Manipulating reality and buying stuff you don't need.

I heard self-help’s the number-one selling genre for books.

Forgot exactly where. Some podcast, I’m sure. Even if not true, it sounds believable, right?

For what feels like now more than ever, people's bookshelves are stacked with blueprints on how to control their habits; another features a 99-step action plan on how to live your life the right way; another promises the secret that professionals don’t want you to know.

Everyone’s searching for the perfect solution to their problems, listening to podcasts, and possibly even obeying their mentor. Everyone’s listening to their savior.

Thanks to YouTube recommendations, I caught the first 40 minutes of a new Tony Robbins appearance. Just listening to him feels like I’m making progress in life, business, and relationships, whether I am or not. I’m no stranger to all the self-help stuff, though I’m aware of the blurred line between information and hours of gluttony.

Whether you think it’s all bullshit or not, you’re right either way.

While we all have a voice we tune in to, the reason for this essay is more about what the right ones do—not in the specifics of self-help, but on a more fundamental storytelling level. Self-help is just where you see it most, though good storytelling is no stranger to brands like Apple to your favorite butter substitute.

These words will walk you through one fundamental thing: how they make their followers feel. It’s my guess that once you know this, you’ll know everything. This mindset can potentially help you manipulate reality or, at the very least, help you stop buying shit you don't need.

The Kingdom of Heaven Is Within You

This isn’t going to turn into Bible study, so you can relax. I’m also not going to add a bunch of anecdotes. No fluff—here it is: The kingdom of heaven is within you. This is the secret that every brand, self-help guru, and even storyteller uses.

Curious how? Let’s unpack it a bit further.

In layman’s terms, this message tells you that everything you will ever want is already inside you. No, not somewhere in the vessel you’re borrowing, between the blood and bones. It’s somewhere in your mind, heart, soul—somewhere between or in a mixture of the three.

This idea is what the best saviors know.

You’ve probably heard some alternatives: someone yelling at you to lift heavy, take ice-cold showers, bathe in red LEDs, and eat every pilled vitamin known to man. These are all Band-Aid methods for what we’re really after. While there’s merit in lifting and published studies behind the rest, they’re all external solutions to our problems. They give us the feeling of progression, like moving mountains, when in reality, you’re behind the wheel, driving across the country.

You can keep taking cold showers; however, no one has ever transcended to a higher level of consciousness and solved all their personal problems from bathing in freezing water.

The solutions we're truly after require us to look where few want to look, possibly confronting the ego.

So where do we look?

Keep in mind, everything is done with an eye to something else.

People empty their life savings to attend a Tony Robbins event because they feel that by doing so, their life will get better. Rarely is the information heard novel or mind-bending. They’re events that essentially give the listeners permission to create a belief within—belief in oneself, that which the body relies on. The event is just a means to an end, interchangeable with books, podcasts, and such.

The problems addressed here aren’t about what you’re eating, how you’re exercising, or what your life’s work is—they’re about how you view yourself, how you feel about life, and shifting your perspective. They’re all rooted in feeling, in the kingdom within.

Let’s Connect This to Marketing

Building a StoryBrand

A neat read, Building a StoryBrand is a book that tells you how to build a story—which successful brands are—in seven quick and easy steps. (Humans love when you break things down into steps!) Here are the seven parts so you don’t have to read the book: your customer is the hero of your story (1), has a problem (2), meets a savior (3), the savior gives them a plan (4), calls them to action (5), helps them avoid failure (6), and ends in success (7).

The most valuable part of this entire book is number 2: the problem. Once you understand the problem, formulating a solution becomes easier. If you don’t understand the problem—or miss it completely—you risk not communicating with your desired audience.

The book states that every problem can be broken down into three fundamental categories: external, internal, and philosophical. External problems we can see—obstacles, challenges, and hardships. Internal problems are emotional—how we feel inside. Philosophical is broader—ideas where you and I can agree or disagree based on facts or emotions.

Even at the heart of every story, brands included, lies a problem. External problems exist, yes, but why we decide to make a choice to solve that problem is because we feel we need to. A flat tire sucks, but the feeling of missing an important event, getting rear-ended, or anything worse is what makes us fix the tire.

Why Does Any of This Matter?

You and I buy based on emotion, then justifying with logic later. This is how it’s always been, how it is, and how it always will be.

The brands, gurus, and snake oil salesmen alike that address your internal problems the best are the ones more likely to succeed. It’s with this knowledge that everything your customer is looking for already exists within them. It’s giving them the permission, the ability, the courage to find the feeling they’re after—through your product—that will make them choose you.

—George