Is Self-Improvement Just Making Us More Selfish?

Is Self-Improvement Just Making Us More Selfish?

Is personal development and self-improvement making us better—or just more self-absorbed? In today's episode, we wade into the debate sparked by a recent New York Times article (link below) about whether the world of betterment is actually helping with personal growth, or just creating inward navel-gazing? We discuss how to think about the role of individual agency in a world of structural challenge, the pitfalls of hyper-optimization, and why nuance (and community) matter more than ever. We explore how to use self-help as a tool—without letting it take over your life. Whether you’re a self-improvement skeptic or a die-hard devotee, this conversation will give you new ways to think about growth, agency, and what it really means to be excellent, on both an individual and collective level.


"Is Today's Self-Help Teaching Everyone to Be a Jerk?" by Emma Goldberg: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/style/self-help-books-columns-readers.html


Unedited transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mzKxdG-NcdRbzUsKH6IEMLGt3z5Z7Fln00AN1T4hN3U/edit?usp=sharing


If you have a questions for us, send an email to clay.growtheq@gmail.com or call our voicemail at ‪(646) 893-9503‬.


Subscribe to The Growth Equation newsletter: https://thegrowtheq.com/newsletters/geq/


If you are enjoying "excellence, actually," do us a huge favor: text your favorite episode to three people so they can enjoy it, too. Thanks!


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(355)

Dream Big, Start Small: Lessons from World Record Miler Jim Ryun

Dream Big, Start Small: Lessons from World Record Miler Jim Ryun

Jim Ryun couldn't make his junior high basketball team, track team, or even his church baseball team. Two years later, he was the first high schooler to run a sub-four-minute mile. He'd go on to run a...

28 Maj 56min

How to Get Small Wins out of Bad Days

How to Get Small Wins out of Bad Days

We've all got those days: you can't seem to get started, your motivation is low, or something comes up and throws you off track. It happens to all of us! It only becomes a problem when a bad start to ...

21 Maj 30min

The New Science of Pain (and What It Means for You)

The New Science of Pain (and What It Means for You)

We're all going to experience pain in some form or another. Unfortunately, our long accepted model for what pain is — and how to treat it — has been wrong. Today, we're breaking down the biopsychosoci...

14 Maj 46min

The Cost of Keeping Your Options Open (with David Epstein)

The Cost of Keeping Your Options Open (with David Epstein)

In 1960, A publisher at Random House bet a writer $50 that he couldn't produce a children's book using just 50 distinct words. That writer was Dr. Seuss, and the resulting book was Green Eggs and Ham,...

7 Maj 56min

How to Break Through Barriers (Lessons from the Sub-Two-Hour Marathon)

How to Break Through Barriers (Lessons from the Sub-Two-Hour Marathon)

Not just one, but two (!) men finished this past weekend's London Marathon in under two hours, a time that has never before been beat and was once largely thought to be impossible. Today, we unpack ho...

30 Apr 40min

How to Save Your Brain (with Cal Newport)

How to Save Your Brain (with Cal Newport)

There's a good reason you can't concentrate. That's not just a statement; it's also the title of a viral piece that our friend Cal Newport (author of Deep Work and Digital Minimalism) recently wrote f...

23 Apr 52min

What Every Athlete Can Learn from Elite Distance Runners

What Every Athlete Can Learn from Elite Distance Runners

Today, Clay taps into Steve's wisdom as a long-time running coach—which doesn't mean you have to be a runner to get something out of it. The episode covers the most efficient type of aerobic training ...

16 Apr 45min

How to Change, Actually (with Eric Zimmer)

How to Change, Actually (with Eric Zimmer)

Once an addict, Eric Zimmer is now 26 years sober. He has made that one huge change through a series of many small, daily changes, or what he calls "low resistance actions done consistently over time ...

9 Apr 46min

Populärt inom Utbildning

historiepodden-se
rss-bara-en-till-om-missbruk-medberoende-2
det-skaver
nu-blir-det-historia
harrisons-dramatiska-historia
johannes-hansen-podcast
allt-du-velat-veta
roda-vita-rosen
rss-viktmedicinpodden
not-fanny-anymore
sektledare
i-vantan-pa-katastrofen
sa-in-i-sjalen
rss-max-tant-med-max-villman
rikatillsammans-om-privatekonomi-rikedom-i-livet
rss-foraldramotet-bring-lagercrantz
rss-basta-livet
rss-relationsrevolutionen
sex-pa-riktigt-med-marika-smith
rss-om-vi-ska-vara-arliga