I Used to Say Things, Now I Do a Lot – Here’s What Changed
- Jan 30
- 6 min read
Updated: Jan 31
Written by Eric Burdon, Self-Help Guru
Eric S Burdon has been writing about the self-help industry for over 10 years. His weird experiences, refreshing perspective, and curiosity have culminated in the Eric S Burdon YouTube channel and writing on Medium.
If you had told me in 2010 that I would be a writer, YouTuber, or self-help guru, I wouldn’t have believed you. Back then, I was scared of my own shadow, let alone lacking many of the social skills and graces I have now. But even then, the idea of running a business scared me so much that the phobia bled into the start of my current career.
It wasn’t the most perfect or great kickoff of all time; in fact, it was a rather weird one. From imposter syndrome to procrastination and sheer laziness, I used to be one of those gurus who put on the airs of confidence and spoke with comfort in my position.
All the while, I never really practiced those things in my own life.
It’s been a long time since then, and a lot has changed, of course, but the biggest change of all can be boiled down to how I see myself today, the role I aim to play in the self-help industry, and the work I am putting out into the world now.
Because it’s extensive.
And through that, you can find your own strategies for being more productive and tackling hustle culture.
The 4 things that I changed about myself
I ditched the hustle culture mentality
I’ve always been a firm believer that in order to get ahead in life, you need to work. I still hold onto that belief, though I didn’t know how much that mentality affected me until I started working for myself. And just how crucial your work ethic actually is.
For sure, it’s easy to embrace the hustle culture that a lot of people push. Working hard, falling in love with the grind, and looking for inefficiencies in your work can feel good, especially if they pay off into something bigger for yourself.
But not many people talk about the dangers of it.
How work can become your entire identity. How the hustle culture mindset keeps you trapped in a loop. How it deprives you of other important parts of your life.
I only had a taste of it, as it ultimately led to me being burnt out again and again at various points in my journey. It resulted in long pauses, feelings of utter overwhelm, and stressing over the fact I could be doing more work.
It was an unhealthy dynamic that I realized many of us have with our own work these days. With good intentions around work and hustle, some of the advice around even being a productive individual can be seen as misleading or outright bad.
It ultimately led me to being more confident and driven about the work I’m doing now. And there has been nothing that has persuaded me to abandon my drive for writing and speaking about the self-help industry.
I ditched the over-the-top role models
Another aspect that kept me chained was the role models in my life. These days, I have hardly anyone I really look up to, and that’s for a good reason.
Because some of “the best” and most successful people in the world are terrible people.
Of course, in a capitalist system, things are bound to get corrupted as profits become a priority over people and doing the right thing. However, the people that perpetuate this idea are the ones that self-help continues to platform.
The ultra-rich individuals who made millions or billions off the work of others. Who haven’t worked an honest day in their lives and are wrecking the planet as you are reading this.
There was a time when I used these individuals to draw inspiration from. That their perceived struggles and persistence were what got them into the position they are in, and they were totally deserving of it. All of that got dashed the more I looked into those individuals' lives and realized how little work they actually did to become the successes they are.
Donald Trump got a “small loan of a million dollars.”
Jeff Bezos had his own dad marry into money and had sudden access to a lot of wealthy investors who personally invested in his business.
Elon Musk grew up in apartheid and was in a position to speak to other wealthy individuals who could support him.
One of the big lies the self-help industry pushes is the idea that these “successful” men made it through personality, a certain key trait, or a mindset that we could adopt ourselves. There’s a grain of truth in it, but the reality is those men didn’t follow that. They leveraged nepotism.
Breaking free from that thinking got me to look more at what inspires me and have more individuality in my life. I’m growing in the way that I want to, rather than trying to emulate particular people. Rethinking my journey and my path made it authentically me.
Authentically weird.
I added stability through a sustainable, sensitive strategy
A big turning point for me came down to a strategy I’ve used to organize how I work and what I focus on. I continue to refine this strategy year after year, but the core of it is simple, sustainable, and loose.
It’s a to-do list.
What’s changed from year to year is how my mentality and the relationship I have with this to-do list have changed. Before, it was simple tasks that I wanted to get done, but as time went on, I kept them focused and repetitive, and I tied more and more meaning to those tasks.
I started to focus on tasks that will move me in a direction rather than aspirational tasks. It’s more “write X articles” over “get X followers on social media.” Those subtleties can make all the difference.
And by changing those, I changed how I approach my work and even how I get into my flow state. It’s even culminated in a love and appreciation for my work over the past decade that continues to renew itself as I discover new and better things.
I added more discovery to myself
The more I look at self-help and what it represents these days, the more I learn how crucial it is to be independent.
It’s a blurry line for sure, as many self-help gurus inject themselves into people’s lives for the sake of “independence,” but what they sell isn’t that. It’s a dream that perhaps you don’t want but feels worthwhile chasing.
And over time, you begin losing agency over who you are and want to be.
I learned early that a solid counter to that is self-discovery, and that turned me from someone who just says things to actually doing the things I want to do. It might not be the most lucrative thing in the world, but it’s what I love doing, and I continue to make that happen.
And the only reason I keep on going is because I continue to learn about myself and who I want to be. In turn, that steers my actions, my passion, and the work that I am doing.
It also serves as a counterbalance to those from the outside recommending ideas or opportunities. It gives me the option to look at those opportunities more objectively rather than be steered by emotions.
I do a lot more now, and I’m happier
Between managing a YouTube channel and focusing on writing, I have a lot on my plate. However, I keep it all pretty well contained with the ideas I have in mind and the direction I want my life to be in.
With the right kind of system, I’m capable of doing so much more than I used to when I started out. I only have the skills that I’ve honed over the years to thank for that, as well as my dedication to continuing them. And I have no doubt that if you added these elements into your own life, you’d be able to get a lot more done too.
Read more from Eric Burdon
Eric Burdon, Self-Help Guru
Eric S Burdon is a self-help writer and self-help guru. Having engaged with the self-help industry for over 10 years, Eric has created various strategies that weave through the multiple tropes of self-help to help people grow. Seeing how that has helped him grow, his mission is to spread what he's learned to others. His goal: change the self-help industry for the better, one person at a time.
