Why does life have to be so hard?
Does it sometimes seem that other people breeze through life and things just fall into their laps? On the other hand, you struggle and stress but you can’t catch a break.
Is there something that everybody else knows that you don’t?
It can feel like that but the truth is that most of us make life harder than it needs to be. A small percentage of people have the big successes while the rest just get by.
Is it down to intelligence, talent or luck?
If you read the stories of some of these high achievers you will realise that is not so.
Do they have some secret knowledge?
What they know is not really a secret. It is out there in the public domain. It is in plain sight but most of us miss it.
In fact, some of the people who use it don’t even know that they are using it.
Who am I anyway?
Rich Russell
Oh! I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Rich Russell and I spent the longest time just getting by. Doing a job that bored me and didn’t pay very much but at least it was safe.
I would occasionally think that there must be more to life and pick up a self help book looking for the answer. I would get excited about what was possible but soon drift back into settle for mode.
It took a big fat crisis to knock me out of this cycle.
I won’t go into the details. You’ve got your own problems. You don’t need to hear about mine.
The quick version is that I let life get to me and ended up having nearly a year off work with depression. I was totally dysfunctional for about three months.
Then I started to look for answers. I am grateful now for that seemingly bad period in my life because it helped to put me on a permanent path of self improvement.
I learned to move my focus from what was wrong to what I wanted. You can’t solve your problems by thinking about your problems.
There are no rules
I have spent the last few years studying various self help teachers and trying out tools and techniques. Some things worked for me and some flat out didn’t.
There are some teachers that I relate to more than others. Mike Dooley is one whose ideas resonate with me more than most but I still disagree with a lot of what he says.
That is OK. This is not about blindly following a set of rules. It is about finding out what works for you.
Mike Dooley says that each of us can be a teacher and reach people that nobody else can reach.
I hesitate to call myself a teacher but I hope to share my journey and help some people who are where I have been.
One thing I have learned is that sometimes the ideal guide is the person who is only one step ahead of you.
I don’t ask you to believe anything that I say. I ask you test these ideas and tools for yourself and see if they work for you.
Have your say
I also encourage you to share your experiences and views here.
What techniques have you used?
What have I said that you totally disagree with?
Add your comments on the individual posts.
I started this site to talk about my experience of stress and depression.
It has evolved into a site about getting more of what you want with less stress.
If it can help even one person to do that it will have been worthwhile.
Next Steps
You might like to take a look at my resource guide. Navigation on the blog was getting a bit out of control so I put together this page with some of the tools that have been most helpful for me.
Self Help Junkie
Disclaimer
I would like to make it clear again that I am not some expert or guru. I am just a guy working through is own stuff and sharing my experiences in the hope that it can help someone else. I am certainly not a medical professional and nothing on this site should be considered medical advice.
Depression in particular is a very serious issue and if you think you might be depressed, you should seek proper medical help as soon as possible.
Affiliate links
If you buy something through a link on this site I might be compensated. This doesn’t cost you any more and it doesn’t affect what I say about products or services. In fact I have strongly recommended not buying certain products.
If you don’t like this idea you can always find the product using your favourite search engine.
