The Danger Of The Cult Of Personality
Smooth-talking people draw attention and get views. The danger of the cult of personality is that you look up to them for solutions rather than focusing on yourself.
Charismatic and articulate people are attractive. They often know how to appeal to the baser human emotions. The result is many people find themselves part of the cult of personality. The danger of the cult of personality is that you look to someone as a savior rather than focusing on yourself.
Where Can I Find The Cult Of Personality?
You can find the cult of personality in five prominent places: politics, legacy media, new media, influencers, and celebrities.
Politics
Politics is a key spot where you will find the cult of personality. Politicians rely on appealing to human emotions and saying they accomplished what they set out to do (even if they did not) to get elected. The job of a politician is to get elected, then re-elected.
Politics is about power. Politicians want to maintain their power. They do that by getting re-elected again and again.
“Political power intoxicates the best hearts. No man is wise enough, nor good enough, to be trusted with much political power.” - Hans F. Sennholz
Legacy Media
You can also find it on legacy media. Legacy media includes newspapers, radio, and television. There are newscasters or you who more easily get your attention in the legacy media. They are major corporate networks like Fox News, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, or The New York Times. Legacy Media relies upon its media personalities to attract people so they can make money from their advertising revenue from other large corporate companies.
New Media
New Media is similar. New media consists of websites, podcasts, online videos, live streaming, and other digital content on demand. There is now a range of independent newscasters and journalists a person can follow. Often, many people care more about how the information is said than whether or not the information is accurate or aligns with reality. They can then find an independent journalist or writer who they like and follow them for all of their news.
Influencers
The Internet and social media have given rise to influencers. Influencers want your time and attention on their content and videos. They want your clicks, comments, time on site or video, and likes to help the algorithm. By giving your time and attention to influencers, you are helping them to grow while you remain where you are.
Celebrities
Celebrities are A-listers who often come from Hollywood. They enjoy the attention that comes from being in the limelight. They want to find ways to be in the gossip and celebrity news columns.
Celebrities will promote their latest movie or charity project to look in the public eye. The general public often views them as being better than them because they show off their lifestyle. This is meant as a way to encourage consumerism and idolize celebrities.
False Saviors
These people are falsely looked up to or idolized and viewed from some angle as “saviors.” You can start to get your time and attention back by refocusing it from politicians and celebrities to focusing on yourself.
Barbara Wegner discusses what this looks like in more detail over at The Drama of It All with the Drama Triangle. Concisely, victims want a savior. The “savior” find something to blame. The victims go along with what is being blamed and look to the “savior” for a solution. The victims give up their self-responsibility, self-governance, and ability to take action. The victims believe the “savior” will resolve the problem that ails them. A “savior” may say they can change the culture, politics, or another area that distresses you.
The solution the “savior” offers is always outside of oneself. You give up your innate self-governance and authority to direct your life to someone with the characteristics of the cult of personality.
Caveat: You can learn from others regardless of position, title, or industry. You must act rather than merely listen, read, or watch what the person says. It is through action that you improve yourself.
Characteristics Of The Cult Of Personality
The common characteristics of someone with a culture of personality are they are charismatic, have excellent public speaking skills, appeal to your emotions, and seek public recognition.
Charisma
People are drawn to charismatic people. They are enticing. They are fun to listen to. They are smooth talkers.
Public Speaking Skills
A person with a cult of personality often has excellent public speaking skills. They will likely be in the top ten percent of speakers. They understand how to appeal to the emotions of an audience. They know how to persuade an audience.
Appeal To Emotions
People are drawn to emotional appeals. Someone with a cult of personality can pull at the heartstrings and promise that everything will improve. You just need to elect them or purchase their product.
While the appeal to emotions is a powerful way to persuade an audience, it s a logical fallacy.
Body Language
They know how to use their body language to convey their message or appear empathetic to someone. They know how to read and interpret body language to make their message persuasive.
Public Recognition
Someone within the cult of personality will often want to seek public recognition. They want to be in the limelight, public eye, and on top of everyone’s mind. They thrive knowing that people are talking about them and being known to the public.
Problem With The Cult Of Personality
The problem with people in the cult of personality is that they often say things that sound good. They then fail to follow through with their promises. They were merely nice-sounding words.
Many people do not care because they are attracted to someone’s personality and the good-sounding things they say. They pay attention to what the charismatic person says rather than if they follow through. The public has a short memory that can be used to the advantage of someone with a cult of personality to push their agenda. They know they can get away with it.
“The public has a short memory. That's why all these big stars do these crazy, terrible things and two years later they're back in the biz, you know.” - Steve Martin
Due to my often monotone voice, scoopy speaking style, and always being socially awkward, I have never been able to be part of the cult of personality. That is fine with me.
I would rather be myself than fake being someone I am not. The main thing that I encourage people to do is hard and challenging. I know it is not sexy to say to invest in yourself to discover what you love doing. Reaching your full potential requires dedication, consistency, and hard work.
It is easier for someone to sell online a miracle cure that they say will resolve your problem. The magic pill may be a placebo, meaning it does nothing.
People operate based on self-interest. Self-interest is natural, which debunks the idea of public servants and other nice-sounding ideas often told to the public to make people think someone is selfless.
Danger Of The Cult Of Personality
The danger of the cult of personality is you are giving away your responsibility and control to another person. You have no control over the outcome of an election. You have no control over what the news will be spewing today. You have no control over what will be the latest thing an influencer will be encouraging you to purchase. You have no control over the situations celebrities put themselves in to find themselves again in the limelight.
It is best to avoid focusing on attention-seeking people. Begin to focus on what you have control over in your daily life.
It is up to you to start recognizing the things you have control over and those you do not. Those who are part of the cult of personality want you to give up your self-sovereignty to them. They want you to give up your self-governance to improve and direct your life so they can make you believe they offer the solutions to change your life. It is usually something simple too. Voting. Purchasing an amazing product that you saw advertised on TV or online. Donate to a cause your favorite influencer or celebrity encourages people to support.
All of these are things that you have no control over. They are distractions. It is best to focus on yourself to find ways to monetize your passion.
Solutions
You can start to recognize people who have a magnetic cult of personality. You have three main choices. You can blindly trust them. You can trust them but verify what they say. Or, you can distrust them and wait for them to prove themselves through their actions.
You can start to focus on yourself. This is the opposite of the cult of personality. You are not looking for a savior to save you. You look inward. You find ways to improve every aspect of your life.
The people that society praises or puts in the news are not saviors. They are just like everyone else. They are looking out for their self-interest. There is nothing wrong with that. You can start looking out for your self-interest more by working to fix your life one day at a time.
You may need to start to save money to build an emergency fund. Consider making it a habit of investing a certain percentage of your income into the stock market each month. You could figure out how to start an online business.
You can follow a diet. Consistently exercise. Go to the gym. You can get enough sleep every night.
You can spend time with friends and family. You can find ways to be involved in your community. You can learn to enjoy solitude to work on your projects.
There are always solutions and ways that you can improve yourself. First, focus on yourself and stop looking for a “savior” to fix things for you. You are the only one who can fix the issues in your life.
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Summary
Society wants you to focus on politicians, the news, influencers, and celebrities. By giving your attention to those people, you are misdirecting your ability to focus on yourself. Every second and minute you spend reading or watching the news is a minute that you could have been lifting weights or working to create your next income stream.
No one from the cult of personality is coming to save you. Focus on yourself daily to build the life you envision. That requires working hard and smart.
Look in my eyes, what do you see?/
The cult of personality/
I know your anger, I know your dream/
I’ve been everything you wanna be/
Oh, I’m the cult of personality/
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