Under the lash

If we’re doing something because we feel we should, we are wrongly motivated.

Self-criticism

We do not come naturally to self-criticism. We are taught how to do it. Instruction begins shortly after we dream ourselves into existence. Today, our instructors—our coaches and catechists, our mums and dads, everyone who rewarded or punished us—have mostly dematerialized. But we still hear their voices. Or, more likely, their voices have coalesced into one Voice, one persevering, indefatigable finger-pointing Critic. Self-criticism is the first and fundamental error. Stop it.