You're Not Growing, You're Just Consuming | The Self-Improvement Trap | Quick Pumps

What if everything you're consuming about growth is actually keeping you stuck?
In this episode of Quick Pumps, Vic and Matt call out the uncomfortable truth that nobody in the self-improvement space wants to admit — consuming content about success is not the same as being successful. And most people already know exactly what they need to do. They just don't do it.
This one's going to hit different if you're honest with yourself.
In this episode:
✅ Agree or Disagree — the most controversial self-improvement takes
✅ Hot takes on morning routines, journaling, therapy & vision boards
✅ This or That — 50 books a year vs. one real risk
✅ Overrated or Underrated — 75 Hard, life coaches, meditation apps & more
✅ The question that made us ask: is this podcast part of the problem?

💬 Are you actually growing — or just consuming growth content? Drop your honest answer in the comments. 👇
🎧 New episodes every week — subscribe and never miss a drop.

ABOUT BETWEEN SETS:
Between Sets with Vic and Matt is the fitness and lifestyle podcast that goes beyond the gym. Unfiltered conversations about fitness, mindset, money, self-improvement, and real life — recorded between sets, no filter, no fluff.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Connect. It makes a connect. The green light means connect. Green green light is connect. No, it's connect. It makes a connect. Very nice. It's make a connect. This is not in the are you recording? Oh shit. Okay, I'm just gonna put this in the corner. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We got another well, it's a quick pumps episode. You got a great topic for today, except we are filming it while we are doing setup before. I mean, I guess they it is technically a quick pump. I do get a good pump from Hollin Ass. So today we're talking about a little bit more about some self-improvement stuff, which we've covered on many episodes, but today it's like a quick rapid fire, and we're gonna talk about the self-improvement trap. Like, are you growing or are you just like consuming all the self-improvement stuff and not actually taking anything actionable towards those goals? Like everyone's reading books, uh listening to podcasts, specifically this one, watching the content, all that stuff. But you know, are you actually applying it? Let me see. You put some barbells away. Yeah, you start, you start, start up, big boy. You get that part, you get the party started, get the conversation going. Just want to watch you put those heavy dumb uh barbells away. You know? Um, okay, cool. Well, it is gonna be like kind of that quick pumps vibe or like a quicker episode. Um, so we're gonna start with an agree or disagree, kind of keep it nice and quick, run through these topics. Don't you mean uh agree or agree? Because every time we do these, we're always we have the same it's weird, it's literally this or that. Yeah, that's okay. We're just talking about you know certain topics that might spring up some controversy, but so far there's been just concurrence. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get that. So, number one, most people use self-improvement content to feel productive without really doing anything.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

Ooh, that's an interesting one.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Like you're either scrolling, doom scrolling, but it's like, or even on YouTube or whatever, and just watching other people tell you how to be productive, but you're not really doing shit yourself, but you're like kind of feeling productive while doing it. Yeah, it's like you're getting like a secondhand motivation and you're like, This is great, I'm gonna start this tomorrow. And you're uh and then you still don't feel great because you didn't get anything. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're like, oh, I've learned all these things, but you know what the main thing is. I think sometimes like you need to take action. Yeah, I think sometimes people like uh yeah, and I've I've done it too when I've like watched some stuff on TikTok or Instagram or YouTube, and I've been like, this is so motivating, and I can't wait to do this eventually one day. You know what I mean? Like, I think people like consume it, but yeah, maybe just don't apply it. Yeah, and then like this goes into let's say you're listening to a podcast about success or like how to get success or you know how to get to that next step, right? Improve yourself. Uh, but it's not really the same as actually being successful. Yes. I think I don't know. I feel like obviously that's a very obvious statement, but I feel like listening to that type of shit is very beneficial as long as you're able to implement certain things you learn, or you know, it you do get you do learn things. I was gonna say, at the very least, you're like absorbing positive knowledge, even if you don't take action, you're still kind of like feeding your brain with yeah good information versus like doom scrolling or yeah, just like watching TV or something. So I don't know, I don't know about that one. I think that one's like kind of a bonus. Yeah, great, yeah, gray audio kind of yeah. Ooh, this one's interesting. Okay, kind of content focused, but the more content you consume, the less you actually do in terms of like being productive or oh yeah, or like making progress towards your goals and whatnot. Oh, 100% agree with that. Like if you're cons I get I I guess on the same topic, if you're consuming motivational or life improvement content all the time, but you're just consuming the content, you have no time, you have no time to do it. Yeah, so I think that's like a I I do agree with that. I think the more you consume, and I think it's very easy to fall into that trap of just like, I need more information, I want to learn more, I want to like have the perfect um conditions to like it's never gonna be perfect, yeah, to like start this thing that I want to do or whatever it may be. And it's like you try to fill your time with as much stuff pertaining to the topic, but you never actually get around to doing it because you're so focused on learning as much, and like I said, the conditions to be like perfect, and that is a perfect segue. Wow, we said perfect like six times there. Yeah, into the next one. It's word of the day. Most people already know what they need to do, they just don't do it. Yeah, they just don't do it. Yeah, I mean, and that that comes down to that's just like straight willpower and execution. Willpower, discipline, um being able to actually take action and like not be afraid and care about whatever. Yeah, not yeah, like I was gonna say, not be afraid of failing. Because you're gonna fail, right? What about this one? Yo, these we coming out with some heat. Some fire. Fire. Okay, what do you think about this? Self-awareness, so you're like a pretty self-aware person without any action is just a sophisticated excuse. Okay. That's an interesting phrasing of that. So, like, how would you interpret that? Like, so you know what you need to do, you keep saying, like, I gotta do this, I gotta do that. Yeah, you're aware of like you're aware of what needs to be done and whatnot, but you're not physic or physically acting on them or like actually trying to make progress towards it. So you're kind of just like in some limbo, you're just like always figuring out reasons why you're not able to do it or you can't do it. Like a like a purgatory, like a you know what I limbo. Did you say well, you said limbo? The worst. Yeah, you're just kind of like gravitating between the action and not taking action, you're like right in the middle. Yeah. Oh this one, this one's funny. You ever have you ever tried journaling? Uh, not successfully, but I've definitely I've definitely done what this topic's about where I've contemplated journaling and listened to people talk about journaling and thought about journaling. So, what do you what are you thinking about this one? Journaling is actually a substitute for dealing with your problems. It's uh sorry, it's uh not a substitute, it's uh like a coping mechanism. Yeah, it's a substitute for actually dealing with your problems. Did it like try to do it? Literally an hour ago, you told me how you were journaling this morning. This is like a call-out up. I don't agree with that shit. Yeah, I don't know. I think there's value in putting your thoughts in your mind down on paper, however that might be. Like, sure, you maybe if you have something really important that you need to work through, you can do that in a different kind of way, whether it's like therapeutic therapy or I don't know, seeking help in a different way. But I think there's merit or benefit to writing your thoughts down or kind of it's a good way to organize what's going on in your mind, right? Well, sometimes it gets too jumbled in there, you gotta unjumble it. I think it's also good to like visually see your goals, you know. Like if you're that's how I kind of do it. Or just like it makes it easy to like break stuff down. It's like, okay, let's use like fitness, for example. Like you want to lose 20 pounds, okay. How are you gonna get there? Uh let's say I want to lose a pound a week, so it's gonna take, you know, whatever the math checks out to 20 weeks. Yeah. And what actions am I gonna take every day? So if you like write it down, you can almost write out like a a plan, right? Whereas you can have that exact same thought in your brain, like what I just said, but it gets scrambled. Yeah, you know what I mean? Because you don't have something to visually, I guess, like trigger that and remind you the steps you need to take. I don't know. I think journaling is good. I'm not like we disagree on one. Yeah, but we both disagree. Oh, you mean we have to both be split? Yes, yeah. I don't think we've got okay, okay. How about this one? Okay. How many self-help books have you read? Read and listened, like on Audible, or just read? Listening counts. Okay. In my lifetime? Bro, it's not that deep. How many? I don't know. Let's say I do like two to three a year, maybe. Okay, so that's mostly listening. You've dipped your toes in the space. I've dipped them. Okay, so what do you think about this one? Um people who read the most self-help books often need them the most. Yeah, I feel like that's a target audience. I think like uh, you mean like it's like it's like people who are like desperate to get help, like they're looking for an answer, kind of thing. Is that what you think? I I disagree with that. I don't think so. I think everyone can benefit from whether you It's not like you're a person whose life is in shambles if you read a book that's like teaching you how to become a better person.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

Manage your time, yeah, save money.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

I don't know, it's kind of a weird outlook. You agreed though. I disagree. There we go, we did it. The one and only time on today's moving on to the hot takes. Hot takes? Okay, I'm on it. Um, sorry, I just got gonna load up the workout while we're doing that. All right, so one sentence response, or you know, for us, one sentence is like eight sentences. Um, let's say, let's give it like a nice minute max. No backpedaling, which I do sometimes. Okay, the self-improvement industry profits from you not actually ever improving. Ho ho ho ho. Bam, that's a call out. I feel like that's been something discussed in the backrooms. Like in the Reddit back rooms? They're like no, no, no, like of the creation creative process. Creative theme. Or like, you know, the the higher ups, the cabal of the self-help of all of the dark figures that run the self-help industry. We want these people to be stuck in this loop forever. It's like a bunch of dudes with a cloak, like cloaks, and they're sitting around like we don't want them to improve. They're sitting around like a table and atomic habits is in the middle. How many times can we make them read and purchase this book? That's hilarious. I mean, I think, but that applies to literally any industry though. Yeah. Like if you sell a product that your customer's only gonna use once, you're gonna be out of products to sell. I think, I think uh it's a weird one. These are mainly books, though, so they're all Wow, we completely butchered like the 30-second one-minute rule there. They're only gonna be sold once, right? I think, I think um I'm not sure. I'm not sure about that one. Let's go with the not applicable NA. Um, most people's morning routines are just elaborate ways to avoid hard work. What does that mean? I mean, I feel like having a good morning's routine and being consistent is hard work, though. Yeah, but maybe some people just like do they do it over the top. Like, you know, that guy on IG, I forget his name is like Jared something, that Jack Black guy who wakes up at 2:15 a.m. 423. Yeah, he'll take a cold plunge at 428, and he does it like by the fucking four, five, six, seven minutes. And uh by like 5:40, he's like working. It's it just makes you he's done like six workouts at 3 a.m. So awesome. Um, I think, yeah, that's extreme, but uh just to quickly move on to the next one. I think uh no, I think having a morning good morning routine is pretty like yeah important. Keeps you keeps you like balanced with the end of the day, consistent. Yeah. Um the guy with the least followers in the gym is probably making the most progress. Least like like followers on socials is making the most progress. I don't agree with that. Like just because you're weird, yeah. I don't think that's relative. I think it's more like I think if you were to break that down into like a if you zoom out on it, it's more like he's focusing on the work and the person with like I guess the most like yeah, who's the most like dis displays themselves the most and like talks about it the most versus the quiet person who's just working hard. I think it's just a different mindset, yeah, personality. Yeah, I agree. Um most people don't have a knowledge problem, they have a courage problem. Facts, I agree. Courage moving on. Like courage doesn't like they don't take action.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

Yeah, that's an that's an easy agree.

SPEAKER_01 12:29

We have they have an idea or some semblance of like what they should do, but they're just like there's an excuse. And I've done this, I'm sure you've done this, we've all done this. Yeah. Where like you have ideas and you don't act upon them. Sometimes you don't act upon them for like a year. I've done that shit. And just like ruminating in the back of your head. You want to do it, you want to try. Sometimes it takes time for you to get over that hump and take that step. Crazy. All right, every step you take, every move you make. This or that. Ooh. Right? Classic. Zero hesitation, no explaining. Okay. Read 50 books a year or take one real risk a year. Take one real risk a year. Boom. Next. Follow 10 motivational accounts, or follow zero, and just put the fucking work in. Probably follow zero. I just put the work in the way you said that was pretty funny. Uh perfect morning routine or no routine but full execution. Hmm. That's a tough one. That's like some Gary Vee sentence right there. No routine, full execution. I mean, like, obviously, the execution is what matters at the time. But I feel like no routine's gonna like mess with you. But hey, if you're executing, I think that's the most important. Yeah. Uh know your purpose, your full purpose, or just start moving. Know your full purpose, or just start moving. I think you just gotta start moving, dude. You develop your purpose over time. Yeah, you kind of exactly. I was gonna say you also kind of, anyways, it just says just this or that, keep moving. But I feel like you need to also have some semblance of like what you want to do, right? Yeah, 100%. Um consume less, do more, or stay informed and act slower. Stay inform and act slower. I agree with that. Like, just do the basics that work. Yeah, don't like overdo it on the consumption, but yeah, still stay in the loop. Yeah, I agree with that one for sure. Because acting fast isn't that isn't great. Like, you need to do quality shit. Yeah, I th I think in some situations, like you I think it's a good idea to just like act without thinking, akaxing. I think that it definitely has some uh merit to it, but I also agree with this other point where how about this one? Document your journey publicly from the ground up or build it in complete silence. I'm gonna go document it because I was just gonna say so much benefit that could happen from like putting yourself out there that you probably wouldn't even know. Yeah, I was gonna say it also holds you accountable because yeah, there's other people following along to see your like progress and and stuff like that. Yeah, I would say that. Motivated every day or disciplined even when you're not motivated. We've talked about this in an early topic. It's super easy. Discipline discipline at the end, always okay. It's like that's like our that was like our second episode. Yeah, actually, wasn't that our first one? Motivation versus discipline. It was our first quick bumps, I think. It was the first, yeah, that's what it was.

SPEAKER_00 15:35

It was the first quick bumps.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Bamps. Sorry. Yeah, no, that's good. Okay, next segment. Would you rather you must commit. No both, no neither. Okay. Number one, would you rather know everything about self-improvement but never apply it? Or know nothing but take action every day? Know nothing. I know nothing right now. I was gonna say I know nothing. Okay, next. Would you rather be the most self-aware person in the room or the most consistently disciplined? We talk about that discipline, bro. Come on now, come on now, come on now. That ain't nothing but a thing. Ain't nothing but a thing. Okay, next. Would you have a per would you rather have a perfect plan you never execute on or a messy plan that you follow through on? Boy, we have no messy plan here. Yeah. As long as you follow through, right? I mean you're gonna make mistakes. Every plan is messy, bro. Because I'm too messy, it comes and I'm too fucking clean. Comes down to that uh, you know, waiting for everything to be perfect. You can't really. Okay. Would you rather spend a year reading every book on success or spend a year failing at something real? Boy, I'm gonna fail. Yeah, failing. Also what they say about failure. Bro, I can barely read like a coloring book. You wanted to read like a multiple books a year, bro? But you're gonna need glasses, you'd be like, hello, my name's Matthew. Actually, I read 100 books this month. Why that's why I was saying earlier in the one of the earlier points that I'm like, just read it, does listening count? Because yeah, I like when someone reads in my ears.

SPEAKER_00 17:14

Someone who give me that sensual talking. Someone whispers sweet nothings. Give me that sensual talking in my ear. Get out of bed. 74 degrees. Get out of bed in the morning.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Work out four times a week. I don't know why the voice is like that. Why is the voice like just turned into that Will Farrell scene? It's like Wolf and the straight Will Farrow one. Um, yeah, no, I'm trying to fail because you know, failure is the road to success. You can't succeed if you do not fail. If you haven't failed, that means you haven't tried. I believe it was Poito who said that. Don't quote me on that one. All right. We're almost there. This was truly a quick pump. This was a quick pump because we've literally done it. That's weird. Just a nice quick digestible listen. A quick digestible little laugh, little gasp. Just a widow digestible whistle. Widow whistling that sometimes we don't make sense on. But sometimes we do. Anyone who's listening to this. Um segment five. Mm-hmm. Overrated, underrated. This is a new one. Ooh, overrated, underrated. Overrated, underrated. The old over and under. Okay, 10 seconds of why. Morning routines. Overrated, underrated. Underrated. Because people don't do morning routines. People need discipline. I think most people's morning routine is wake up as close to your alarm as possible. Drink a coffee. Drink a coffee immediately. Feel tired. And then just get out the door. And hate themselves. Yeah. That's what that's like 99.9%. Journaling. Underrated? You don't have to say that because of me. Just trying to protect my piece. I think it could be overrated. It could be both, yeah. But but like you need to do it with intention, you know? Hundo meditation apps. I think they're kind of overrated. Overrated, but not because meditation's bad. You're telling me I gotta pay $9.99 a month for someone to be like, hey, just chill for a second, bro. You could put the music on on YouTube. Yeah, sit down for 20 minutes. But you need someone to tell you because you're unable to do it by yourself. Yeah. Goes back to discipline. I think it's overrated, but for the wrong reasons. Ooh. Life coaches. Underrated. Well, do you think our life coaches are underrated? Oh, you know what? There's too many of them. Yeah, I think there's too many. Yeah. No, I I was talking about like if you have a mentor, like a someone who's been through. I think a mentor 100% underrated. Life coaches, there's too many people trying to be uh what's his name? Gary V? No, no, no. The OG life coach. Oh, the guy with the face. He's got a long face. He's like 65. Oh my god, what's his name? Something Robin. Tony Robbins. Tony Robinson. There we go. Sorry, Tony. Bro, he's gonna be if he ever comes across this podcast, he's gonna look in the mirror and be like, I have a long face. What the hell is this? But you you knew how it's as soon as I said guy with the face, you fucking knew who I was talking about. Well, no, I knew you knew that I knew that you knew that I knew. Ah, okay, okay. Okay, how about reading 30 minutes a day? Underrated underrated areno. Hundo Peteen, we don't read enough.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:21

Um, how about an accountability partner? You don't really hear about that these days. Super underrated. Yeah, people like a like a good buddy, or you know, maybe just even an acquaintance. Yeah. Someone that's like or an AI champion. Yo, did you do that shit today that you're supposed to do? And you're like, no. Well, we'll fucking do it already. Dude, AI chatbot, bro. Yeah. Or Claude, it's just Claude for me. Yeah. How about this therapy? I think we're gonna skip this over. Skip over it. You're like, I don't need therapy. No, no, no. I mean, I think that the proper answer is underrated. Yeah, I agree. I think more moving on. No more words on that. Okay. Yeah. 75 hard. Overrated. Overrated. Just showing up without a plan. Underrated. Underrated? I think just showing up is more than half the battle. Yeah, 100%. Alright, and we're gonna finish it off. Let's go. We're gonna pick a question. Okay. Gonna both answer honestly. We're gonna let it breathe. Oh. And let it stank up the room. Ruminate. Because I did say I keep this room at a 74. Ruminate. Sweaty. Ruminate in the room. Okay. Uh what's the one thing you stopped consuming and started doing that actually moved the needle for you? You go first. Stopped consuming and started doing the actually uh making content? For me, like just like just being back to like regularly putting content out on social media, whereas for the last like year I've been planning, planning, like I'll do it, I'll do it, I'll do it. And then I just would just watch content, be like, this is a good idea. And like put it in a memory bank. And I have like a note, like a notepad with all these ideas that I'm just like, don't take action. So that would be it for me. Nice. And how do you feel about that? Well, now that I'm doing it, uh, you know, it's been great. Like I've been I've been really enjoying it, and I'm glad I started pushed myself to do it and kind of stopped caring about whether or not the end result of whatever I put out there is gonna be good, bad, viral. You know, no one's gonna see it, lots of people are gonna see it. Whatever. So yeah, and I think it's just helped me just be more comfortable in that like social setting, social media setting in general. Yeah. That would be it for me. What about you? Nice. Um, I think for me. Stopped consuming and what was the question? Stop consuming and started like doing the topic of this episode. Well, I mean is it like I'm struggling a little because like is it just content focused in terms of consuming? No, it could be something else. Like maybe it could be nutrition related. We're like nutrition. That was my answer. Am I gonna be my answer? Yeah, like you stopped consuming and started being more diligent with like let's say tracking. No, no, I started like improving my chef skills. Yeah, there you go. Stopped like uh eating, ordering takeout as much. Yeah, and just like learning how to cook. Uh yeah, but like not even that, just learning how to have the variety in the meals and not just like having chicken and salad or chicken and rice or chicken and potatoes or steak and eggs, you know, like kind of learning how to spice it up. You just listed every bodybuilder meal plan, like literally everything. Well, that's what I used to do. And I was like, I wanna I want to get better, I want to still like hit my macros, have high protein, and have flexibility, carbs low, but like it's a dope meal, you know? Yeah, variety and flexibility. Yeah, variety is the spice of life, yes, sir. And in closing, in closing, there's a big statement you can do the closing. I'm gonna keep going here. Oh, in closing. The gap between knowing and doing is where most people live permanently. Goodbye, see you in the next one. That was crazy. Nice, that was good. But that's actually facts, though. Yeah. That's actually like think about that one tonight. That's actually some deep. Literally philosoph ph philosophic. Philosophicize, as they say in the ancient times. I think Marcus Aurelius said that. I believe it was Socrates. Socrates. Philosophy.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

One of the greatest scholars of all time.

SPEAKER_01 24:50

All right, peace.