While some sectors such as tourism and hospitality were hard hit by the Covid 19 pandemic, other industries found that the changed world offered unparalleled opportunities for growth. The self-help industry was one of these sectors as the pandemic encouraged individuals to take matters in their own hands regarding a number of areas ranging from meditation and weight loss to home learning and fitness.
It came at a time when the self-help industry was already showing some spectacular rates of growth. A report issued in 2019 revealed that the sector was growing by as much as 5% year-on-year and that the whole self-improvement industry would be expected to be worth $13.2 billion by 2022. So is the self-help revolution sustainable, or is it just a by-product of the pandemic and our fascination with technology?
Technology powering the self-help revolution
While the concept of self-help is hardly anything new, the fact is that technology is a big driving force behind the rapid growth of the self-improvement sector. A quick look at the app charts reveals no shortage of apps like Calm, Headspace and Simple Habit that aim to help us to meditate and live more harmonious and relaxed lifestyles. This is something that has also translated to books with many of the big sellers on Amazon’s book charts aiming to help individuals live less stressful lives.
Plus there’s been the rapid rise of fitness and health products that work in the opposite way to help people stay in shape even when they are having to stay at home due to one of the many lockdowns. From the Keep Workout Trainer app to the outstanding popularity of the Peloton exercise cycles, technology has been used in many ways to keep us fit despite having to stay within our houses.
But it’s not just our bodies that have benefited from the self-improvement revolution. We’ve seen plenty of apps and websites launched that have encouraged us to advance our mental dexterity over the past troubled couple of years. While the Mimo app has been with us for a few years, the coding app gained unprecedented popularity over the height of the pandemic. Plus with more and more tutorials and classes taking place over the internet, there have been helpful resources developed to help users find the best courses online UK has to offer so that anyone could do anything from learn a new language to increase their business knowhow. All of which shows that there’s a natural tendency to wish to improve ourselves if we are only given the space and time in which to do so.
Generational shift towards self-improvement
The concept of self-help has been with us for decades, but it looks like millennials are the generation that is powering the self-improvement revolution. Compared to other generations, millennials are thought to spend twice as much on things like working out and downloading self-improvement apps.
Much of this could be attributed to a prevailing trend towards self-improvement that has been fashionable over the past decade. From the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow’s GOOP retail brand to Michelle Obama’s Becoming book, there is a far greater willingness and acceptance for those wishing to spend time and money improving their own mental and physical well-being.
Of course any shift like this will inevitably get picked up by businesses, and there have been several notable switches in the marketing approaches of brands to appear ‘softer’ and more willing to take advantage of this trend. As soon as the likes of American Airlines feature the Calm app, it shows that there’s a groundswell towards this new way of thinking.
Is the self-improvement trend sustainable?
The trend towards self-improvement has come and gone over the past century. Ever since Dale Carnegie released the iconic How to Win Friends and Influence People book, there has been several trend-setting products released that people have bought in the hope that they can improve themselves and the way they behave.
With the self-help trend already in full effect by the time that the pandemic struck, the nature of lockdowns offered the perfect setting for a real self-improvement revolution to take place. With lots more people learning languages in lockdown, it showed that there has always been a willingness towards self-improvement, but having the spare time to help ourselves has been limited. But with the pandemic potentially having altered the way in which we work, play and rest forever, there’s every chance that the self-improvement craze is well and truly here to stay.
Interesting Related Article: “5 Changes to Your Routine to Help Your Wellbeing“
from Health – Market Business News https://ift.tt/3o7htrq
via IFTTT
0 Comments