I think this is mostly the culture of "should". In our highly individualized society that glorifies self ambition, the list of things we "should" do are endless. However, when we say "I should go to the gym", we're not saying "I value my personal health and wellbeing and am convinced the gym is a path to that", but rather, "Society/friends/family/work might value me a little more if I do this" or "society may value me less if I don't do this". Not too much different from when we buy vegetables at the grocery store because we believe we "should" eat them, only to see them rot away in our refrigerator until we have to throw them out. The saying part is the easy first step, but our values are not in-line to follow through. In the end, "should" is just a mild-ish form of shame and shame is often a terrible motivator for long-term change.
yeah a lot of the self help industry is built on shaming and shoulds. We "should" excercise for 60 minutes a day, meditate for 30-60 minutes, go for a walk after meals, work on career, our brand, our hobbies, our business, read a book for 30 minutes.
Like Oliver Burkemann said, most of these producutivity articles are written by and for 20 year old kids with no family, no responsibility; and the rest of us are shamed if we dont meet these impossible standards.
