Former-Self Contempt
How do I deal with former-self contempt?
Former-self contempt is refusing to do the small, beginner-level version of something you used to be genuinely good at, because performing a lesser version feels like an insult to who you used to be. So instead of one modest rep, you do nothing at all, which only widens the gap between past and present.
Zero reps is the actual insult. The small version was never the problem.
What to do about it
Do the small, unimpressive version today — the one rep, the one page, the one call — without comparing it to what you used to manage.
Books that work on this
Each is a 90-day programme. Start with the first — later books assume the work in the earlier ones.
Bury The Version$6.99
Same Name Better$6.99
The Comeback Blueprint$6.99
Rock Bottom Floor$6.99
The Restart Protocol$6.99
Failure Math$6.99
No One Coming$6.99
Burn The Receipts$6.99Part of the Comeback series.
How people say it
Nobody looks this up by its clinical name. These are the ways it actually gets said.
- I used to be so much better at this and now I can’t even start
- doing the beginner version feels humiliating
- I refuse to do a watered-down version of what I used to do
- starting small feels like an insult to who I was
- I’d rather do nothing than do it badly
- I can’t go back to basics after being good at this once
- it feels pathetic to start over from the beginning
Written by Brian Spiker, who has run Spiker Carpet and Tile Care since 2013 — the receipts. More terms in the encyclopedia.