Why Popular Self-Help Advice Might Be Hurting You

📌 Let’s take a well-known health tip: Drink warm lemon water in the morning. Sounds great, right? But for people with gastritis or acid reflux, this can worsen their condition, leading to stomach pain and discomfort.

🔹 Another example: The advice to wake up at 5 AM. While early mornings work wonders for some, they can be destructive for night owls or people with certain chronotypes. Forcing a non-morning person to wake up early can lead to fatigue, stress, and poor performance.

📌 Many productivity guides claim that waking up early, working in deep-focus sessions, or following specific morning routines will make you more successful. But what if your peak energy levels don’t match those schedules?

🔹 Imagine someone telling you: "Work for 4 hours straight with no breaks"—but what if you work best in short bursts? Or someone says, "Exercise in the morning"—but your body feels strongest in the evening?

🔹 Productivity isn’t about copying someone else’s routine—it’s about designing one that fits your energy, brain chemistry, and lifestyle.

📌 Instead of blindly following influencers, the real secret to self-improvement is self-experimentation.

🔹 Step 1: Observe – Pay attention to your natural rhythms and habits.

🔹 Step 2: Test – Try new habits, but adjust them to fit your life.

🔹 Step 3: Adapt – Keep what works, discard what doesn’t.

🔹 Step 4: Trust Yourself – The best expert on you is you.

📌 Advice is not universal. What works for one person might be harmful or ineffective for another. Instead of blindly following self-help trends, listen to your body, mind, and intuition.