SELF HELP BOOKS
Self help books don’t help. They are merely a marketing gimmick to get people to part with their hard earned money. When was the last time you met a person who had become a property tycoon after reading “Rich Dad Poor Dad”? When was the last time you saw someone beat depression after reading a self help book? This huge market now has books for virtually everything you could need, and ultimately the only person being helped is the author who is slowly getting rich. If you really feel that you need advice on life, try searching the internet for examples from real people who really found a way out of their problems.
Walk into any bookstore in America and look at the self-help section to find an eclectic yet conspicuously overpopulated selection of personal advice. Authors such as Stephen R. Covey, Anthony Robbins and Deepak Chopra claim to have the answers to all the biggest personal problems Americans have been losing sleep over.
These self-help advocates tend to promote a critical and constructive method.
First, they make the reader feel as though there is something wrong with his or her life, and second, they claim the only road to happiness is to buy into their messages. The problem with this mode of selling a product is not peculiar to self-help books. Nearly every product sold uses that critical/constructive method. But self-help books are personally effective. They prey on the weak by making them feel inferior to the speaker, thus, reinforcing the need to be cured of a problem that they did not know they had. Ideas such as "releasing the inner child" and "unlocking your full inner potential" lead listeners to feel that there is a problem in their lives, and the only way to fix it is by following the speaker's, say, 12 Steps to Being Sexy.
So, while we may find some nuggets of wisdom in literature out there, if it starts with a 10-step plan or bears the word "secret" somewhere in the title, save the money, get some free advice from those with wisdom and buy a dog.
Walk into any bookstore in America and look at the self-help section to find an eclectic yet conspicuously overpopulated selection of personal advice. Authors such as Stephen R. Covey, Anthony Robbins and Deepak Chopra claim to have the answers to all the biggest personal problems Americans have been losing sleep over.
These self-help advocates tend to promote a critical and constructive method.
First, they make the reader feel as though there is something wrong with his or her life, and second, they claim the only road to happiness is to buy into their messages. The problem with this mode of selling a product is not peculiar to self-help books. Nearly every product sold uses that critical/constructive method. But self-help books are personally effective. They prey on the weak by making them feel inferior to the speaker, thus, reinforcing the need to be cured of a problem that they did not know they had. Ideas such as "releasing the inner child" and "unlocking your full inner potential" lead listeners to feel that there is a problem in their lives, and the only way to fix it is by following the speaker's, say, 12 Steps to Being Sexy.
So, while we may find some nuggets of wisdom in literature out there, if it starts with a 10-step plan or bears the word "secret" somewhere in the title, save the money, get some free advice from those with wisdom and buy a dog.
AB MACHINES
I believe that for many people, an Ab machine may be wasted money. Many of us have enough abdominal muscle that can be shown well, however, most of us just have too much fat around the stomach to see them clearly enough. The goal should be to reduce fat stores to get a six pack.Thicker Waist Size!
In fact, another point to consider is if you trained intensely on the ab machine alone, you will build up and thicken the ab muscles as they become stronger. The trouble with doing this is your waist may start to get slightly bigger, even though you're not actually getting fatter.
The bottom line is Ab machines are good for toning the stomach muscles, but six packs are achieved by lowering the amount of fat around the waist so the muscles can be seen. Do not waste all your efforts by doing the wrong type of exercise for your specific weight loss goals!
Infomercials have been pumping out a variety of ab building machines for the last ten years. The fact is, these machines are used once or twice and then end up in the garage or a cupboard never to be used again. The machines do nothing that the human body can’t already do, and if you are earnest about building up good abs, you would be far better off doing regular sit ups and getting a gym membership. It will probably cost the same price and won’t clutter up your home!
BOTTLED WATER
Bottled water is an utter waste of money and resources. To illustrate just how ridiculous a concept it is, I will demonstrate with Dasani Bottled Water. This product was created by Coca Cola and was marketed as superior bottled water. First of all, bottled water is a ridiculous concept in the western world where we all have easy access to tap water which is drinkable in most areas. Coca Cola wanted to be part of the ridiculous fad so they entered the bottled water market, but they simply filled their bottles with tap water! When the product was released in the UK it was a disaster. They used the slogan “bottled spunk” which may seem innocuous to the Americans who came up with the idea, but unfortunately in the UK “spunk” is a slang word for sperm. Just when you think it couldn’t get any worse, scientific testing of the bottled water showed traces of bromate - a carcinogen. Coca Cola had to withdraw half a million bottles of the water and they pulled the product from the UK market.Researchers have now examined the plastic the holds the water, and the have found some chemicals certain types of plastic contain, like phthalates and bisphenol A, may seep into the water. These toxins can disrupt the endocrine system, messing with your hormone balance. This can cause fatigue and even weight gain. Defeating the purpose of your workout/playing outside/ etc... heck it defeats the whole idea of drinking water to be healthy.
1 Comment:
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January 11, 2009 at 5:56 AM
This is a thought provoking article. I like it.
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