In today’s online culture, self-improvement is often portrayed as the path to living a “perfect” life. From extreme fitness routines to unlocking new skills and securing a stable income, it’s become normalized that this is the blueprint for living a fulfilling life. These messages have inspired trends such as “escaping the matrix” and “winter arc,” solely focused on becoming better versions of oneself.

According to the Pew Research Center, 95 percent of teens ages 13 to 17 have reported using YouTube, with two-thirds of teens having used other social media platforms to consume online content. This increases the potential exposure to self-improvement and transformation videos, putting pressure on many teens to change themselves or take action.

“It depends on where [the content] comes from,” senior Madison Hurley said. “[When it’s] from those influencers online who seem to have everything, who seem to have a perfect life, it seems more [like] propaganda and they’re just trying to promote it online [to] get money off of it. But, [at the same time], there are people out there on social media who are posting real content about self-improvement, their journey and how to inspire other people.”

A study conducted this year shows that 52 percent of teenagers felt pressured by the content and standards promoted by influencers. 63 percent also noted that they often compare their lives to others, showing that overconsumption of this kind of content can negatively affect one’s self-esteem.

“To some extent, [consuming online content] can be beneficial to some people,” senior Oliver Rondez said. “But, social media places these expectations on people. An example would be fitness influencers. Although on a surface level, they seem to be improving the lives of other people. Underneath, there’s a very negative effect because people can compare their bodies to other people and say, ‘I want to look this buff. I want to have all these big muscles and look this healthy,’ but maybe they don’t know that they’re just using steroids.”

However, online content alone cannot drive change. There is a huge difference between having an outward routine and a genuine internal drive to be better. Although external motivation, such as that gained from short-form content, does play a role, it is only sustainable in the short term. On the other hand, internal motivation, driven by personal interest, makes people more self-reliant in sticking to their long-term goals.

“I think going to the gym is one of my biggest things,” sophomore Franklin Loxe said. “[For example], doing sports and just trying to be more active has helped me out a lot. Being home, lying on my couch and playing video games didn’t really benefit me. Going to the gym really helped me out more with football and being healthier. It [self-improvement] also helped me build better relationships.”

Behind the surface of these long and nearly extreme routines, having a growth mindset, defined by Psychology Today as the belief that a person’s capacities and talents could be developed over time, is fundamental to improvement. By learning to work through challenges and growing from them, it sets one up for success in the future.

“Having a growth mentality to me means just doing the best I can every day,” Rondez said. “The best I can do doesn’t necessarily need to be the greatest thing ever. It’s just knowing that I did what I could today and I’d feel happy by the end of the day. You don’t need to have these unrealistic expectations of yourselves to be incredibly smart or find a cure for cancer. It’s just you need to understand that sometimes, you can’t do this stuff, but it’s okay to do the best you can.”

A Guide to Self-Improvement by Liujiang Tao

Another study in Psychology Today found that failure does have a negative effect on one’s mental and emotional state. However, it does not affect the participants’ performance on other cognitive tasks. In theory, it suggests that failure can be used as fuel to do better.

“[For me], I focus more towards school because I want to be the best I can for my future,” Hurley said. “I want to become a psychologist, so throughout school, I have had good grades. I do my best [every day] so that I can be even better in the future. When I see that I got a B, [which] I don’t want, I look back and I’m like, ‘I procrastinated too long on this assignment,’ and I move forward because improving will get me to where I want to be.”

However, a drive to improve isn’t always enough. For high schoolers, support from close family and friends is a crucial and unskippable element to helping them improve in their day-to-day life. Having people around has been shown to have a positive impact on mental health and resilience, leading to better achievements.

“Family is probably the biggest thing compared to all of it,” Loxe said. “When your mom tells you to do something, you do it [because] you know it’s good for you. They try to help you through everything, [such as] grades, learning how to drive and stuff like that.”

For most people, their teenage years are where they build a foundation of self-knowledge, identity and values. Further research suggests that developing these valuable habits early on creates a greater sense of self-purpose, which will set up their paths for success in this rapidly changing world. 

“I have this condition called EDS, and it affects my muscle tissue and my flexibility,” junior Stephen Russo said. “It causes pain, so by working out every day and doing stretches, especially for my upper body, it’s slightly improved my symptoms over time. Even though it’s not a big improvement since I started around a year ago, I’ve definitely been in less pain now. In the long term, I’d like to completely eliminate all my bodily pain. I’m willing to stay dedicated to it so [that] I can have a better time at more athletic things.”