How Hyper-Individualism Is Ruining Families And The Culture

Hyper-Individualism is a trait so ingrained into our culture that it’s hard to see as anything but normal. But this obsessive preoccupation with self on a national level is relatively new. How did it become so pervasive? And what do we do about it?

Defining The Difference Between “Individualism” And “Hyper-Individualism” 🤷🏼‍♀️

Over the last few centuries, it was understood that though the society contained individuals, these individuals existed in units like the family, the church, a neighborhood, the community, and so on. Each person acted for the good of the whole, not just for their own personal gain. But there has been a subtle shift taking place that has undone this broader mindset, and left us with a population consumed by hyper-individualism.

Hyper-Individualism

Hyper-individualism is putting personal identity and the perceived needs associated with that identity above everyone and everything else. Simply put, it’s selfishness—doing what you feel like regardless of how it affects those around you.

This kind of mindset leads to all kinds of issues for both individuals and the culture as a whole. 

On an individual level, following only your desires, fickle as they are, leads to poor decisions. The results might feel good in the moment, but a long string of regrets are sure to follow. That’s because just focusing on ourselves doesn’t lead to happiness. It never has.

On a cultural level, a hyper-individualistic mindset undermines the very principles that support a healthy society. Principles like helping others, especially the weak and vulnerable, investing in long-term growth, respecting laws and an orderly society, and sacrificing for the good of future generations. Without these principles, a culture quickly begins to decline. Why? It’s simple. It would be like trying to plant a garden, but eating the seeds because you feel like a snack. It feels good in the moment, but when there’s no harvest and no food, that selfish decision will affect not only you, but every person who relies on that garden for food.

This selfish approach to life only ends in misery for everyone. When we see this pattern in our own lives, it’s important to confront it quickly and sharply.

Individualism

Individualism is an important element of our culture. Despite how similar it sounds to hyper-individualism, it proves much more useful to the society as a whole. This is because a culture that conforms to one single way of thinking in every area of life is never healthy. Starting with the same core values as a nation, but being able to live them out in personal, creative, and innovative ways leads to greater impact on the community and future generations.

Individualism is about discovering the unique way you were built, and how you can use your gifts and talents to make a contribution. It’s the idea of a body. Each member is unique, and has their own role to play, but they all work together for the good of the whole. If any one member decided it wanted to strike out on its own, not only would it not survive, but the entire body would suffer. By finding out how it can contribute, both the member and entire body benefit.

How To Support Individual Health While Building Multigenerational Value

Here are a few things to think about as you move forward in supporting yourself, while also adding value to your family and community.

Make Sure Your Foundations Are Sound 🏡

To start with, make sure you’re building your life on tried and true principles instead of whatever the whims of the culture are forcing on you. It’s becoming more and more common to hear invitations to focus on yourself, and what will make you personally happy. But this short-sighted mindset not only harms the culture, but leads to less fulfillment for you as well.

To ensure your foundation is sound, make sure whatever you’re doing focuses on what preserves life, supports family, and promotes health in the areas of movement, food, and personal care. If you follow these guiding principles, you’ll enhance your family’s quality of life, as well as your own.

Know Yourself 🤓

Knowing yourself is important as you work to be equipped to help those around you. What are your talents? What are you naturally good at? How can you turn up the heat to keep learning and growing so you can add even more value to those around you? The goal here is to be a giver as much as you can instead of a taker. This means knowing your weaknesses so you can find ways to support those areas, and knowing your strengths so you can capitalize on them.

Again, the goal is to discover your unique place in the world, and support and equip yourself to be ready and available to help others.

Know Purpose 🕊

When you find the unique way you contribute, you’ll also discover a powerful sense of purpose. Pursuing this purpose transforms everything you do, giving meaning to something that might seem mundane to anyone else.

This kind of purpose is rare. Most people focus too much on their own pleasure, and that’s their ultimate purpose. We see it every day in our society. Grown men playing video games for hours on end instead of investing in their families and building a financial legacy. People fully capable of working, living off welfare and putting unnecessary strain on the rest of society. Spouses walking out on relationships at the expense of their partner and children because they’re not “happy” with the relationship. And the list goes on.

Instead of this selfish approach, we each have the opportunity to use our lives to support our families, communities, and future generations.

Know How To Grow Your Family And The Legacy You Want To Continue

To support a positive, lasting legacy for you and your family, you’ll need to embrace a constant learning state. Having clear goals as a family, following the principles listed above, and keeping a consistent pulse on your direction as a family will help guide you as you journey down this path.

Our blogs and courses are here for you to give as many ideas, and as much insight as we can. Keep an eye out for more content to help keep your family’s welfare front and center.

Start investing now

➣ If you haven’t written out a vision for your family yet, this could be the time. Envisioning the impact you want to make as a family, and listing your values can be a powerful bonding experience, and give you a clear sense of purpose as you move forward.

➣ Check out our blog on the drop in quality of life and life expectancy to learn how to address it as a family.

➣ Take a look at the YouTube video we made to cover this topic in a different way so you can dive a little deeper.

Break the cultural trend

Hyper-individualism has infiltrated our culture like a plague, but it can be countered. By cultivating a multi-generational mindset, we can move forward with the goals and actions to leave our descendants better off than we are. And we and our families can live better as we work toward that end. Keep learning, keep dreaming, and keep living with purpose as a family.