Let me begin by saying I’m a fan of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy – or CBT.
Stoicism is some of the finest psychological advice out there and CBT is basically just modern Stoicism.
But it’s not perfect.
As much as I like it, CBT doesn’t work with some of your biggest problems.
CBT assumes you can consciously figure out what the problem is.
Then consciously figure out a better way of doing it.
Then using your willpower to replace the unhelpful thoughts with the better ones.
If all three of those things line up, then it’ll probably work great.
But sometimes you don’t know what the problem is. You know something is wrong. You feel off, you’re not getting the results you want and something hollow gnaws at you, but you can’t think of what it is.
Sometimes you know what the problem is but now how to fix it. It’s a classic human error to replace one mistake with another – like the workaholic who moves to a beach and drinks mojitos all day. Both paths are folly.
Then there’s having to remember to stick with the changes.
Honestly, that’s not so bad. Plenty of problems are clear and seemingly insurmountable. CBT helps with those. But what about when it’s not clear?
Then you want an epiphany.
An epiphany is a single moment that changes everything – one you can’t put into words, even if you can make a decent attempt at that. Once you have an epiphany, everything in your life feels different.
You problems can simply evaporate in the face of that.
Useful?
Not really, unless you know how to create the conditions for epiphanies.
By the way – I know how to create the conditions for epiphanies.
I’ve helped people overcome problems where they still don’t even know what those problems were.
It’s something I do with some of my coaching clients. And with myself sometimes. It’s a phenomenal experience.
But I’m not here to sell you on my coaching – that’s invite-only anyway.
All I’ll say is there’s more to self-development than you might think.
The usual approaches – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, sunshine, exercise, prayer – are fantastic. Start with those.
If you need something different to get different results, then check out the link below: