<p>I mentioned these two videos:</p><p>🔗 If you don’t know what you want in 2026, start here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYLk8u8e_UA</p><p>🔗 Video on “the self-criticism cycle”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCxuFdIPqJk</p><p><br></p><p>💿 *Get my best practical ideas in your inbox (free)⇢*</p><p>→ Sign up: https://www.muchelleb.com.au/newsletter-signup</p><p><br></p><p>⛳️ Red Flags of Self-Improvement</p><p><br></p><p>→ Encourages isolating yourself (e.g. go ghost for 6 months, cut off everyone, etc.)</p><p><br></p><p>→ Over-focuses on “having discipline” and “taking action”, while ignoring emotional regulation, difficult days, different brains, flexibility, and letting go of self-criticism</p><p><br></p><p>→ Creates an “us vs them” dynamic that breeds division or superiority (e.g. “people like us vs people like them”)</p><p><br></p><p>→ Pushes rigid formulas, steps, or “right ways” of doing things without encouraging self-reflection or a personalised approach</p><p><br></p><p>→ Turns relationships into hierarchies (e.g. “high-value vs low-value people”)</p><p><br></p><p>→ Encourages self-rejection instead of self-acceptance</p><p><br></p><p>→ Feeds your ego or makes you feel “better than” others (e.g. “when you start healing, you won’t relate to people anymore”)</p><p><br></p><p>→ Encourages shame-based growth rather than curiosity-led growth</p><p><br></p><p>→ Promotes constant optimisation without emphasising space for fun, rest, and relationships</p><p><br></p><p>→ Pushes “more, more, more” instead of focusing on what’s actually effective (which is often less)</p><p><br></p><p>→ Over-identifies you with your problems in an unhelpful way (leans heavily on labels instead of helping you understand and change what’s actually going on)</p><p><br></p><p>☁️ *Join the Intention Community (it&#39;s replaced the Intention app)! ⇢*</p><p>→  _Every month, two brand-new tools (meditations, worksheets, videos, etc) drop, usually built around a recent video - so that you can take what you’ve learned and do something with it._</p><p>→ Join: https://intentioncommunity.circle.so/</p><p><br></p><p>🪞 *Organise your Life with the Calm Productivity Notion Pack. ⇢*</p><p>→ _&quot;This notion pack is amazing!! I feel like it’s changing my life already and I’ve never been so impressed by a product.&quot; Alice Joyce_</p><p>→ Get the pack: https://shop.muchelleb.com.au/products/the-calm-productivity-notion-pack</p><p><br></p><p>💛 *If you liked this video, you&#39;ll probably like... ⇢*</p><p>→ The Behaviour Change Playlist _(when you want to start a new habit or change)_ : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW3yd6NHmEVqXsWO6qv2AytfUtVeVf6f7</p><p><br></p><p>🍧 *I post more of this kind of thing on Instagram ⇢*</p><p>→ Follow me: http://instagram.com/muchelleb</p><p><br></p><p>🎧 *Prefer chattier deep-dives on productivity and behaviour change? ⇢*</p><p>→ I drop weekly chatty episodes on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2HqznNA2v9McYirvqmUVvO?si=024ac78820b24443</p><p><br></p><p>💭 *Video timeline ⇢*</p><p><br></p><p>00:00 Everyone is quitting self-improvement</p><p>00:33 The first self-improvement trap</p><p>02:08 The next trap</p><p>03:40 Trap #3</p><p>04:56 Self-improvement trap #4</p><p>06:50 SOooo... What then?!</p><p>07:20 Firstly, definitely stop doing this </p><p>08:22 And start doing this</p><p>08:54 Please! do this </p><p>09:19 How I can be a better creator</p><p>10:23 Creating responsibly</p><p>12:40 How I want to create going forward</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>🔗 Anything I mentioned ⇢</p><p><br></p><p>🔗 If you don’t know what you want in 2026, start here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYLk8u8e_UA</p><p>🔗 Video on “the self-criticism cycle”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCxuFdIPqJk</p><p>🔗 Tim Ferris Blog Post on The Self Help Trap: https://tim.blog/2026/03/04/the-self-help-trap/</p>