Why Do Some People Become Obsessed With Self Improvement?

A reader emailed me citing a few examples of people who abruptly changed their lives: they started exercising, built better habits, studied hard and got good grades, moved up in their careers … basically turning themselves into “successful” people seemingly overnight. He wanted to understand why this happens and ask how someone might attempt a similar transformation.

I’ve witnessed this kind of personality change in others several times, so I believe the phenomenon is real. A number of my friends suddenly became much more motivated…