On Self Improvement

Skepticism on self-improvement

In the past, I regarded the popular trope and trend of "self-improvement" as a mere fad, and as a distraction from correcting the issues of the world. The line of reasoning was the following:

1. The current state of affairs in the world looks bleak (which I could go into with
   many sources but I will refrain).
2. Social media and other internet sources have been spreading around the notion that we should simply attend to "self-care" and build one's self up.
3. While useful, the before-mentioned strategies do little to correct the external
   environment that led someone to the point where they needed to pull themselves
   out of the pit they may have been in.

What is the locus of control and what are its effects?

Essentially, what the notion of self-improvement boils down to is trying to focus one's locus of control to be internal, and then to act to change factors that are in this locus. Successfully achieving this shift of control from external to internal has been correlated with increased self-control and by extension, better health.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10698268/

As I had mentioned before, focusing one's locus of control internally can result in the
neglect of acknowledging that there are variables outside of one's control (ie economic downturn or warfare). However, by neglecting the things that one can control, the resulting decline in physical and mental health would likely cripple an individual from being able to implement actions that would change the external factors anyways. While most studies indicate that an external locus of control is correlated with worse mental health, there is a study that suggests it is more complicated: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajhb.24147
If one believes that there is nothing they can do about certain events (ie some demons are intervening in the affairs of the world), they are more likely to accept the outcomes without blaming themselves. This can be beneficial.

Can the locus of control shift?

This person believes it can:
https://www.believeinmind.com/self-growth/how-to-develop-an-internal-locus-of-control/
Having sunk to the lowest point of existence from the perspective of mental health would provide one with an internal perspective on what "giving up" is like. When you finally hit the lowest point of your mental health, many people get 'charged' by a survival instinct and this phenomenon can shift one's locus of control. Relationship loss, neglect of one's own health, and a myriad of other factors can combine to spur one to change their behaviors. For some, it is losing someone or something that was very close to them. Failure to address root causes and engage in troubleshooting can lead to the deterioration of physical and mental health until agreeableness declines to the point where one could not be easily tolerated by others. There is another concept in psychology called learned helplessness which can explain how this can happen.

What is learned helplessness?

The video explains the concept, but repeated failures can condition someone to believe that trying is futile, and that one is incapable of avoiding negative outcomes. It ends up creating a self-fulfilling prophecy whereby one does not act to correct negative outcomes which creates more negative outcomes, and that then reinforces the helplessness. This is not a good state to be in as it can result in negative effects to one's mental health: https://www.simplypsychology.org/learned-helplessness.html

So what can be done?

You either have to understand the concepts and get motivated to change, or you have to hit the lowest point of your life and invest in changing your outcomes. It all begins with doing small things and building up from there. There can be a significant degree of inertia against fighting back against the helplessness, so the tasks being picked should be small and things that are easy to do (ie Peterson's imperative to "clean your room"). Some prefer going big over small, and while this can work, many people who are trapped in a state of learned helplessness find the big tasks to be daunting and give up.

1. In the case of major weight gain, fasting can be helpful.

Spending too much time in the digital world (in the wrong places) can contribute to a decline in mental health and cognition. One can choose to remove themselves for a while and develop skills that do not involved computer of phone use.

Being out of shape due to a sedentary lifestyle can be remedied with small steps and helps ward off depression. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-benefits-of-exercise#sex-life

If social life is neglected, this can have detrimental effects on one's health as well, with a few exceptions. Introverts will need to exert more energy to do so. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/living-mild-cognitive-impairment/201606/the-health-benefits-socializing

Cutting out substances (caffeine, alcohol), tends to yield beneficial results as well, as most of them have unwanted effects on the brain.

In conclusion, if you ever find yourself to be in a difficult position in terms to mental health, then it is imperative that you take action to reverse it or it will snowball into the point where you are forced to. Self-improvement is useful and a pragmatic approach to resolving a lot of issues that you may have, just don't lose sight of the actual issues in the world that do need to be changed. Acknowledge them, come up with strategies to address them, and if they cannot be addressed, then avoid them.