One big problem that people may create for themselves while trying to change or grow in life is that they go on the search for magic pills.
What is a magic pill?
Well, basically looking at something – a book or a just a tip – as a complete and quick solution for your problem. Thinking that that thing will “fix you”, just like a pill from the doctor could.
Now, magic pills can be quite harmful to you. Here’s a few reasons why you should avoid chasing after them:
1. They don’t exist.
So far as I have found, there are no magic pills. Magic pills are just an unrealistic way to look at things if you have a problem in your life. It’s a way of looking for a quick and easy way out.
Now, a book/tape/DVD/person at the right time can have a big effect. You may have heard that when the student is ready, the teacher will come. So some product/person can be bit like a magic pill to an individual at the right point in his/her life. But that individual will still have to put in work.
2. You’ll waste a lot of time and energy.
Desperately looking for the “next big thing” and when disappointed with that one going looking for the next one could take up a lot of energy. And a lot of time. Perhaps even years.
How much could you not get done in all that time if you took action on what you knew instead of spending your time chasing the next magic pill?
3. You may waste quite a bit of money.
A desire to find the magic pill could turn you into a personal development junkie with an empty wallet. Looking for salvation at the next big seminar or the one after that could be taxing on your personal finances.
Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t spend money if you think a book or seminar could be helpful. But don’t go overboard or think that you will find the magic pill.
4. It may lead you to giving up altogether.
Looking for the magic pills may lead to you to feel a lot of frustration and disappointment. You may give up changing or growing all together. And dismiss all personal development people as snake oil salesmen trying to steal your money.
There is a lot of value in a lot of products and in what a lot of people say. But if you expect them to be able to just fix your problem then of course you’ll always be disappointed. Totally unrealistic expectations will bring you down and can transform a great, helpful product into a disappointment in your eyes.
5. You won’t grow (at least not as much as you wanted).
As you go on your magic pill journey you may learn quite a bit and develop yourself a bit too. But this stuff becomes a lot more potent when used properly and without the magic pill mindset applied to it.
Why do we chase the magic pills?
A few answers that I’ve come up with from my own experience are:
- Persistent advertising. The idea of a magic pill is to a large extent sold to us over and over again through advertising. These fantasies are of course useful to sell stuff. To sell an appealing dream of instant gratification to people. Since advertising is persistent these ideas can become pretty ingrained in the minds of consumers.
- No need to really change. People like magic pills because then they don’t have to change very much at all. The pill can just “fix them” and so they can go on just as they have for the last few years or decades. But if someone wants to, for example, lose 30 pounds then what that person may need to lose the weight - and keep it off – is a whole lifestyle change. To replace the old lifestyle with a new one. One with regular exercise and a new and healthier diet.
- Laziness and pain avoidance. A similar answer to the one above. Frankly, it’s easier to be lazy, lie back on the sofa and read another book and look for an instant gratification solution than it is to get up and take action/a risk. It is a way to creatively procrastinate by looking for the perfect solution. A way to avoid taking action to get avoid possible pain, temporary failure, change and the unknown.
How can you overcome this problem?
Well, I did it like I guess many others have done. I read a bunch of stuff that made me aware that magic pills might be an illusion and not worth chasing after anymore. And, more importantly, I failed to find a magic pill quite a few times. 
Over a bit of time I realized that I should probably give up that search and start viewing personal growth and the material I explored in a more realistic way. And so I got more out of the material because now I saw it as a help along my way.
How have I learned to use the material in a more helpful way?
By really sticking with for instance just one book for a longer time and by taking the actions and tips recommended there seriously.
By actually doing what the book recommends and adjusting my course as I find appropriate.
And by - over a long time span, like many months - taking action, failing, learning and taking a whole of more action. Because the big thing here is not some magic pill. It’s your continual effort. That you keep going and doing and learning. Without that nothing will work.
When you snap out of the magic pill mentality things tend to get a bit rougher and patience is required. But you also tend get some real results instead of just temporary boosts of motivation or sporadic results. You aren’t lost in some fantasy world anymore. You’re in a position that has a few downsides – like a bit of pain, plateaus and less instant gratification - but definitely more upsides.
And a funny thing is that when you finally take action you might discover that things are often easier to get done than you may think. Maybe you are overcomplicating things by reading 25 books about your problem and thereby - in your mind - making your challenge into a bigger and more complicated deal than it may actually be?
Reading this and other articles on magic pills may or may not convince you to stop chasing them. Maybe you just have to find out for yourself by seeing what you find out there.
Image by Okko Pyykkö (license).
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