The Only Thing to Do

now. Let’s say that you are wishing you could change yourself. But changing yourself means giving up on, denying, and never again showing the face of “yourself until now,” as if you were sending it to its grave, in effect. Because once you have done that, you will be reborn as your “new self” at last. Now, regardless of how dissatisfied you may be

While it can be psychologically and financially difficult to depart from the race toward conventional rewards after a lifetime working with one mind-set, doing so is imperative to succeeding in the long term. Otherwise, you will struggle to sustain your long-term projects amidst the desire to be validated in the near term.

"Of course, I did a good job; I worked hard enough at it. And why did I do it? Because "When change is inevitable, we struggle most to keep what we value most." Illusions Only Make It Worse

Whether people change their mindset in order to further their career, heal from a loss, help their children thrive, lose weight, or control their anger, change needs to be maintained. It’s amazing—once a problem improves, people often stop doing what caused it to improve. Once you feel better, you stop taking your medicine. But change doesn’t work

I stopped needing to run from myself. But this process is hard and when people tell me they are scared of losing their edge, this is what they are really afraid of. They fear letting go of strategies, often enacted years ago, that help them feel safe, and that let them avoid facing what’s underneath. They are uncomfortable not having a plan and hav

This is why you can’t get too attached to one version of your identity. Progress requires unlearning. Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity.