Approval Addiction: Overcoming Your Need To Please Everyone By Joyce Meyer

“Approval Addiction” is something that almost all of us have, and Christian author Joyce Meyer talks about how we should learn to overcome it. You may think that you are living your life fearlessly and confidently, but perhaps you are not just fully aware of what your actions say about you. Picture yourself running like a wind on the streets because you are apparently late for work. And then a complete stranger suddenly approaches you, asking you to help them with a certain problem. What do you think will you do?

I'm pretty sure that you will stop and help this person. Now, as much of a good deed it is, it is also unreasonable. If I may remind you, you were already late. If ever you refused to help this stranger, it is not because you do not want to help them; but still you chose to agree. You can say that you are merely trying to be selfless. Then again, if you reassess the situation, you will see that you are actually being more selfish. By helping a stranger even if you are also running late makes you feel like you’ve sacrificed something to help this person, which in return makes you feel accomplished. Plus, if you successfully help this person, you get their approval which makes you feel more great.

This is the perfect example that explains what Joyce Meyer’s book Approval Addiction is all about. We are very much absorbed by our wanting to prove ourselves to other people, even if doing so means we have to let go of more important things. We all love the feeling that we get when someone likes what we are doing, and so we strive hard to get this feeling. But Meyer says we should learn to overcome this addiction.

We were not put in this world to gather praises from other people, we were created to do a purpose for mankind. Helping others is surely what God wants us to pursue with our actions. But doing good to look good in other people’s eyes is not. All our lives, we work so hard just to earn the approval of family, friends and even people we meet on the streets. But we forget who is the most important of all, the only one whose approval really matters. We are so busy trying to please everyone that we forget about pleasing God.
Approval Addiction is a good way to wake up from the pressures of society. If you have long forgotten the essence of saying "NO", then let Meyer help you find it again. We should not be afraid to voice out our opinions, and we should not be afraid to fight for the things we believe in. It does not matter if you are a Christian or not, reading Approval Addiction will help you find the means to start living your life based on your own will and liking.
Also worth checking out Battlefield of Mind and Confident Woman Books.