Self-Help, Solved

A number of popular self-improvement techniques can be ineffective or even harmful. Mark Manson and Drew Birnie discuss major examples, including suppressing negative emotions, microdosing psychedelics, and positive visualization without action planning.

Suppressing Negative Thoughts and Emotions Is Detrimental

Suppressing negative thoughts and emotions is often mistakenly seen as a quick fix. Manson calls this a hardcore version of positive thinking, where people try to push away negative thoughts or pretend distress doesn't exist. Birnie describes the "ironic process," where avoiding thinking about something can make it even more persistent. Suppression tends to amplify negative thoughts, crowding out more neutral or positive experiences. While people believe this will reduce anxiety or depression, the evidence does not support these claims for average situations.

Research shows that suppressing negative thoughts or emotions brings modest short-term relief, especially for people with high working memory and cognitive abilities, and in high-pressure moments or under cognitive load. However, over the long term, suppressed feelings often rebound more strongly, increasing upset, anger, or anxiety. For those with lower cognitive abilities, even short-term suppression can backfire, making emotions worse right away. Manson notes that former generations often used this strategy, but newer generations recognize its drawbacks. In rare, highly structured settings with expert supervision, controlled suppression can sometimes help—with follow-up emotional processing—but for most people, suppressing negative feelings is unhelpful and risky.

Manson and Birnie agree that the better approach is to process and analyze emotions calmly, using introspection and self-awareness rather than either suppressing or completely indulging every negative feeling.

Microdosing Psychedelics May Impair Cognitive Functioning

Microdosing psychedelics has become popular, with many claiming it boosts creativity, mood, and productivity. Manson and Birnie note this trend, especially in places like California, where people promote microdosing as a spiritual or productivity hack.

However, recent research and meta-analyses show that microdosing does not provide consistent measurable benefits to cognitive or executive functioning. The only demonstrable benefit is a modest improvement in mood—more akin to feeling high than becoming genuinely more creative or effective. Studies often find microdosing offers no benefit beyond the placebo effect: people believe it works, so they feel it does, though objective measures show no significant improvements. In fact, longer-term microdosing can lead to declines in reasoning, decision-making, and executive function, and can cause physical health issues even at low doses.

There are many anecdotal reports of breakthroughs or harms, but these are not backed by consistent scientific evidence. For conditions such as ADHD, randomized controlled trials find microdosing shows no benefit over placebo. Ultimately, Manson points out that microdosing is indulgent and mainly changes mood, not outcomes or real abilities.

Visualizing Positive Outcomes Without Planning Is Ineffective

Visualization, especially in ...

Mark Manson and Drew Birnie review a series of self-improvement strategies that are neither notably helpful nor harmful. These methods tend to deliver small, unpredictable benefits, often driven by placebo effects, individual psychology, or context—rather than any inherent power in the techniques themselves.

Energy Healing Practices Generate Small but Inconsistent Benefits

Positive Effects of Energy Healing Likely Due to Placebo Effect and Therapeutic Touch, Not Supernatural Energy

Both hosts are initially skeptical about crystal healing, noting there is no credible evidence for its effectiveness—at best, crystals are expensive decorations. The "healing" attributed to them appears to be nothing more than an example of the placebo effect, where the expectation of benefit and the ceremony around using them may provide psychological comfort.

They then discuss broader energy healing practices like Reiki. Research shows that energy healing often relies heavily on the placebo effect, working primarily when the participant believes in its efficacy. Drew Birnie references placebo-controlled studies where practices such as Reiki demonstrate benefit in managing pain, but that benefit matches what is seen from meditation or even sham versions of the therapy delivered by people with no training. Notably, one such study found that while Reiki and meditation provided enduring relief from knee pain, sham treatments only produced temporary improvement. This suggests that expectancy and ceremony might be powerful contributors to outcomes—not any supernatural "energy."

Mark Manson speculates that much of energy healing's value comes from human touch and attention, drawing on research showing "touch therapy" reliably produces emotional and psychological comfort. Therapeutic human touch is an innate human need, helping with emotional regulation. They note that being cared for in a ritualistic or supportive context is likely behind much of the benefit attributed to energy healing, not mysterious energies.

Reported outcomes are inconsistent: only about half of studies show any effect, but when they do, the-sized benefits can be moderate. This means energy healing sometimes works well (because of expectation, support, or ritual), but in aggregate, it’s unreliable and neither remarkable nor useless.

Morning Routines Have Mixed Results

Morning Routines Can Be Ineffective if They Don't Match Your Circadian Rhythm

Mark Manson places morning routines in the "probably nothing" category. While morning routines are beloved by some and thought to boost productivity, the evidence for their effectiveness is highly mixed and individualized. For many people—including Manson and Birnie—a rigid morning routine makes little difference.

Research shows such routines are primarily useful for those whose personalities or chronotypes (biological clock tendencies) align with them. Forcing night owls to adopt an early routine can backfire, while morning routines may thrive among highly conscientious or neurotic people who crave structure. For these users, the routine may become a psychological crutch or even a form of superstition, providing a feeling of control.

Crucially, the ritual of a morning routine appears to bestow emotional comfort and a sense of agency but should not be mistaken for a magic bullet or root cause of high achievement. The benefit likely arises from routines aligning with individual biology, a pattern that minimizes daily friction, or the placebo effect. For others, abandoning routines or approaching mornings flexibly proves just as productive and emotionally sustainable.

Learning Styles and Affirmations Have No Consistent Benefit

Minimal Performance and Wellbeing Gains From Learning Styles and Affirmations

Learning styles theory, which maintains that people learn best when instruction ...

Evidence shows that a handful of self-improvement techniques consistently yield positive results for wellbeing, mental health, and personal effectiveness. While the size of their impact can vary, their reliability and accessibility make them valuable strategies for nearly anyone seeking growth.

Gratitude Practices Reliably, but Modestly, Improve Wellbeing

Gratitude Boosts Mental Health

Gratitude practices, such as journaling or meditation, help reduce stress, depression, and anxiety, particularly for those who otherwise do nothing to manage their mental health. The aggregate data are clear: out of 166 studies, 98% found a positive effect from gratitude practices, making it the most consistently beneficial intervention among the top eight reviewed, though the effect size is modest. Even so, practices like gratitude journaling or simply thinking about what you’re grateful for are easy, accessible, and especially useful for those who tend to dwell on negativity.

Consistency is key. Sticking to a gratitude routine—not just engaging sporadically—leads to better outcomes. Compliance improves with a “menu-based” approach where people can choose from journaling, meditation, or silent reflection, enabling them to maintain the practice long-term. Gratitude works best not in isolation but as part of a broader set of positive habits.

Meditation Benefits Stress, Anxiety, and Depression

Mindfulness meditation—especially when practiced consistently—offers significant improvements in stress, anxiety, and depression. While stress reduction is the initial “hook” for many, experienced practitioners and research both point out that the real benefit is much deeper: meditation teaches you to better know and manage your thoughts, intentions, and emotions. Mindfulness enhances self-awareness, and some studies show it can match medication in treating depression for certain people.

Meditation’s effectiveness depends on doing the activity, not on passively thinking about or intending to meditate. Its primary goal is to help you understand and regulate your mind, with secondary benefits including improved mood, sleep, and cognitive clarity.

Prioritizing Tasks and Acting Despite Lack of Motivation Are Most Impactful

Prioritize Critical Tasks and Act Swiftly For Self-Improvement

Techniques that encourage people to prioritize critical tasks and take action regardless of motivation show the largest and most robust effects on personal growth. The “Eat That Frog” method—doing the most important or most difficult task first—offers clarity and reduces anxiety, as there is no question about what to do next. Although most of the benefit comes from identifying the highest-priority task (about 95%), actually acting on this priority delivers immediate satisfaction and builds momentum and self-efficacy. Starting the day with your biggest task can help you feel productive and ride an emotional high.

Behavioral activation—the practice of doing something, especially when unmotivated or depressed—emerges as the undisputed most effective intervention. Studies find that taking action, even in small steps, is as effective as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression. The principle is simple: motivation follows action, and the act of moving forward, even when it's uncomfortable or feels pointless at first, leads to improvements in mental health and a shift in personal identity toward being more effective, consistent, and resilient. Actions, practiced repeatedly, shape identity and wellbeing—echoing Aristotle’s claim that “you are what you repeatedly do.”

This approach is flexible: you can start with the smallest task to build momentum. What matters is taking any action. This, more than planning, reflecting, or researching, creates real change and forms foundational habits.

Reading Quality Self-Help Books Leads To Personal Gro ...