In this column I share articles, books, research, and thoughts related to the science of self-help, along with experiments and random rabbit holes I’ve gone down across the previous month.

This last month was all about podcasts. Three podcasts I had previously recorded were released. It was a fun experience and I hope to do more in the future. I also got a chance to talk to several app developers who reached out to me, including one trying to fuse behavioral science with planning, and another using artificial intelligence to combat smoking and eating issues.

I completed a massive 5 month experiment on fusing dog training and Stoicism. In addition I experimented with “floating” habits and another attempt at forming a habit in a day. I started weight lifting again after getting a full weight set and used sets as breaks from work. I completed a month of vegetarianism (ovo-lactose pescatarianism), sketched out a method to fall in love with habits using ritual and mindfulness, and attempted tantric drawing based on an article on aphantasia. More details on all of that below:

What’s New

An interview with my My First Step Ever on how you can create lasting change to achieve your goals (Youtube | Spotify)
An in-depth podcast with Critical Mind, Embodied Spirit on the science of self-help and my Elements of Change (Spotify)
A chat with Nate at the Begin Within Podcast on how to stay motivated in making big changes (Youtube | Spotify)

Interesting Articles

Aphantasia (inability to visualize mental images) doesn’t mean a lack of imagination (Psyche)
The science behind intuition (A Life of Productivity)
Self-help is a form of magical thinking (Aeon)
The science of fatigue resistance (Outside)

Research

How to train yourself to find disgusting things less gross (study)
How to take the sting out of negative experiences (study)
Targeted dream incubation and engineering dreams (study)

Experiments and Things I’m Looking Into

Lumme - an app on smart watches that uses AI and wrist gestures to combat vices
End of 5 months of attempting to clicker train Stoicism using reframes
Month 8 of progressive food testing. This month I went vegetarian. Despite looser adherence, it’s successfully leading to weight loss. Or it might be the weight lifting.
Experiment with a “floating habit” - the idea is that triggers pinned at a certain action in a day (like waking up) are inherently flawed. Eventually, skill based habits will need to move, either to accommodate advancement or classes or group activities, etc. Pinning a behavior on a unique alarm of some kind allows greater agility. I can move it without having to reestablish triggers - it might even make it adjustable to other life interruptions like travel.
Another experiment in trying to create a habit in a day. A lot of learning occurs out to sleep - get more sleep and learning seems to improve. Noa at Bulletproof Musician theorized that if you just took a nap in the middle of the day you might be able to double up learning. What if the same thing occurs when creating a habit? In this experiment (I’ll write about it in detail soon) I added a long nap to the previous protocols.

Social

A massive list of mental exercises to pick yourself up faster when emotions are weighing you down (Reddit)
Rituals, the last of my original 31 Elements of Change (Instagram)
A theory of behavioral Stoicism (Reddit)
Stacking Elements - or reverse engineering addictive behaviors and common productivity techniques (Instagram)
How exactly mindfulness helped my depression (Reddit)
Using mindfulness to scroll social media (Reddit)
How to condition yourself to become obsessed (Reddit)
What is the core meaning of tantra? (Reddit)
What is the best pranayama routine before bed (Reddit)

Miscellaneous & Esoteric

Tantric drawing. According to this article on aphantasia, people who cannot visualize mental images aren’t necessarily less creative. In fact, they might appear more creative if they have to use drawn visuals as an aid. Tantric meditation is my go-to meditation practice when I’m feeling particularly low, yet it’s often hard to start and teach. But what if you could draw it out, using sketching as a beginning step? I tried this on a bad day and it worked out really well.
Resiliency meditation. This month I attempted a more in-depth form of reframing. In reframing a simple phrase can be used to look at an experience in a different manner. This doesn’t always work if the feeling doesn’t change internally, especially if you’re already swirling into negativity. In this meditation I attempted to “pulse” the pure emotion of resilience. I used several pictures of various characters and figures who seem to embody this emotion in my mind to accrue the feeling of resilience, like with compassion meditation. I then eventually started pulsing it on its own. My hope was that this would supercharge my Stoic dog training experiment.
Attempted to reverse engineer the love of an action. I’ve talked to a lot of people on this, and it’s clear that it involves unique types of mindfulness. Connoisseurs do this by using technical terminology and comparison - they actively appreciate small details, and learn the stories and history behind an action. I attempted to refine the process and started trying to apply it to mundane activities and things I don’t really like.
The CIA declassified files on experiments on how to rapidly get into deep states of meditation quickly. I’m still in the process of checking all of this out.

If you’ve got any interesting links, books, comments, or suggestions, shoot me an email at scienceofselfhelp (at) gmail.com. I’d love to hear from you!