https://beyondgrowth.net Careful, sourced criticism of the self-improvement industry. en Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://beyondgrowth.net/positive-thinking/tony-robbins-and-the-cult-of-aggressive-positivity-part-2-how-positive-thinking-can-make-you-depressed/ https://beyondgrowth.net/positive-thinking/tony-robbins-and-the-cult-of-aggressive-positivity-part-2-how-positive-thinking-can-make-you-depressed/ Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Repeating an affirmation left low-self-esteem participants in a worse mood than saying nothing. What the research says about the cost of being told to feel great. Positive thinking https://beyondgrowth.net/positive-thinking/is-manifestation-real/ https://beyondgrowth.net/positive-thinking/is-manifestation-real/ Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Manifestation promises that picturing an outcome brings it closer. The experiments that measured it found vivid fantasy drains the energy to chase it. Positive thinking https://beyondgrowth.net/social-criticism/the-pavlok-a-shockingly-bad-idea/ https://beyondgrowth.net/social-criticism/the-pavlok-a-shockingly-bad-idea/ Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Pavlok sells a wristband that shocks you out of bad habits, on the strength of 'proven' aversion-therapy science. Its own creator got called a con artist on live television for that exact claim. Social criticism https://beyondgrowth.net/personal-development/meaninglessness-nihilism-and-the-landmark-forum/ https://beyondgrowth.net/personal-development/meaninglessness-nihilism-and-the-landmark-forum/ Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT The Landmark Forum walks every participant to the same scripted realisation on day three: life is empty and meaningless. What that technique actually is, and what happened when it went wrong. Personal development https://beyondgrowth.net/personal-development/get-a-growth-mindset/ https://beyondgrowth.net/personal-development/get-a-growth-mindset/ Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Growth mindset became a billion-dollar idea in schools and workplaces. The largest studies ever run on it found an average effect so small it barely moves the needle. Personal development https://beyondgrowth.net/technology-of-the-self/earthing-silliest-health-scam-ever/ https://beyondgrowth.net/technology-of-the-self/earthing-silliest-health-scam-ever/ Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Grounding claims that skin contact with the earth floods your body with healing electrons that cure inflammation and fix your sleep. Here's what the actual studies — small, unblinded and largely funded by the people selling the mats — really show. Technology of the self https://beyondgrowth.net/positive-thinking/the-4-minute-mile-and-the-myths-of-positive-thinking/ https://beyondgrowth.net/positive-thinking/the-4-minute-mile-and-the-myths-of-positive-thinking/ Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Self-help's favourite parable says belief broke the four-minute mile. The real story — decades of records and training science — says otherwise. Positive thinking https://beyondgrowth.net/lifestyle-design/17-steps-to-instant-success-as-a-lifestyle-designer/ https://beyondgrowth.net/lifestyle-design/17-steps-to-instant-success-as-a-lifestyle-designer/ Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT A deadpan, satirical field guide to the lifestyle-design genre — the 4 a.m. alarm, the beach laptop, the manufactured origin story, and the course about selling courses. Lifestyle design https://beyondgrowth.net/guru-criticism/tony-robbins-and-the-cult-of-aggressive-positivity-part-1/ https://beyondgrowth.net/guru-criticism/tony-robbins-and-the-cult-of-aggressive-positivity-part-1/ Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Tony Robbins built a roughly $600m empire on state, belief and the firewalk. A fair, sourced look at what he actually teaches — and where the evidence for it runs thin. Guru criticism https://beyondgrowth.net/guru-criticism/james-arthur-rays-spiritual-warrior-event-kills-2-injures-19-in-sweat-lodge-fiasco/ https://beyondgrowth.net/guru-criticism/james-arthur-rays-spiritual-warrior-event-kills-2-injures-19-in-sweat-lodge-fiasco/ Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT In October 2009, three people died at James Arthur Ray's 'Spiritual Warrior' sweat lodge near Sedona. A sober, sourced account of the ceremony, the deaths, and the negligent-homicide conviction that followed. Guru criticism