This post is all about Taking Action!  Doing Stuff!  Moving & Grooving!

In other words, going.

"Go" by Indigo Girls from their album Come On Now Social | iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify

"Go" by Indigo Girls from their album Live with the University of Colorado Symphony Orchestra | iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify | marchforourlives.com | momsdemandaction.org | rockthevote.org

Self-Improvement Porn

Self-Improvement porn is the consuming of self-improvement content, without actually doing anything else to improve yourself.

We're all guilty of this.

Why?

Two big reasons.

1. It's the path of least resistance

There's an endless supply of self-improvement content out there.

Endless!

You can find and consume the next thing by literally twiddling your thumbs on the touchscreen that's always in your hands.  And that's the most you ever need to do!  Many times, you do nothing at all and the next piece of content just starts playing automatically.

Next reason...

2. It's "The Information Age"

Society preaches that information is the cure-all.  "Knowledge is power."  "When you know better, you do better."  But that's not exactly true.  We can drown in "knowing" 3 million search results, but that doesn't mean we'll actually do anything better with it.

Society assumes we just need the answers.

But in reality, we need to act on the answers.

How I Quit Porn

In this podcast episode, I (Toast) tell how I went from suffering through the pain of a progressively worsening shoulder condition for a whole year, to reversing the condition within 4 weeks.

Here's how I did it.

These steps apply to any problem with self-improvement porn.

Here they are.

Have some self-respect!

My shoulder was only getting worse.

If I did nothing, it would keep getting worse.

So, what was I going to do?

Nothing?!  Are you kidding me?!  This condition was taking my health down, and it was entirely within my control to do something about it...and I was going to...do nothing?!

Hell no!  Have some self-respect!

You can improve yourself and therefore your ability to help others.

So...

start.  start small.

You can start with ONE thing.

Just DO SOMETHING.

I stopped googling.

I stopped watching videos about how to treat shoulder issues.

I stopped trying to decide on the perfect thing to do.

I just started doing two simple rehab exercises.

There might be some pain.

I encountered pain, doing these exercises.  

There might be physical or psychological pain involved with changing your habits and old ways of thinking or behaving.

This is why starting small is smart.

Your energy may need to go towards pain management at first, along with doing the actual stuff that needs doing.

So start small, so you can budget energy towards dealing with the initial pain.

then comes the momentum.

After you start doing something, you'll feel momentum.

Work with that.

• Stay engaged by adding to, or adjusting what you're doing

• You'll be guided about how to do this as long as you stay engaged

This guidance and momentum will only come as a result of doing.

For example: I added more exercises, foam rolling, stretches and so on, based on what I learned about my body.

But that learning only came from doing the first two exercises.

Reap the rewards!

Within 4 weeks I was practically back to my normal range of motion in my shoulder, and pain free!

Quit The Self-Improvement Porn!

The insidious nature of this porn stuff is that it puts you under the illusion that you're improving yourself, becoming a better person, making strides...when you're not even!

Take the step, take the journey

When you actually do things to help yourself – to change things in your life – you're setting out into unexplored lands.

You venturing into places you haven't been yet.

It's the frontier of your brighter future.

The only way you'll see it, is by stepping out, and doing the damn thing.

Go, go, go.