HeyJaredSelf Helpings
we read the self-help books you're too embarrassed to be seen with.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 5
- Latest publication
- Sep 3, 2026
- Audience
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 30, 2026
Latest issues
EH #1 - Laura Smith on 4,000 Weeks (opens the original)
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Welcome! Self Helpings is a year-long project from two friends devoted to the art and science (... and “science”) of self-actualization. This week, we’re introducing our new series, Extra Helpings. You’ve heard about the books that changed our lives, to the point that you might have thought: Wow, their lives seem to change almost too much. Well, dear reader, we’re giving you a break from the perpetual molting of our souls to bring you some
SH#10: Archaic Torso of Apollo (opens the original)
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Self Helpings is a yearlong project devoted to the art and science (... and “science”) of this genre called ‘self-help.’ For this installment, we return to the world of poetry for the first time since Mary Oliver (SH #2). It’s Rainer Maria Rilke! A man not shy about giving life advice, most famously in his Letters to A Young Poet (1929). Published posthumously, that book’s a ‘re-shelved’ self-help classic. But so are many of Rilke&#
A Very Helpings Archive (opens the original)
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Self Helpings is a yearlong project devoted to the art and science (... and “science”) of this genre called ‘self-help.’ In this post, you’ll find every single missive since our launch — enjoy, and thanks for reading!<img alt="" cl
SH #9 - Tiny Experiments (opens the original)
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Self Helpings is a yearlong project devoted to the art and science (... and “science”) of this genre called ‘self-help.’ For this installment, we dipped a toe into neuroscience (we love) and entrepreneurship (we struggle) with Anne-Laure Le Cunff’s Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal Obsessed World.<a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mqhf!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2
SH #8 - The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (opens the original)
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Self Helpings is a yearlong project devoted to the art and science (... and “science”) of this genre called ‘self-help.’ For our mid-summer read, we chose the book that’s stared out at us from a thousand Hudson News shelves, a “generation-defining” title, at least according to its own marketing copy: Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life. <a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PLUo!
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