9 Signs Your Soul Craves Guidance From A Higher Power
If these signals sound familiar, your soul may crave guidance from the powers that be.
Leandro Crespi | Unsplash Are you lost, another wanderer on the highway of misinformation and disinformation? Have you been following the next big self-improvement manifestation power of attraction kick that only seems to work for those who are already in a privileged social position while trying to convince you to just stay positive or pull yourself up by your bootstraps?
Well, there is some startling news for you: the guidance you seek does not lie outside yourself in another person's method or pro-tips, the guidance you need is from a higher power — and that higher power may be you.
Here are the signs your soul craves guidance from higher powers:
1. You seek knowledge you can't apply
If you’re reading self-help books and not putting any of their teachings into practice, you’re not gaining anything from them, even if you think they are.
People who are addicted to self-help often will pick up tons of books and read them, just because they feel like they’re making some superficial progress toward a goal they’re too scared to pursue.
2. You have grown dependent on self-help guides
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Most of the time, quantity is where the telltale sign is at. A little self-help guidance can be a good thing, but if you’re turning to Deepak Chopra every single time something even remotely goes sideways, you may have a problem.
3. You remain dissatisfied and restless, even though others see you’re doing well
Yes, you can always be more fit, more successful, and more attractive, but if you’re not happy, what good is it? Self-help tends to make us feel inadequate, even when we should be proud of our work.
Psychotherapist Emy Tafelski advised to "define success based on your core values, your inner truth, what feels right to you, in your body, in your soul. This is the only success that truly matters. This is the success that fulfills you, refreshes you, and promotes your own wholeness and wellness."
4. You have been convinced by snake oil salespeople
If this ever rings true for you, stop consuming the self-help you’re using immediately. The Amrican Psychological Association (APA) showed there are many fraudsters out there who look to desperate people and will tell them bad advice, just to get a quick buck.
If you find yourself going against medical orders because some self-help personality told you to, it’s safe to say you’re being victimized — and you may be addicted, too.
5. You've grown dependent on outside affirmation
All those pep talks self-help can offer can be addictive. Are you finding yourself jonesing for your next “hit” of being told uplifting things? If so, congrats. You’re acting like an addict.
Psychologist Stephen Van Schoyck explained, "Real answers lie inside the individual. Any approach that tells you what to do implies that you don’t know what to do without their help. The answer lies in their magical solution rather than in your belief in yourself.
Real self-help helps you believe more in yourself and understand the competing thoughts and feelings that exist inside of you. They empower you rather than make you dependent on external help."
6. You must have outside motivation to get going
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This is a bad sign. If you can’t motivate yourself, the self-help you’re using is most likely hurting rather than helping, as suggested by a study from the APA.
7. You always want a simple solution
Sorry, life doesn’t have simple solutions. Self-help can only go so far and can only do so much when it comes to teaching certain skills.
Constantly looking for “the answer” to your tough situations may be a good sign an addiction has taken root since it means you’re flitting from program to program searching for completion that’ll never come.
8. You believe someone else has all the answers for your life
Sorry to burst your bubble, but this isn’t true and it isn’t even healthy thinking.
Self-help gurus are still people, and while they can offer good advice or a new way of thinking, they are not God. They still will mess up from time to time, and there will be moments where they just can’t be of help.
9. You think you can solve all your friend's problems
I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m guilty of this sometimes. It’s a natural by-product of consuming too much self-help literature, primarily because you read so much on it that you assume you have all the answers.
Ossiana Tepfenhart is a writer whose work has been featured in Yahoo, BRIDES, Your Daily Dish, Newtheory Magazine, and others.