Reading Time: 4 minutes In the past few years, I’ve realized this practice of repetitive self-flagellation isn’t really good for my wellbeing and it certainly hasn’t helped my mental health.  I have spent the majority of my time on this planet focused on what I could do better rather than what I’m already doing right. I think that’s kind of the American way. Or late capitalism, or some other lofty social concept or maybe it’s just how our brains are wired.  We use shame to motivate ourselves to do better, to be better. Always working towards some perfect iteration of human existence. One that unfortunately isn’t real, through social media would have you believe otherwise. But the fact remains, being hard on myself has only made me chronically stressed, sometimes miserable, and a lot of unhappy.