Why You Need Another Generic Blog Post on Positivity
Let’s be honest, in the last year alone, you’ve probably read at least 20 of these and scrolled past hundreds of articles about positivity during your Facebook procrastination breaks, Twitter TL scans, or email purges.
Paper-thin motivation
Your digital spaces stay saturated with paper-thin “improve your life” content, and it can all become pretty exhausting. Yet, at some point, you inevitably get drawn into reading yet another one. Why? What happens here psychologically? Is it a trick? Not entirely.
The reason we find ourselves reading this generic bullet-point content, searching for a nugget of motivation, is because these pieces play on a very real and very human hope.
Our desperation to believe
At some level, we’re simply desperate to believe that it’s true. We’re desperate to believe that a positive mindset (in conjunction with hard work) can change paths, stakes and lives. We have to hold onto this premise underpinning the thousands of wishy-washy blog posts we’re so bombarded with every day.
But, as much as we want or need it to be true, is this premise at all well founded? – This idea that, if you back yourself fully and grind hard enough, you can get what you want? After all, this is what all those guru-speak articles are claiming, with regard to both our personal lives as well as our careers.
Is it a trap?
Yes and no. Yes, there is a trap in thinking that anything real or lasting can change with a two-minute read structured in bullet-point format. And as such, many of these positivity blog posts can be misleading.
The principle being exploited by all of them, however, is not a trap. Given enough devotion to sustaining a positive outlook and maintaining a disciplined work ethic, your chances of success spike quite spectacularly. This is particularly true when applied systematically to a single goal or vision.
Follow through
It’s never a guarantee. You could have the best attitude, have all the determination and stay focused – and still not succeed. Industries vary and fluctuate. Personal and professional circumstances are often unpredictable. You might tick every box and still not achieve your goals.
And this is precisely why the click-bait gets us every time. We need it. As we continue to live in uncertainty, we need those watered-down motivational pieces in our moments of weakness. They carry us in our defeatism. That’s not a bad thing – as long as you follow through and see them for exactly what they are.
So go and get your fix right now with 5 Steps to Take Control of Your Career, but don’t be fooled: you get what you give.
