Today, me and my sister were listening to a podcast on self-improvement. And it dawned on me that back in the Philippines when I was in high school and university, I didn’t read or listen to any tapes about self-help at all. And I achieved pretty good things. And now, God forbid these books or podcasts disappear, I will be doomed. I will be paralyzed and not move at all. I won’t be able to do anything. My mind will be so frozen and I will not know what to do. And that is a bit of an exaggeration but there is some truth to it. I am very dependent on self-help stuff.
As I was trying to determine why I now need these pep talks that I didn’t need then, I realized why. Back in the day, in the Philippines, I was surrounded by people who were also trying to achieve things that I was achieving. I was surrounded by people who all want to graduate, all want to get good grades and all hope to go abroad to have a better chance in life and have more opportunities. I didn’t need any reading on how to get motivated because it was happening all around me. It was a real-life motivation experience.
But now, the downside for me of living in a country with so much abundance compared to the Philippines, I am not surrounded by the same level of desire or drive to achieve more. Because almost all the basic needs are met here. So now, I need to read books or listen to podcasts to be motivated to be better.
Just my own observation and experience. Other people’s opinion may be different.
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