Why is it that many times, whenever some special guest comes and speaks at a church, business or any other kind of special organizational event, it is pitched as a ‘life-changing’ event? Can’t it just be merely informative or helpful?
I believe the label ‘life-changing’ actually has the reverse intended effect and reduces groups of people to passivity (or mere short-term conformity) toward the objective the leaders have set for the event, mainly as a result of setting the expectation bar so high by labeling it ‘life-changing’.
If every event is life-changing, then (generally speaking) no event will be life-changing, which inevitably produces stagnation and complacency in the group. I mean if it really is a life-changing event, well then okay, maybe it is.
But how often do you generally walk away from a meeting of this kind with a complete paradigm shift in your perspective or understanding (apart from radical conversion by the work of Christ)? You may walk away informed or even affected, given new ideas on how to approach something, or change some area in your life. But is your life generally radically changed by some motivational speaker? 95-99% of the time, I would say probably not. Maybe in the short-run to be sure. But after this wears off, it’s business as usual.
Why can’t we just be honest and call an event what it is in reality, not what we want to project it or market it as (in this case ‘life-changing’)? If every event is described in these terms, people will catch on to the truth of what these kind of events are and begin coming with the expectation that it’s just another okay, mediocre or poor event as a result of having the bar set to an extreme. Just a thought …
Come Attend Yet Another ‘Life-Changing’ Event!
By David Westerfield
On August 28, 2009
In Business, Commentary, Culture
Why is it that many times, whenever some special guest comes and speaks at a church, business or any other kind of special organizational event, it is pitched as a ‘life-changing’ event? Can’t it just be merely informative or helpful?
I believe the label ‘life-changing’ actually has the reverse intended effect and reduces groups of people to passivity (or mere short-term conformity) toward the objective the leaders have set for the event, mainly as a result of setting the expectation bar so high by labeling it ‘life-changing’.
If every event is life-changing, then (generally speaking) no event will be life-changing, which inevitably produces stagnation and complacency in the group. I mean if it really is a life-changing event, well then okay, maybe it is.
But how often do you generally walk away from a meeting of this kind with a complete paradigm shift in your perspective or understanding (apart from radical conversion by the work of Christ)? You may walk away informed or even affected, given new ideas on how to approach something, or change some area in your life. But is your life generally radically changed by some motivational speaker? 95-99% of the time, I would say probably not. Maybe in the short-run to be sure. But after this wears off, it’s business as usual.
Why can’t we just be honest and call an event what it is in reality, not what we want to project it or market it as (in this case ‘life-changing’)? If every event is described in these terms, people will catch on to the truth of what these kind of events are and begin coming with the expectation that it’s just another okay, mediocre or poor event as a result of having the bar set to an extreme. Just a thought …