The essence of all our articles
Insights
… honestly labelled: what is proven, what is a finding, what is worldview?
Every article on this site grows out of its own research — and not everything in it carries the same weight. This overview gathers the core insights and labels honestly what they stand on: replicated research, a single study finding, a working model, or personal conviction. The page grows with every new article.
The four labels
Repeatedly replicated research — meta-analyses or many independent studies.
Single good studies. To be taken seriously, but with limits — which are stated.
Working models and perspectives — helpful, but not scientifically confirmed. We say so.
Wolfgang's personal stance from practice — labelled as exactly that.
Proven — replicated research
Insights standing on meta-analyses or repeatedly replicated experiments.
Touch reliably improves wellbeing (meta-analysis of over 130 studies, around 10,000 participants). How often counts for more than how long — and for mental wellbeing, a human beats an object.
My take:The hug is the smallest unit of lived connection — and often the easiest first step back towards each other.
Gratitude exercises work — but modestly: the classic three-things list was indistinguishable from an equivalent writing exercise. Spoken gratitude changes more, and the larger part of the effect lands with the other person.
My take:Tell the person. The notebook is the detour.
We reliably overlook what our focus is not prepared for — even a gorilla in plain sight (replicated many times).
My take:Clarity does not start with looking harder, but with a better question.
People confidently justify decisions they demonstrably never made. Our self-reports about our own why are astonishingly unreliable.
My take:Your first “why” is a hypothesis — treat it as one.
Study finding — good, but single
Findings from single, well-made studies. The limits are stated explicitly.
In the study, a new behaviour took a median of about 66 days to feel automatic — with a range from 18 to over 250 days. Missing a single day did not measurably set the process back.
My take:It is not the perfect streak that changes you, but the restarting.
An experiment with 759 people shows: whether a favour triggers gratitude or a sense of owing is decided not by the size of the gesture — but by whether the intention behind it can be read.
My take:When you give, let your intention be visible. When you receive, check whether there really is a bill — often there is none.
The popular self-statements are hardly what the research examined. What shows: a sentence carries when it has a concrete trigger, is small enough to be believed — and is allowed not to be entirely true yet.
My take:Don't say it a hundred times — couple it once, properly.
Randomised pilot study with 127 participants: on average they moved 47% closer to their own goals within 14 days (goal attainment, no health claim).
My take:A pilot study is a beginning, not a keystone — but it matches what I see in sessions.
Model & worldview — perspective, not proof
Working models that are good to work with — and worldviews that inspire. They are not scientifically confirmed, and that is exactly what we say.
A working model: emotion as fast reflex, feeling as conscious processing — and in between, the space where choice becomes possible.
My take:For me the most useful model of self-leadership: the space in between is yours.
A metaphor, supported by habit research: thoughts follow carved channels. A new bed is not dug by insight but by repetition.
My take:Inner calm is not a circumstance but a path you walk more often.
The hypothesis of a memory in nature. Fascinating thinking — but not scientifically accepted; robust replications are missing.
My take:I find the question more valuable than the certainty: as a worldview it inspires me, as proof I do not cite it.
The model behind my work: personal patterns viewed as information. A model of thought with historical roots — not a proven mechanism.
My take:I work with it daily and still say honestly: it is a model. A mirror — not an oracle.
Conviction — from practice
Not studies but stance — after many years of working with people.
No. A coach does not need the perfect life, but authenticity and strategy — and the willingness to work on their own material.
My take:My honest conviction after years in this profession: whoever claims to be finished has stopped looking.
The myth check
Six numbers and rules everyone knows — and what the research made of them.
✗ Myth
“21 days and the new habit sticks.”
✓ Instead
The number does not come from habit research. Measured: a median of 66 days, range 18 to over 250.
To the 66-day study →✗ Myth
“95% of your thinking runs unconsciously.”
✓ Instead
A rule of thumb from a 1999 book, not a measurement — the share cannot be measured in principle.
To the subconscious page →✗ Myth
“A hug has to last 20 seconds.”
✓ Instead
The 20 seconds are a lab protocol, not a threshold. Even 5–10 seconds feel right — and more often counts for more than longer.
To the hugging article →✗ Myth
“Humans need 8 hugs a day.”
✓ Instead
A bon mot by family therapist Virginia Satir — not a study. There is no daily dose.
To the hugging article →✗ Myth
“Writing down three things at night makes you happy.”
✓ Instead
In the best studies, the list was indistinguishable from a neutral writing exercise. Spoken gratitude — to a real person — changes more.
To the gratitude article →✗ Myth
“Say it to yourself a hundred times and you'll believe it.”
✓ Instead
Mere repetition is barely studied and carries little. What carries: a concrete trigger and a sentence small enough to be believed.
To the affirmations article →And what does this mean for you?
Insights are the beginning — but which pattern is at work in you right now is written in no meta-analysis. That is exactly what the free first analysis is for: you describe your situation, I take a look, and you receive three personal impulses with a concrete starting point.