For a long time, I have put a premium on personal growth. I have listened to tons of podcasts, read lots of books, and have gone to psychotherapy for half a decade. Initially, I was all about insight. However, the things that really helped me were rarely pieces of “knowledge”. Once everyday life hit, most of what I had “learned” was swiftly forgotten. For me, more “knowledge” was not the answer.
Knowledge mostly helped if I could practically apply it. For example, knowledge about how to remove distractions, how to redesign my environment, why I should quit social media, and why I should complete my most important task of the day first. However, what really stood out was knowledge of my biology and how to optimize it, because biological intervention changed my thinking, behavior, and life quite unlike anything else.
To this day, in my n=1 experience, the highest-leverage “personal growth” thing I can do is to change my biology in a specific, goal-oriented way.
For example, for a long time my most destructive habit was keeping my body fat lower than what my hypothalamus preferred. The ensuing hypoleptinemia killed my hormone health, my vitality, and wreaked havoc on my energy levels. It also made me restless, obsessive, and just a neurotic creature in general. Gaining some body fat (and adding metreleptin to my protocol) changed my personality quite drastically, and in a good way. I was finally able to be mindful, compassionate, vital, well-rounded, and flexible. No need to theorize on how to win friends and influence people. Worth more than thousands of hours of psychotherapy. Here.
On HCG, my testosterone and estradiol levels are at the top of the male reference range. Overall, it increases my energy levels and makes me feel more deeply, both of which are a meta-enabler for self-awareness. Here.
Similarly, some time ago I applied magnetic tape to my blackout curtains so they completely block out morning light. Because of this, my morning sleep is less shallow and of higher quality, which affects every single second of my day. It gives me the greater energy and mental clarity needed to perform well in life. It also makes me more alert, energetic, motivated, creative, and happier.
On microdoses of MAO inhibitors, the way I think about myself and the world changes, given that I live in a simulation of reality generated by my brain, and neurotransmitters function as the simulation’s hyperparameters. In the only life I can be sure of having, I want these hyperparameters to be the best they can be, which is a win-win for both me and others.
As discussed in a previous newsletter, my self-worth is quite dependent on my energy levels. When my energy levels are low, my self-esteem and self-worth are decently lower than normal. Similarly, when my energy levels are great, my self-esteem and self-worth go up by quite a bit, much more than from changing my cognition. And there is a wealth of research that bears this out. This should be no surprise, because in states of hypomania (a state of boundless energy and great mood), feelings of grandeur are common. In mania (hypomania gone berserk), self-worth can increase to pathological levels (e.g., considering oneself as “the chosen one”). So, as people go from depression, to dysthymia, to euthymia, to hypomania, to mania, self-worth generally tends to increase steadily.
The girlfriend of a good friend of mine was always quite moody, which made him consider breaking up with her. However, she was on a progesterone-only contraceptive, and the lack of estradiol adversely affected her neurobiology. Giving her a decent dose of transdermal estradiol gel drastically boosted (normalized) her mood, and the relationship is now at an all-time high. Here.
A former patient of mine had binge eating disorder. She had been to therapy for half a decade. She had been inpatient a number of times. Back in 2020, when GLP-1 agonists were mostly unknown, I gave her an Ozempic pen to try. Literally from the first injection on, she has never had a binge attack again, because her binging had presumably been more metabolic than psychiatric. Here.
One of my brothers was about to lose his hair at a very early age. He said male pattern baldness was the first thing he thought about after waking up and the last thing he thought about before going to sleep. I gave him some finasteride, and after a couple of months, his worrying about his hair completely stopped, and now seems like a distant dream. Sure, finasteride has risks, but doing nothing has risks as well. Here.
I am not saying that psychotherapy, podcasts, journalling, psychedelics, or other conventional “personal growth” tools have no place. Not at all. I use all of them and derive quite a lot of benefit. However, I am saying that all of these stand no chance compared to goal-directed biological intervention.
And the good part is that with biological intervention, the changes are automatic. I do not need to know anything other than to put the correct protocols in place. This is similar to meditation: just do the activity correctly, and you will profit automatically in daily life, even if you did not know any theory behind it.
This biology-mediated automatic change in my emotions, thoughts, and behaviors is quite unlike any intentional self-improvement stuff. And for most people, the effect sizes (how strongly something affects your life) are not even close.
Weekly observations
This article was a weekly observation, shared via my newsletter. The full archive can be found here.
Disclaimer
The content available on this website is based on the author’s individual research, opinions, and personal experiences. It is intended solely for informational and entertainment purposes and does not constitute medical advice. The author does not endorse the use of supplements, pharmaceutical drugs, or hormones without the direct oversight of a qualified physician. People should never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something they have read on the internet.