About this episode

This episode analyzes over 2,600 studies on self-improvement techniques, ranking them by effectiveness and revealing surprising insights.

We pulled over 2,600 studies and ranked 19 of the most common self-improvement techniques across three dimensions: research quality, consistency of results, and actual effect size. Then we sorted them into four tiers: legitimately works, works sometimes, probably not helping, and straight up bullshit. Microdosing landed in the bullshit tier. Crystal healing outperformed several "serious" techniques. And the number one most effective strategy is something so stupidly simple it's almost annoying. We also get into why everything at the bottom of the list shares one thing in common, why the middle of the list is mostly a fancy placebo, and why nearly everything at the top has been around for thousands of years. Get your free episode guide: https://solvedpodcast.com/self-help/ CHAPTERS (00:00:00) Introduction (00:06:02) Category 4: Bullsh*t (00:27:29) Category 3: Probably Not Helping (00:51:37) Category 2: Works Sometimes (01:23:50) Category 1: Legitimately Works (01:59:19) Conclusion CHECK OUT OUR SPONSORS ⏹ Henson Shaving: Get 100 free blades (a two-year supply) with the purchase of a razor. Head to ⁠hensonshaving.com/solved⁠ and use code SOLVED at checkout. ⏹ Brain FM…

People in this episode

Host: Mark Manson

Topics covered

• self-improvement
• research analysis
• effectiveness of techniques
• placebo effect
• historical strategies

Keywords

• self-help
• microdosing
• crystal healing
• placebo
• effective strategies
• research studies
• self-improvement techniques

Sponsors

Henson Shaving, Brain FM

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Webby Awards

Products: Brain FM, Purpose

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