Monday, November 13, 2006

From self-improvement to do it for me!

In the late 1970s the self-improvement and mind-improvement fields really took off. This was typified by books like 'Superlearning' and 'The Alpha Plan'. All very optimistic stuff. The message being that you can vastly improve your mind and your life.

However, I've started to pick up on a new trend:

I don't believe people have the time and the concentration anymore to want to work hard to improve their minds. Many of us are looking for simple, short-cut solutions. Its the old 'information overload' syndrome.

I believe that this leads to two main demands:

1. People want someone just to come in and 'do it for me'! How does this relate to mind-improvement though? Well, I've noticed that hypnosis products are becomming more popular. People like the idea that they can just lay back, relax with their headphones on and the hypotherapist (on the recording) will go into the unconscious mind and sort things out for them! Basically any product which automates the process of self-improvement or makes it seem VERY EASY is going to be popular in the coming years.

2. Secondly, the other thing that is becomming popular is just letting someone else TELL you what to do. It relieves the stress of having to think for yourself. And in our current world of endless choices, you can't underestimate how much some people would like to escape that stress. So any product which offers a STRONG AUTHORITATIVE voice to tell people what to believe is going to be popular in the coming years.

No comments: