Growing weary of these "give yourself more grace" articles tbh.
> 1. Untangle your self-worth and your work
I think a lot of people propose to themselves static mindsets about how they currently "feel". You might currently feel that your self worth and your work are conflated into one thing, and that can be motivating, but it won't last forever. So what do you do knowing that what you're feeling won't last forever? You ride it out and experience the highs/lows of the feeling as it transpires as there is a good chance that the "feeling" will evaporate much sooner than you expect.
Anecdote: For the first couple years of my career I _did_ have conflated feelings of self worth and work. My work was my life for a couple years, and you know what? I don't regret it. It helped establish a good pace, set me leagues apart from my colleagues in terms of experience and knowledge, and landed me far beyond where I thought I could be after graduating. Were there downsides? Absolutely. Would I do anything differently? No, because there would be downsides there too and in the set of all possible options, I think I chose the best one.
There is nothing wrong with trying hard.
There is nothing wrong with trying hard for long periods of time.
There is nothing wrong with experiencing burnout.
There is nothing wrong with working to overcome burnout.
These attitudes have negative consequences. Trying to avoid them also has negative consequences. You're going to experience negative consequences, and that's okay.
> 1. Untangle your self-worth and your work
I think a lot of people propose to themselves static mindsets about how they currently "feel". You might currently feel that your self worth and your work are conflated into one thing, and that can be motivating, but it won't last forever. So what do you do knowing that what you're feeling won't last forever? You ride it out and experience the highs/lows of the feeling as it transpires as there is a good chance that the "feeling" will evaporate much sooner than you expect.
Anecdote: For the first couple years of my career I _did_ have conflated feelings of self worth and work. My work was my life for a couple years, and you know what? I don't regret it. It helped establish a good pace, set me leagues apart from my colleagues in terms of experience and knowledge, and landed me far beyond where I thought I could be after graduating. Were there downsides? Absolutely. Would I do anything differently? No, because there would be downsides there too and in the set of all possible options, I think I chose the best one.
There is nothing wrong with trying hard.
There is nothing wrong with trying hard for long periods of time.
There is nothing wrong with experiencing burnout.
There is nothing wrong with working to overcome burnout.
These attitudes have negative consequences. Trying to avoid them also has negative consequences. You're going to experience negative consequences, and that's okay.