Over the last 10-15 years the industries that I refer to as the “ego” industries, have EXPLODED!
The main two are fitness and beauty and it is no coincidence that their growth coincides with the growth of social media.
We are all narcissistic to some level and when you have the ability to present to others a “perfect” image of yourself, it makes sense that we would take advantage of it as much as possible.
This need to feel validated and accepted allows others to exploit these feelings and offer “solutions” to your problems….. Which MILLIONS grab with both hands.
The problem is 95% offer short-term solutions to long-term issues.
The weight you have not been able to lose this last 20 years can’t be fixed with a 12 week transformation.
You hating your reflection since you were 16 isn’t going to be sorted with half a mill of liquid pumped into your lips.
But we see others doing this day after day, we notice the recognition they get from hundreds, maybe thousands of people and we want a piece of it.
We want to feel good about ourselves and this offers a simple way of filling the hole that lies within each of us, but it doesn’t fix the problem.
In fact, if you are honest, it is actually the reason why you are unhappy. It is easy to PRETEND everything is great, it is easy to present the manufactured image you want others to see, the lips and cheek fillers, botox, filters, contouring, transformation photos, starving and dehydrating yourself for a photoshoot but underneath it all, you are still the same person… Only maybe worse!
Now you are under more pressure to live up to this image which means more restrictive diets, more doctored photos, more craving for likes, comments, and shares but always avoiding the root of the problem, YOU, and how you think about yourself. I watch grown adults, my age and older, so desperate to feel better about themselves that they listen to kids!
20 year olds with a couple of years experience in training or using makeup and a six week course which tells the world they have reached the minimum standard and men and women my age and older believe they have the answers? Now I am not knocking on the younger trainers and beauty technicians, everyone must start somewhere and I know a few who are amazing at what they do, but we can only be as good as our experiences and the facts are when you are in your 20’s, you have NO IDEA what it’s like to be 40/50.
You can’t begin to understand the levels of stress, how your body hurts, what years of abuse can do, how years of lacking confidence can affect your thoughts towards yourself. All they know is their 12 week transformation got their mate his hole and a load of likes, or the attention a certain contouring technique got some of their clients because when you are in your 20’s what interests you and what you understand is what 20 somethings want and sadly what most 20 somethings want, is to fit in, to be accepted and to discover their place in society.
I was the same, THOUSANDS of others are the same and we have allowed those feelings founded in our 20s to seep into our 30s and into our 40s. Truth be told, I know very few in their ears 40s who are GENUINELY happy.
They may be able to hold it together better in front of others but that is because of the experience of doing it, I was the best example of this ever but I just like so many others, was just living the lie and we live this lie because our society is now built upon these lies.
IMAGE IMAGE IMAGE! It’s all that matters, how others perceive your public persona. It is all about success and this need to be seen as the best.
10K a month targets, six figure businesses, the need for more followers so that others think you are an expert. How can we expect to help others when we are as deep down the same hole as they are?
The industries today are full of insecure people who hate themselves and find it easier to try and help others than look into themselves.
