What If the Self You’re Trying to Improve Isn’t There?

The podcast series explores a game-changing understanding of the human mind that operates “Before Psychology” — the secret source that exponentially increases peace, performance, and potential for any individual or organisation. What if a huge amount of human stress, striving, and psychological effort comes from trying to fix, improve, and manage a self that isn’t actually what we think it is? Are you ready to explore that now? In this episode of the Quality of Mind: Transforming Business podcast, Piers is joined once again by regular guest and fellow Quality of Mind collaborator Katrijn Van Oudheudsen to explore her newly republished book, Seeing No Self. At a time when modern culture increasingly promotes self-optimisation, productivity hacks, and constant self-improvement, this conversation questions a deeper assumption behind it all: the idea that we are a separate psychological self who must constantly be fixed, improved, and managed. Through the lens of Direct Inquiry, Katrijn explains why this belief sits at the root of much unnecessary stress, pressure, and psychological effort — and how investigating our experience directly can reveal something very different. Rather than offering another philosophy, mindset technique, or spiritual belief system, Seeing No Self invites readers to explore a practical and experiential approach to discovering what we actually are before the psychological identity we spend so much energy maintaining. The conversation explores why this understanding is becoming increasingly relevant in a culture driven by identity, performance pressure, and personal responsibility — and why direct inquiry offers a simple yet powerful way to look beyond it. Key Discussion Takeaways The modern self-improvement culture can unintentionally reinforce psychological pressure The belief in a separate self creates unnecessary stress and identity management Direct Inquiry offers a practical way to investigate experience rather than adopt beliefs Seeing through the illusion of the self reveals natural peace, intelligence, and potential This understanding is relevant not only for wellbeing but also for leadership and performance Key Chapters include: 00:00 The Pressure of Modern Self-Improvement 03:30 What “Seeing No Self” Actually Means 04:40 The Hidden Resource Behind the Psychological Self 07:00 Why This Understanding Is Relevant for Everyone 10:50 The Cultural Pressure to Improve Ourselves 15:40 What Direct Inquiry Really Is 27:10 Why the Illusion of Self Is More Fragile Than It Appears 38:00 Direct Inquiry vs Traditional Spiritual Approaches 42:00 Why Most People Avoid Looking Directly 44:40 Why Inquiry Is Simpler Than We Think 46:50 Who This Book Is (and Isn’t) For Curious — want to know more? Buy, read and review the book now. You can find out more about Katrijn Van Oudheusden and her work on Daily Non-Duality Substack . Explore all things Quality of Mind at 3-minute Quality of Mind Quiz Audio Intro Short Course Get started with the e-book. YouTube Explainer — What is Before Psychology? Watch past clients talk about the power of Quality of Mind here. Follow Piers Thurston on LinkedIn for regular posts and reflections.

You can listen to What If the Self You’re Trying to Improve Isn’t There? online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

What If the Self You’re Trying to Improve Isn’t There? is an episode from Quality of Mind-Transforming Business by Piers Thurston Making Change Work.

This episode is 54:38 long.

This episode was published on Mar 6, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Quality of Mind-Transforming Business when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.