Why high achievers can’t just ‘be nicer’ to themselves

If you’re a high achiever, you’ve probably been told—in various formats and with varying degrees of sincerity—to be kinder to yourself. Choose kindness. You are enough. For most, that advice likely lands somewhere between mildly irritating and completely useless. This has nothing to do with who you are. It’s a problem with how mainstream self-compassion is being taught without considering the state or pace of the world.  The dominant narrative assumes that self-compassion is a feeling you can…