Is Self-Help Making You Miserable?

Being Well with Forrest Hanson and Dr. Rick Hanson

Forrest and Dr. Rick discuss what's really wrong with the self-help industry, going beyond the obvious pseudoscience and snake oil to examine deeper structural issues. They explore the industry's mixed-bag focus on individual responsibility, the risks of turning healing into a never-ending project, performative personal growth, narcissism, social media and capitalism, and honest striving vs. hustle culture. They also talk about their personal experiences navigating our relationship to the industry. Throughout, Rick and Forrest emphasize finding the middle path: balancing agency with awareness, growth with acceptance, and sincerity with skepticism.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

4:32: Healthy striving vs. obsessive self-improvement

8:27: The role of motivation: growth, shame, and self-worth

12:13: Problems with placing all responsibility on the individual

20:46: Performative self-help and spiritual status-seeking

26:13: Excessive self-preoccupation and narcissistic drift

34:34: Buddhist insights on “selfing” and the illusion of identity

44:43: Self-help as hustle culture

50:57: The generational shift from grindset to bed rotting

54:09: The self-help industrial complex and its incentives

58:56: Commodifying the self and seeking validation

1:04:18: Creating ethical, transparent content

1:08:12: Recap

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