Trash Talk: Where Self-Help Cliches Go to Die
What if the so-called “truths” about growth and success are actually keeping you playing small?
On Trash Talk, hosts Erica Breuer and Erin Thomas unpack empty platitudes and tired cliches that dominate the business and personal development world. These ideas might be popular, but that doesn’t mean they’re useful.
Who listens to Trash Talk?
- Skeptics and Questioners of hollow advice
- Those asking why self-help advice fails
- People done with toxic self-help culture
- Anyone who wants a place to finally talk openly about all the advice that makes you roll your eyes
Trash Talk: Where Self-Help Cliches Go to Die
"New Year, New You" - BONUS EPISODE
We’re back, unannounced, and ready to shake up your New Year’s Eve. In this bonus episode, Erica Breuer and Erin Thomas examine overhyped New Year’s Eve rituals.
They dissect the promises these practices make, the cultural pressures behind them, and why so many self-help platitudes leave us burned out, skeptical, or just plain exhausted.
If you’ve ever rolled your eyes at motivational hype (or felt guilt for skipping the ‘ole resolution ritual) this episode is your permission slip to keep doing it your way.
Got a resolution ritual you’ve retired or completely reinvented?
Or maybe a moment when someone hit you with a line like, “Your soul speaks in whispers, not shouts” and it stuck with you? We want to hear it.
Leave a message on the Trash Talk hotline at (719) 819-2175—your story could be featured in a future episode.
And while you’re at it, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share the podcast with your fellow eye-rollers.
Links & Resources
Follow Erica Breuer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericabreuer/
Follow Erin Thomas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamerinthomas/
Visit Trash Talk Website: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2451264
Related Episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2451264/episodes/18017950
Podcast Episode Title: "New Year, New You" - BONUS EPISODE
Trash Talk — Episode 30 | January 2026
Episode Summary
New Year’s Eve is the loudest, most pressure-filled moment in the self-help calendar. In this episode, Erica Breuer and Erin Thomas dissect popular New Year’s rituals, from vision boards to Dry January to the dreaded year-in-review post, unpacking what they promise, where they come from, and why they often leave people feeling worse instead of better. The conversation ends with alternative, self-directed rituals that honor reflection without commodifying personal growth.
Table of Contents
- Intro
- Why New Year’s Eve Is the Super Bowl of Self-Help
- Vision Boards and the Illusion of Control
- Dry January, Digital Detoxes, and the Fix-Me Mindset
- Words of the Year and the Business of Intention
- The Year-in-Review Post and Performative Reflection
- Reimagining Year-End Rituals That Actually Feel Good
- Key Takeaways
- Call to Action
Intro
Even though we’re technically on break, we missed you. So we’re back with a surprise New Year’s Eve episode. Consider yourselves the fireworks.
If we’re going to call this podcast the place where self-help cliChés go to die, then we have to examine New Year’s Eve. It’s basically the Super Bowl of reinvention and self-improvement.
Main Topic 1: Why New Year’s Eve Is the Super Bowl of Self-Help
New Year’s Eve creates a perfect storm of reflection, pressure, and cultural noise. You’re looking backward at the year that was, looking forward at the year ahead, and being bombarded with posts, ads, emails, and programs all promising transformation.
Across self-help New Year’s rituals, the promise is consistent. If you commit to this one practice, this one ritual, this one program, you’ll finally get what you want.
Clarity. Control. A rewritten story. Proof that you are capable of change.
At their core, these rituals assume something is wrong with you. That you’re arriving at the new year unclear, out of control, or lacking worth. Fix me. Fix me.
And that assumption is deeply tied to consumerism. Feeling dissatisfied is what drives buying behavior. Many of us have bought into this at different times. This episode is about saying enough.
Main Topic 2: Vision Boards and the Illusion of Control
Vision boards are often positioned as powerful tools for manifestation and clarity.
Erin shares that she has made exactly one vision board, during a major life transition. Making something abstract feel tangible helped rally momentum, but she questions whether the vision board itself caused anything to happen.
Erica points out that while she is not a traditional vision board person, she regularly creates mood boards and style boards for branding and creative work. Functionally, they serve the same purpose.
The bigger question is cultural. Vision boards often rely on cutting images from magazines or Pinterest, both rooted in advertising and consumer desire. We are literally sourcing our dreams from ads.
At a deeper level, vision boards work because people crave creative play. We are rarely invited into collage, texture, and visual exploration unless it’s framed as productivity or self-improvement. Sometimes we just want to gather shiny things and make something that feels good.
Main Topic 3: Dry January, Digital Detoxes, and the Fix-Me Mindset
Dry January and digital detoxes sit squarely in the self-help ecosystem. They carry a Lent-like energy of abstinence and moral cleansing.
Both hosts agree the issue isn’t the practices themselves, but the timing and pressure. If alcohol or social media feels off, that awareness can happen in April or August just as easily as January.
These rituals reinforce the idea that you need an official container to change. That you must fail first in order to need guidance, programs, or coaching later.
Erin reframes the idea by adding instead of subtracting. Rather than removing alcohol or screens, what if you added a daily reading practice, a hobby, or a meaningful ritual?
There’s also a permission problem. When abstinence is looming, people often overindulge beforehand. This mirrors disordered patterns many people recognize from diet culture.
The deeper work is realizing you do not need a Monday, a month, or a new year to make a choice.
Main Topic 4: Words of the Year and the Business of Intention
Choosing a word of the year is often positioned as a softer alternative to resolutions.
Erin describes using the word “soften” during a period marked by stress, boundaries, and self-protection. The word served as a reminder to pause and reassess reactions shaped by the past.
Did it work? Maybe. Did it change everything? No.
Words of the year promise clarity, control, and narrative coherence. But they also make it easy to feel like you’re failing when life shifts faster than your intention can keep up.
They are also incredibly attractive within the personal development industry. When someone struggles to live up to their word, the next step is often support, coaching, or a program.
Main Topic 5: The Year-in-Review Post and Performative Reflection
Few practices inspire more collective groaning than the year-in-review social media post.
These posts resemble the old family holiday newsletter, but scaled to an audience of hundreds or thousands. Reflection becomes performance. Growth becomes comparison.
The problem is not reviewing your year. Reflection is essential. The problem is doing it with an audience in mind.
Curated honesty is still curation. When reflection is public, it cannot be fully truthful. It often leaves viewers feeling inadequate, especially when they’ve had a hard year.
Both hosts acknowledge having done year-in-review posts themselves. The conclusion is not “never celebrate your wins,” but rather questioning whether this particular container allows for real clarity and self-honesty.
Episode Ending
Reimagining Year-End Rituals That Actually Feel Good
Instead of fixing rituals, Erica and Erin explore alternatives rooted in meaning rather than self-improvement.
Erica shares two long-standing practices:
- Celebrating Three Kings Day on January 6th, which marks the end of the holiday liminal space with grounded joy.
- Attending a New Year’s Eve concert instead of a party, using music and collective energy to shake off stagnation.
She also practices a “witch’s new year” in October, doing reflection and planning before the cultural slowdown of November and December. January becomes a starting line, not a diagnostic moment.
Erin shares a November ritual of reviewing subscriptions, commitments, and energy drains, clearing space before the new year begins.
She also describes a daily practice of noting moments of delight. Small, external moments that spark joy or curiosity. Over time, this becomes a deeply personal year-in-review that recenters attention away from performance and toward presence.
Finally, Erin front-loads fun by planning vacations, family time, and meaningful experiences before work fills the calendar.
Key Takeaways
- Many New Year’s rituals are rooted in consumerism and the assumption that something is wrong with you.
- Reflection is valuable, but performance-driven reflection distorts clarity.
- You do not need a calendar milestone to make a meaningful choice.
- Adding joy, creativity, and space often works better than abstaining or fixing.
- Self-directed rituals tend to feel more honest and sustainable than commodified ones.
Call to Action
Subscribe to Trash Talk for more conversations that dismantle self-help myths with nuance, humor, and cultural context.
Leave a review if this episode resonated with you.
Share your own year-end rituals with us on social or in the comments. We want to learn together.
Show Notes & Links
- Follow Erica Breuer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericabreuer/
- Follow Erin Thomas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamerinthomas/
- Visit the Trash Talk Website: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2451264
