2025-03-23 – Health – www.theguardian.com
How the writer found her ongoing fixation on self-development was actually working against her
I have lied to people. Last year I read twice the amount of self-help books than I logged on Goodreads. The number would raise serious concern and some of the titles would, too. I say I’m a culture journalist, but I couldn’t share my Spotify Wrapped because my most listened-to music was healing ambient tracks called things like “Whole Being REGENERATION”. My podcast listening habits were hardly better: softcore manifestation content or prophesying rants from a growing crop of spiritual influencers who make David Icke look like Stephen Hawking. I’ve withheld most of my adventures in healing from friends and family. I hadn’t known how to explain to people what I was doing.
The why was easier: I’d rather not be my own worst enemy. I’d furiously backstep to the centre of many problems to find myself. I wanted to stop being someone with fairly unhealthy relationships and a…