

The Secret on happiness: Your negative thoughts are to blame for your unhappiness.

So, a kid born in Darfur is wrecked by disease, starvation, and brutality because of his negative thoughts? According to The Secret—YES.

What kind of “guiding principle” is that?

Some people tell me I don’t “get” The Secret. Or they say I don’t know the “true” Secret (of course, they’ll let me in on that true secret for a large sum).

Look: I watched the video and I’m just taking what they say at face value. The Secret is the logical conclusion of New Thought teachings which form the basis of a lot of self-help. It completely empowers the individual with having control over the universe. Heck, you’re thoughts can make things come true, right? Sorry! Lots of things are just out of your control. That’s life. Deal with it. It doesn’t sound as “positive” as The Secret, but life isn’t always positive. And to blame the bad things that happen to you on “negative thoughts” is reprehensible.

The fact that people think this is guiding philosophy astounds me. One thing that really gets me is how “materialistic’ The Secret is. As I the universe really cares about how much money you have…the oceans will be gone in about 1 billion years and the sun’s going to expand in 5 billion years and leave this little planet lifeless…I’d say your dream car is pretty very low on the universe’s list of things to cares about.

At some point, I will do a long review of The Secret to let you know what I really think of it.

Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins

I’ve now had the displeasure of reading one book by Tony Robbins. I love advertisements. I just don’t like advertisements disguised as personal development. This book was 512 pages of mostly fluff.

See my full review to see what I really think of this book.

Who Moved my Cheese?

This has to be one of the dumbest books I’ve ever read. I have no problem with parables. I have no problem with a short book. What I do have a problem is reading an entire book that basically says “embrace change.” See my full review here to see what I really think of Who Moved my Cheese?”.

Anything written by Dr. Phil

Dr. Phil? I think he’s the worst of the “it’s all your own fault” gurus. His “straight talk” is nothing but a way of giving simplistic answers to complex problems and then blaming people because they just can’t figure it out. And when they don’t just “get it”, Dr, Phil is there to tell them how dumb they are and accuse them of not taking responsibility.

People love simple answers and I’m sure Dr. Phil was a refreshing change of pace from the “secrety” stuff out there (yes, Secret fans, that so-called secret’s been around awhile now with guys teaching it for years). But all Dr. Phil offers is a way for you to beat yourself up over everything.

But there is one story I heard about Dr. Phil that I did like.

You see, when Oprah was sued by the cattle ranchers over her beef comments, she hired Dr. Phil to help her understand the jury. That’s what Dr. Phil did. He was a jury consultant—not a therapist (makes sense now, doesn’t it?).

Anyway, he goes to Oprah’s office and her secretary tells him Oprah’s too busy and he’ll have to wait. In response, Dr. Phil gets up and is about to leave. The secretary tells him to wait. He says he won’t wait because ,”it ain’t my ass being sued.”

Oprah let him in right away.

Hell ya, Dr, Phil! That’s a lesson we all need in self-value, even if I don’t value Dr. Phil as much as he values himself.

However, hs books are still terrible.

And speaking of Oprah…

Any self-help book recommended by Orpah

Let’s get this straight: Oprah LOVED The secret. She raved on and on about it. To her credit though, she did backtrack a bit when someone ACTUALLY followed The Secret and refused chemotherapy for her cancer and decided to use The Secret instead.

So, to recap:

1. Oprah she recommends a book that’s full of crap.

2. a person follows the advice in said crap book

3. Oprah gets freaked out because the advice is kooky.

4. Oprah still loves The Secret but thinks seeing a doctor is a good idea.

Did she even read The Secret? Or watch the infomercial–I mean movie? How can you trust anything she says?

You’d think that after the whole James Fey thing that she’d have no credibility whatsoever!

For years, she’s had some real wackadoos on her show and no one ever seemed to question it. The fact that she lets so some of those alternative health people on her show should cause alarm (see Jenny “my son may not have autism after all even though I blamed the MMR vaccine for his maybe-not autism” McCarthy).

Newsweek finally had the guts to call her on it last year. But why did it take 20 years or so for them to do it?

THE END SO FAR

Think I’m wrong? You love Dr. Phil? Are you Dr. Phil? Let me know. Or if you have a book that you think belongs on this list, I’ll try to have a look at it and review it myself.Similar Posts:

How Inspirational Stories Lie

Carlon — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:30:44 +0000

So, now that I’ve established that inspirational stories can be used for evil, let me tell you an inspirational story.

This is a true story because it happend to me.

Eight years ago I stopped smoking. My wife at the time had just gotten pregnant and I was determined to be healthy not only for myself but for the new baby.

So, THAT DAY, I smoked my last cigarette and that was that.

No more smoking. Kaput.

Is that the end?

I’m sure you hear these kinds of stories all the time. Usually these stories pop up in the context of quitting smoking, losing weight, gaining confidence, etc. They reek of sheer willpower with the faint hint of positive thinking. And the stories always go something like:

One day, it hit me. And I was determined to/not to ______________.

I don’t know if it’s because we’ve been “chicken-souped” to death or what. But I see many stories like this that are intended to inspire. To show what is possible if you “put your mind to it”.

Maybe for people trying to quit smoking, lose weight, or change something they don’t like about themselves, they are inspiration. The whole “If they did it, so can I.” They stress mind over matter and “triumph of the will”.

But all too often when you find that it’s not so easy, thoughts creep into your head like:

“Why can’t I do it? What’s wrong with me? I just don’t have the willpower”

There’s nothing wrong with you. The problem is in the story.

Those stories lie. They’ tell you half the truth and end at a time that makes the story sound more uplifting.

Now, how would one do that? It’s easy. Just End a story so that it gives people a false sense of what happened. Let’s see how this relates to my quitting smoking story.

It is true. I found out my wife at the time was pregnant. And I stopped smoking. Absolutely 100% true. What I failed to mention was that I had previously quit 9 times in the 3 months prior that that moment. I tried and failed. Tried and failed. The 10th time was the charm. Now, that was only in the previous 3 months. I have tried almost a hundred times before that in my thankfull brief smoking career.

And what had I done in those failed attempts? I learned about why I kept smoking. I found out what triggered my addiction. I experimented with different methods for quitting (I found the patch worked best for me). And then and only then was I able to quit.

I then failed to mention that after I quit, I went through the worst three-month period in my life.

So, rather than quitting smoking being an example of my willpower, it was really an example of my lack of willpower. I had to recognize and change several habits over a period of time before I reached the moment of quitting and staying quit. And I continue not to smoke because I also know that if I just take one drag, I’m back to smoking.

And that is how an inspirational story can can lie. It stresses one aspect (the mental aspect) of an event and fails to mention the negative parts (actions). If you read the first part of my story, you may have been inspired to quit smoking. But then when you failed you would have assumed that Carlon has more willpower than you and that’s why you failed.

If you had read my whole story, you might not have been so inspired but you would have a t least known what to expect and the chances of you actually quitting would have been better. (As an aside, if you do smoke, quit. It won’t be easy, but it’s worth it.)

So, don’t take any inspirational story as fact. Question it, and if you start asking yourself “and then what?” then you have my permission to consider that story a big load of poop!Similar Posts: