There are two reasons why I don’t do tips in my blogs.

One is that everybody already writes blogs full of tips, tricks, and steps, and things the Greek stoics said, or things that self-made billionaires apparently do.

Two: nobody ever does anything with the tips and the tricks.

We don’t.

We read them, we nod, we might think ‘Wow, that’s a useful tip, I should remember it forever!’ and we get on with our lives.

Without the tip, of course.

Once in a while, though, we might bookmark the tip, or write it in our journal filled with other useful tips.

And THEN we forget about it.

Tips are just plain stupid and useless.

And they are always the same.

In the self-help-o-sphere, you will find generally tips that feature:

Mindfulness.

Yoga.

Getting enough sleep.

Working out.

Eating well, or fasting AND eating well.

Not being worried about our past.

Not being too obsessed with our future.

Not judging ourselves, or others.

Not being too concerned about what others think about us.

Setting healthy boundaries (really, what does that even mean?).

Forgiving ourselves, and others.

Being grateful.

Being in nature.

Minimalism.

And believing in yourself.

Stuff like that.

You know what I mean.

Stuff that might be helpful if we could just flick a switch and do or think them forever (which we can’t, at all).

Stuff that makes sense at first sight and is somewhat relevant and at least feels exciting and promising, maybe, but that is also incredibly FUCKING boring.

And devastatingly unoriginal.

Because every single tip or trick you will ever find has already been featured in a trillion blogs and articles and YouTube videos, over and over and over and over again.

Ugh.

So why am I the only person in the world who dislikes tips and tricks so much?

Well, because I know what it’s like to look for them and devour them.

I know what it’s like to hunt them, to collect them, and to see them as tiny morsels of low-calorie hope and change.

And I also know, consciously and painfully, what happens when life eventually shits you in the face and you try to remember one of those tips, and you fail to do so, of course.

So I know tips are bullshit.

And that’s why I write what I write, and why writing hasn’t made me an enlightened millionaire yet.

Fuck.

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(Photo by @gabriellefaithhenderson, for Unsplash)