The Question Nobody's Asking

The personal development industry is worth $4.5 trillion globally. Anxiety rates are rising. Mental health statistics are worsening. Suicide rates are going up. Something doesn’t add up.In this first episode, JJ and Alexia go after the question the industry consistently avoids: why does a sector built entirely around change have no standard for measuring whether change is happening? The International Coaching Federation’s own research shows fewer than 20% of coaches use any form of measurement with their clients. A 2021 review in the Journal of Evidence-Based Psychotherapies found that a significant proportion of therapy clients show no reliable improvement. Worse, a subset does the opposite - it deteriorates.But the measurement problem isn’t just an industry failure. It’s a personal one. You can be doing the work for years without knowing whether it’s moving anything or give up right when you’re finally making progress. This episode names the gap that the whole season sits inside. It’s not comfortable, but it’s necessary.Sit Spot: Think about something you’re currently doing for your own growth or wellbeing. Would you know if it stopped working? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit iibw.substack.com