A Hermit Crab

A Literary Agent Talks with a Client: A short-short story

The Easing Exhortation: Fad du jour

Perhaps in response to our ever more stressful life, there has been an easing movement.

Previously, self-help exhortations urged more drive, work ethic, doing the hard work needed for maximal achievement. But more recent urgings are to do less: slow down, breathe meditate, and change your mindset: Have a “growth mindset!” Think Positive.  “PowerPose!”  That continues even though rigorous attempts by independent researchers to validate such exhortations have largely failed to support the concept-creators’ puffy promise: Just follow my simple X-step plan and you can be fabulous.” Alas, we can’t all be fabulous. Posterity may well record this crop of fast-fix hawkers as modern-day snake-oil salesmen.

My PsychologyToday.com article today explains why the Easing Exhortation is a mere fad, which will end up taking its place among fads now ridiculed from phrenology to penis envy.