Why being your own worst critic is hurting your career
We tend to be our own worst critics.
We focus on what we believe we lack. And we judge our own setbacks much more harshly than we would judge others’ challenges.
Even worse, ruminating on perceived shortcomings drains valuable energy that could be used more productively.
It’s not always easy to treat ourselves with kindness, understanding, and empathy, though.
When people ask me how I’ve built my startup to 4.2 million users, they want me to talk about passion or how much I love what I’m doing.
The truth is I’ve often been my own worst critic across this journey which has been full of ups and downs. And I’ve learned that cultivating self-compassion takes time. It took me 12 years.
Self-compassion is an attitude we can all learn. And it’s also an attitude that I want to model for my teams at JotForm.
I wanted to share a few thoughts on what “self-compassion” means, and how we can actually cultivate more kindness toward ourselves.