The Downside of Always Leveling Up: When Growth Stops Feeling Good
Everywhere you look, someone is talking about growth. Podcasts, self-help books, and social media feeds are full of people chasing the next big version of themselves. You’re told to read, learn, do, and be more. It sounds motivating, right? Yet somewhere along the way, that excitement about getting better can start to feel like pressure. When personal growth becomes a competition, it stops feeling like progress and starts feeling like a burden. A growth mindset can be empowering—it helps us believe we can improve at almost anything with effort and learning. But if you’re constantly measuring yourself against your next milestone, you might miss the beauty of simply being where you are. Growth isn’t supposed to make you anxious. It’s supposed to make you alive. When Motivation Turns Into Pressure Take a moment and think about how often you tell yourself you “should” be improving. You should exercise, read more books, start that side hustle, or learn a new language. The idea of self-bet...