A Look at the Self-Hope Industry
Why Hope Might Be More Hype Than Help
Walking the Talk
I’ve reached a stage in life where I enjoy a good walk.
Not a run. Not a jog. Just a walk. I’m getting old.
It feels good to move. It gets me away from the various screens.
Although sometimes, when I’m not silently watching my thoughts, I indulge in a spiritual podcast or helpful talk – a guilty pleasure I justify as productive toward “my path.”
You might be doing the same thing right now if you’re listening to or reading this.
I queue up a talk, hit play, and off I go – collecting steps and insight at the same time.
Who doesn’t love a little multitasking?
Modern Hope in Your Pocket
Let’s take a moment to appreciate the magical device in our pocket.
Our phones, filled with intelligent apps and privacy-invading algorithms, are always ready with:
- GPS coordinates,
- our favorite distractions,
- and the next round of “life-changing” self-help content.
Thank you, autoplay.
As one teaching ends, the next one begins.
We’re never left without advice.
But… let’s hit pause for a second.
Everyone Has The Answer
Have you noticed how many “wise” people are online?
Each with The Answer.
Each offering it in 7 steps.
And each promising transformation, freedom, or fulfillment – for free (until you hit the paywall or buy their book).
You’ve seen them.
The punchy titles.
The colorful graphics.
The direct language that seems to know exactly what you want – or think you need.
What grace!
To be gifted this much wisdom in the palm of your hand.
So why, with all these answers… is the world still so messed up?
Hope vs. Help
Could it be that these videos and teachings are offering more hope than substance?
Actually, scratch that.
The content is what it is. Some of it may even be true.
The issue isn’t the teachings.
It’s us.
We have no interest in help, we want hope.
We binge it. We inhale it. We use it as fuel for the mind-process –
for the fantasy of a better tomorrow, the end of suffering, financial freedom, emotional stability, enlightenment.
Hope as a Drug
Hope is not just a concept.
It’s a stimulant. A nutrient. A drug.
Hope is the easiest thing to sell. No marketing needed.
We actively search for it. Please, we say, give it to me.
Heck – we even feed it to our children before they can walk or talk!
We’re taught to hope the same way we’re taught that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But have we ever stoped to ask who told us that? Was it the nice people at the dairy and egg foundations, perhaps? And what are they hoping for?
The Real Economy of Self-Help
The self-help industry thrives because of hope.
If you want to kick the addiction, examine this personally.
1 – What’s the actual value of a “better you”?
2 – What exactly are you trying to improve?
3 – Who’s measuring that?
4 – Is it you, measuring yourself? (Biased much?)
What is this endless promise of a better tomorrow? When did today become inadequate?
The Problem with Now
“Tomorrow” is long and complicated – full of curves, mystery, and hope.
“Today” is short.
Direct.
It just is.
And yet we can’t sit still in it.
Why?
Because the mind process hates simplicity.
It needs stimulation. Drama. Projection. Narrative.
And hope is its favorite fuel to make all that experience happen.
Salad That Tastes Like Donuts
We’re taught that hope is good for us – like salad.
But unlike salad, hope actually tastes good.
It’s salad that tastes like donuts.
All the “wellness” benefits the mind craves – AND it’s delicious. Yum yum, please pile on some more!
The self-hope industry understands this addiction in the same way the sugar or cigarette industries once did.
But instead of targeting kids, it goes after:
- the anxious,
- the burned out,
- the hopeful-but-unfulfilled adults with just enough disposable income to buy the book, download the course, and attend the seminar.
But if it tastes that good, what do you think is in it?
Hooked on Hope
What are we really buying?
We’re buying the hope that the next teaching will be THE teaching –
the one that finally cracks the code and delivers what we want most.
Ironically, if the mind-awareness industry did target kids, we might see a societal shift in a generation or two.
But kids don’t have money. Shame.
Also: young minds aren’t addicted to hope yet.
That comes later, after years of sugar-coated suffering.
Sugar Crashes of the Soul
Hope is the sugary glaze that sweetens our cravings.
It dangles the idea of enough-ness just out of reach – right around the corner.
And when you get it? OMG! A hit of satisfaction. … then the crash.
And then… back on the hunt. Chasing again. Wanting again. The cycle continues.
What if We Try a Hope Fast
Can we interrupt this cycle?
Can we skip a single serving of hope?
Just one?
What are you working toward?
What are you waiting for?
What do you think you’re missing?
Is it a thing?
Will getting it last longer than a sugar high?
Curious, Ask Yourself, Ask Better Questions
- How much hope do you consume daily?
- Who built the mental nutritional pyramid you’re living by?
- Why are you convinced you need three square meals of hope a day?
What if you skipped breakfast?
You might feel hungry at first.
But you’d adapt.
Hope isn’t what keeps you alive.
I almost never eat breakfast anymore.
It took time to adjust, but now it’s routine.
I’m not wasting away.
Maybe your hope fast could become a routine too?
Need More? Here, Try This – A Hope-Free Moment
Try this:
After dinner, or first thing in the morning – say to yourself:
“This is it. Right here. I’m going to be just as I am. Hope-free.”
Take a deep breath.
Fill your lungs with this moment.
Now sigh it out and say it again:
“Yep. This is what I’ve got. Right here. And this is enough.”
You don’t know what will happen tomorrow or in ten minutes.
But without hope, you’ll just take it as it comes.
Are You Out of Your Mind? – Perfect!
Do this exercise long enough, and you might experience a few hours a day of true nope-less-ness.
And if you share this with others, they’ll likely say:
“You’re out of your mind!”
Take it as a compliment.
The billion-dollar self-hope industry is built on escaping the mind.
And without paying a dollar, you managed to accomplish what thousands have attempted – you left the mind – you realized what everyone else is still hoping for.
The Routine of Wanting
I know I’m walking in circles here.
I’ve covered this before, and I’ll probably cover it again.
It’s in my face every day.
My phone. My apps. YouTube. The algorithms.
Even my phone seems to hope I’ll look at it.
This whole environment is built on wanting.
So here’s the challenge:
Practice > Hope
Skip the next video.
Skip the next teaching.
Skip the next sugar rush of hope.
Sit still.
Observe the desire.
Watch your mind process itself – without feeding it.
Pause.
Break the auto-play.
Step into the moment.
Final Food for Thought
When we consume, we create creators.
This applies to your external world and your internal one.
Consume your personal storyline, and you’ll keep writing one.
With “yourself” as the star.
But if you stop consuming – even briefly – you might just be.
Remove one link from the hope/wanting cycle.
Start small.
Observe.
Hope, like eating breakfast or looking at your phone, has become an invisible part of your life.
Maybe it’s time to ask why.
Is it Hope or Hype?
You can start to see hope for what it is.
Hope shimmers, like the purest of desires.
It tells us we want live without it.
But can we? Do we really need it?
Maybe it’s all just… hype.
Remember the frenzy when a new iPhone dropped?
Now imagine the line for a new model of hope –
the queue wraps around the planet.
If the internet is any reflection of where minds are stuck,
we don’t need to sell hope. Just look at the money at it!
The Final Irony
If you’re devouring hope,
you’re feeding the very mind process your self-help journey is supposed to unravel.
The real help? Might just begin where hope ends.
