The hottest Personal Growth Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Health & Wellness Topics

the puer and puella aeternus

Midnight Musings • 59 implied HN points • 14 Jul 24
📖 Philosophy Personal Growth
  1. The puer and puella aeternus represent the idea of staying childlike and avoiding responsibility. This can lead to a life where people are stuck in a cycle of fun but don't achieve their true goals.
  2. People often chase happiness through pleasure without recognizing it might hold them back. Creating a reality based on fantasies can stop personal growth.
  3. To move forward, it's important to be aware of these childish tendencies and commit to meaningful work that requires responsibility and discipline. This helps create a more fulfilling life.

In Person > Online ⛲️

The Commonplace • 393 implied HN points • 30 Jan 24
⛪ Faith & Spirituality Personal Growth
  1. Twin vocations can complement each other well, benefiting both the individual and their families.
  2. Building connections with others is crucial, especially in solitary work, as digital connections can't replace in-person friendships.
  3. Progress in work is made through daily consistency, even if the results may seem unimpressive at first.

How to Make Love Stay?

Seven Senses • 359 implied HN points • 10 Feb 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Personal Growth
  1. Love requires effort and honesty to grow. It's important to reflect on our own qualities and flaws in a relationship rather than blaming our partner.
  2. Real love changes us and teaches us about ourselves. Over time, we can find comfort in familiarity while still allowing love to evolve.
  3. Instead of searching for a perfect partner, we should focus on creating and nurturing perfect love together. This is the key to making love last.

Every kid deserves an Aunt Bobbie

The Watch • 1178 implied HN points • 07 Dec 24
🎭️ Culture Personal Growth
  1. Every kid needs someone outside their family who believes in them. This support can help them feel valued and understood.
  2. Having a close relationship with a quirky and caring mentor can enrich a child's life. These special people can inspire us and create lasting memories.
  3. Even if you don't have kids, you can still make a positive impact on younger generations. Being a supportive figure can make a difference in their lives, just like Aunt Bobbie did.
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Joy

Lessons • 393 implied HN points • 23 Jan 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Personal Growth
  1. Joy at work is doing something you love even if no one paid you for it.
  2. Finding joy in work comes from aligning your strengths with what you love doing.
  3. Prioritizing joy at work can lead to a fulfilling and successful career.

What Happens When You Stop Doomscrolling

OK Doomer • 347 implied HN points • 23 Jul 25
🏥 Health & Wellness Personal Growth
  1. Doomscrolling can feel like aimlessly consuming bad news, but really it's about trying to find information to stay safe in tough times.
  2. Many people avoid discussing serious issues like climate change or politics, which leads to a reliance on uplifting content that ignores real problems.
  3. When you stop doomscrolling, you can find better communities that help you face anxieties and encourage real conversations about important issues.

You can just not do things...

David Spinks' Newsletter • 22 implied HN points • 02 Feb 26
🏥 Health & Wellness Personal Growth
  1. You don’t have to keep doing more to find meaning or calm; choosing not to do things can create real spaciousness and a sense of enoughness.
  2. When you feel pressured to start something, pause and ask what that urge is really looking for or afraid of, and allow yourself to feel those emotions instead of instantly acting.
  3. Let action come from ease and joy — if it feels like being rather than doing, it’s worth doing; for unavoidable tasks, surrender to them but still check whether you truly must do them.

Muungano

Splattern • 59 implied HN points • 09 Jul 24
🏝 Travel Personal Growth
  1. Masoud has a close-knit family where everyone is considered a sibling or parent, showing the strong bonds they share. This cultural difference highlights how relationships can be more about emotional ties than strict definitions.
  2. Masoud is facing tough financial challenges but has a plan to start a business before attending university to help support his family. It shows his dedication and responsibility towards his family’s well-being.
  3. The journey includes ups and downs, but those experiences, like climbing mountains or encountering mosquitoes, make the adventure meaningful. It teaches that detours can add value to the main goal, like raising money for a good cause.

Audiences

polymathematics • 99 implied HN points • 07 Jun 24
🎭️ Culture Personal Growth
  1. Growing your audience can help you make money, connect with like-minded people, and influence positive change. It’s worth considering what audience growth means to you personally.
  2. Prioritize improving your work and be consistent with your writing. The better your work, the more likely it is to attract readers over time.
  3. Engagement can come from different platforms, so it's good to be visible on both Substack and your own website. Find creative ways to connect with your audience across these platforms.

Taking the Holidays Off

Pizza Party • 84 implied HN points • 19 Nov 25
🎭️ Culture Personal Growth
  1. Taking time off for the holidays is important for everyone, including yourself. Remember to enjoy the break and make it special.
  2. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on gratitude and appreciate what you have. It's a good reminder to be thankful for everything in life.
  3. The holidays are meant to celebrate togetherness and joy. Embrace the festive spirit and set personal goals for the new year ahead.

Old Dog + New Tricks = Life Hack

Ladyparts • 798 implied HN points • 17 May 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Personal Growth
  1. Society often pushes us to constantly achieve, but sometimes it's okay to do things just for the joy of doing them.
  2. Engaging in new activities, like improv classes or learning to play an instrument, can bring unexpected joy and purpose, even if you're not aiming to be a pro.
  3. Taking a chance on trying something new in times of despair can lead to life-changing experiences and discoveries.

Beyond Psychobabble

Deep Fix • 668 implied HN points • 25 Aug 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Personal Growth
  1. Interpreting life over experiencing it directly can be exhausting
  2. Using frameworks and ideas to explain experiences can create barriers in relationships
  3. Moving away from overthinking and embracing genuine expression can lead to a more authentic and fulfilling life

Haircut for a Poem

Splattern • 119 implied HN points • 22 May 24
🎭️ Culture Personal Growth
  1. Barbershops are important places in communities, where people gather and share stories. They create a special bond between the barber and their clients.
  2. Vaughn Acord, a talented hairstylist, listens to his clients and helps them express their true selves. It's not about his vision, but about bringing out their own unique style.
  3. Life should be about contributing to the community and making a difference. Helping others and sharing experiences can lead to a fulfilling life.

Slights

We're Gonna Get Those Bastards • 7 implied HN points • 13 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Personal Growth
  1. Slights—being subtly humiliated or ignored—stick with people much longer than obvious insults and can sour you for years.
  2. Small modern slights often come from online snubs or being left out, so don't overreact. Do small, free things like liking someone's post and focus on improving your own behavior instead of stewing.
  3. Paying real attention—remembering names, asking about people, and acting kindly without expecting anything back—makes people feel seen and will improve your relationships.

some things I learned about love this year

bookbear express • 941 implied HN points • 29 Dec 24
🎭️ Culture Personal Growth
  1. It's okay to have imperfect friendships. Just keep in touch and stay in each other's lives, even if it's not perfect.
  2. Conflict in relationships isn't as scary as it seems. Listening to each other can strengthen your bonds.
  3. Love and life can be uncertain and scary, but that's normal. Embrace change and find people who want to explore with you.

Your own emotional acre

The Half Marathoner • 648 implied HN points • 23 Mar 23
⛪ Faith & Spirituality Personal Growth
  1. In life, each person has their own emotional space that is theirs to care for and tend.
  2. It's important to take time to be alone, to get to know and be friends with yourself.
  3. Creating a life that feels chosen involves work, honesty, patience, and cultivating connection and intimacy.

Offering: April 2023

Tarot Offerings • 648 implied HN points • 01 Apr 23
⛪ Faith & Spirituality Personal Growth
  1. Jessica Dore started creating Tarot Offerings in 2016 as a newsletter after leaving her job in publishing.
  2. The newsletter has evolved over the years, transitioning from collective forecast readings to personal stories and themes.
  3. Jessica Dore is preparing to offer new events like a workshop on deconstructing the Tarot and a live telling of the Grail Legend.

Play Long Games

Eliot Peper • 373 implied HN points • 14 Jan 24
📖 Philosophy Personal Growth
  1. Long-term projects require a different way of thinking.
  2. Playing long games is the only way to reach for the stars.
  3. Choosing to play either short games or long games when confronted with a problem.

Me vs. All My Memories

NOW IS GOOD • 314 implied HN points • 07 Feb 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Personal Growth
  1. Life offers no shortcuts, only the chance to slowly grow from your own foundation of answers.
  2. Facing and embracing the past can lead to discovering a life worth living beyond old stories.
  3. Engaging in physical activity can help ground you in the present moment and reconnect with your body.

Who Are You Living For?

Less Foolish • 628 implied HN points • 18 Jun 23
⛪ Faith & Spirituality Personal Growth
  1. Pay attention to who truly matters in your life and prioritize them over others.
  2. Success in different domains requires different levels of effort and vision, especially when it comes to family.
  3. Achieving success without prioritizing wholeness and strong family relationships can lead to suffering for those you care about.

some thoughts on friendship

bookbear express • 770 implied HN points • 06 Feb 25
🎭️ Culture Personal Growth
  1. True friendship can feel like a marriage, taking time to develop and evolve. It's important to appreciate the journey of getting to know each other deeply over the years.
  2. Making friends is a lot like dating, with excitement and a bit of uncertainty. It takes time to figure out the friendship dynamics and sometimes requires patience to see if it grows.
  3. Friendship can be asymmetrical; one person may want more closeness than the other. It's okay to feel hurt by this, but it's also essential to recognize that not all friendships will be balanced.

community > conflict

if not, Paris • 353 implied HN points • 18 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Personal Growth
  1. Focus on building a diverse and respectful community when discussing disagreements.
  2. Setting thoughtful intentions can guide personal growth and reflection throughout the year.
  3. Creating connections and sharing authentic experiences can lead to personal fulfillment and growth.

The psychology of evil

Building the Builders • 19 implied HN points • 28 Jan 26
📖 Philosophy Personal Growth
  1. Evil often grows from self-deception: when anger and grievance get untethered from real values, people justify rumination and victim narratives that can escalate into destructive behavior.
  2. The key choice point is what you do when you notice you’re spiraling — either honestly examine your motives and reorient toward constructive aims, or rationalize and double down, and those repeated choices determine whether you heal or become corrosive.
  3. The antidote is to reorient toward building real values: take responsibility, calibrate your feelings to the facts, limit rumination, and pursue constructive solutions instead of getting energy from others’ downfall.

Things I'm Learning

Notes in the Margins • 59 implied HN points • 01 Jul 24
💼 Business Personal Growth
  1. Celebrating the good days loudly is important as they outweigh the bad days.
  2. Following your joy leads to creativity resurfacing, and you'll find relief in doing what you want.
  3. As a solopreneur, facing challenges alone can be tough, but building a community for support makes the journey fulfilling.

On not trying so hard

the process • 589 implied HN points • 11 Aug 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Personal Growth
  1. Effort does not always lead to better results in writing or activities.
  2. Sometimes, it is beneficial to relax, be less strict with oneself, and embrace a more effortless approach.
  3. Learning to balance effort with ease can lead to breakthroughs and better outcomes.

Reviews of My Life #5

Nice Try • 359 implied HN points • 04 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Personal Growth
  1. Using simple tools can help you create and track your goals, like coloring in a moon calendar instead of buying fancy gadgets.
  2. Collecting unique items, like books and art, can hold sentimental value and tell stories about your past experiences.
  3. Transforming your space for productivity, like turning a coat closet into a workshop, shows how you can make the most of what you have.

Knowing when it's time to go

The Art of Enchantment, with Dr Sharon Blackie • 1158 implied HN points • 10 Oct 22
⛪ Faith & Spirituality Personal Growth
  1. The author shares a personal experience of feeling a shift towards seeking clarity and freedom from corporate constraints.
  2. A chance encounter with a fortune-teller and drawing a card led to a moment of realization and a decision to break free from a situation that felt suffocating.
  3. The story highlights the importance of recognizing moments when it's time to let go, seek new beginnings, and embrace change.

When the Mask Drops: Trying, Failing, and Re-Finding Myself

Caravanserai with Samantha Childress • 569 implied HN points • 17 Feb 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Personal Growth
  1. The author struggled with finding time and headspace to write due to working full-time, but decided to post twice a month to make the newsletter more sustainable.
  2. The author felt like a failure for not keeping up with their original writing goals, but realized that quality is more important than quantity.
  3. By being more sincere at work and letting the 'mask' drop, the author found more freedom to be themselves and write more authentically.

Knowing, doing and 'staying on the bus'

The Half Marathoner • 569 implied HN points • 30 Mar 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Personal Growth
  1. Having a clear plan and sticking to it can lead to successful outcomes, such as completing a marathon.
  2. The concept of 'staying on the bus' emphasizes the importance of patience and commitment to see long-term results.
  3. Immersion in the initial phases of learning or pursuing a goal can lead to unique and distinctive work in the future.

Long overdue life updates

box. • 419 implied HN points • 29 Nov 23
💼 Business Personal Growth
  1. Finding a balance between creating for an audience and focusing on personal projects is tricky but important. Having too many outside distractions can slow down real work, so taking breaks from attention helps keep goals on track.
  2. Loneliness is a big issue that needs meaningful solutions. Sometimes it's hard to work on this emotionally heavy topic, but caring about it makes the work feel worthwhile.
  3. Managing time as a solo founder can be challenging. Setting boundaries and valuing personal time helps stay focused on what truly matters, without getting overwhelmed by small tasks.