Expanding on Humans are not automatically strategic, I've noticed similar patterns for people who are working on improving their own or others' mental/emotional states.

We do not automatically…

Wonder “Who like me solved this problem — and what did they do?”, then copy successful plans.
Work with people who have produced that result for others before.
Do assignments we "know" would be good for us—or at least work directly on that avoidance when we notice it.
Talk about success stories of specific people who have radically improved their lives in observable ways from inner work.
Avoid practitioners who do not track lasting results, and therefore can't know whether they're facilitating lasting results or flaky breakthroughs.
Avoid practices that seem to have kept people like us (our friends) stuck for many years.
Follow up to see whether people's lives improved months/years after interventions. — Did they solve real problems in their lives? E.g., Did the dating coaching result in happy relationships?
Align incentives, so you pay more when lasting results are achieved faster, and less otherwise.

.... or carry out any number of other useful techniques.

Instead, we mostly just do things. We act from habit; we act [...]

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First published:
May 19th, 2026

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/YgwjwMx3royRmiTF2/humans-are-not-automatically-strategic-inner-work-edition

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.