Act now not later

For the self-help industry, the most wonderful time of the year arrives not at Christmas but in the weeks immediately afterward — that segment of the calendar known to publishers and motivational speakers worldwide as ‘New Year, New You’.

The symbolic power of the date 01/01 is considerable, given that most of us will make a New Year’s resolutions this year. Quitting smoking and losing weight will loom largest in our plans. Spoiler alert: most of them will fail.

It’s a curious truth about the happiness industry that, unlike most other industries, it doesn’t have much to gain from selling a product that actually works. The doctrine of positive thinking that underpins modern self-help rests on circular logic: when a given technique fails, the implication goes, it’s because you weren’t thinking positively enough — and so you need positive thinking even more.