Are you overdosing on self-help? This may seem like an ironic question coming from me since my passion and career is all about personal growth. But here’s the thing: I’ve noticed that a lot of people who embark on a journey of self-discovery often go through a phase where they start to OD on self-help.

When we embark on our path of personal discovery the coaches, healers, teachers, courses, seminars, programs and books we seek out are incredibly valuable (and necessary). They create a safe space for us to address and heal our issues, teach us how to reframe our limiting beliefs and create a container for us to reconnect to our Higher Self and The Uni-verse. And once we get a taste of self-help most of us find ourselves yearning for more because it feels so good!

Personal growth is absolutely amazing and there are INCREDIBLE resources out there. I would not know how to stop learning and growing. In fact, you’ll be getting an email from me next week telling you about a lot of cool new resources I’m offering this year.

AND I am aware from observing many people that too much self-helping can become a way to avoid being the truth of who you are and doing the things that are aligned with that Truth.

One of the very subtle misunderstandings that may show up when we start to “work on ourselves” is that there is always something to work on. In other words, sometimes we can become so fixated on wanting to fix, improve and heal ourselves that we get a bit addicted to self-help. We run from healer to coach to expert to seminar to program thinking that THIS will be the answer and finally be cured of whatever it is that we think is wrong.

Personal growth resources help us wake up! They shine light on the Truth, help us resolve issues and hurts we have been carrying around for years, and give us tools for living more authentically. But there comes a point where taking off the training wheels is important. Where we focus less on the healing and more on the doing. Where we shift from the thinking of “there is something else I need to fix” to “I trust my Higher Self and The Uni-verse to support me in moving forward in my life.”  Where we integrate all our awareness and take action.

If you feel like you may be OD’ing on self-help, consider…

Rather than taking one more seminar on how to meet the love of your life, start being the love of your own life.  Rather than reading one more dating book, get out there and start dating. Rather than enrolling in another seminar that promises to teach you how to create your dreams, take one small action step toward them today. Rather than going to one more guru to tell you what you should do, sit your butt down, close your eyes, bring your awareness to your breath and ask for Divine guidance.

As long as you continue to believe the answer is “out there” you will constantly be looking “out there” for fulfillment.

One of the principle lessons of personal growth is that true and lasting fulfillment can only come from within, so all the self-help work you have done and been doing is in service to bringing your awareness to that Truth.

Keep studying, continue to take advantage of all the amazing online resources, AND just be aware of when and if you are using it as a little bit of a crutch. The world of self-help is full of warm fuzzies and it’s often more appealing to hang out in than to take the training wheels off and embark on the ride of your life. Here is a question you can ask yourself that will help with discerning this, “Am I seeking out this self-help resource because I am truly excited to learn something new or ready to heal something I haven’t addressed OR am I hiding within the comfort zone of self-help instead of being lovingly proactive in my own life?” If the answer is more the later, it may be time for a self-help intervention.

I am ALL for growth, learning and upliftment. It is important for all of us to continue to be students of life. How lucky we are that there will always be individuals who are further along the path that inspire, teach and call us forward. I recommend that we all have a consistent person and/or practice that consistently encourages our growth. I continue to enroll in courses, study with coaches and reach out to healers to support me on my own path. Yet I make sure not to go overboard and treasure my most valuable resource: my own Inner Counselor and guidance from God. And the intention behind all the resources I offer you, is to support you in strengthening your attunement to your inner wisdom.

Instead of being a self-help junkie, consider becoming more of a connoisseur. @ChristinHassler (Click to Tweet!)

Continue to seek out self-help resources that feel supportive to you along with turning to your own Inner Counselor who also happens to have a direct line to a Higher Power. Trust yourself. You can do it. And remember that the one thing that it is impossible to OD on is LOVE, LOVE and more LOVE!!!

Love,

Christine

p.s. I have a new podcast where I coach people LIVE on the air. Head over to Over it and On With It and listen in for inspiration and action steps.

Christine Hassler has broken down the complex and overwhelming experience of recovering from disappointment into a step-by-step treatment plan in her new book Expectation Hangover. This book reveals the formula for how to process disappointment on the emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual levels to immediately ease suffering. Instead of wallowing in regret, self-recrimination, or anger, we can see these experiences as catalysts for profound transformation and doorways that open to possibility. You can find more info on her website, and follow her on Twitter and FB.

Image courtesy of freephotocc.