Continuous Improvement Without Self-Destruction

The paradox: Being hungry to improve without being self-critical. Being open to feedback without making every piece of criticism evidence that you're failing.

The problem: Most PMs know they should be self-reflective. They know they should want to get better. But they can't separate "this meeting didn't go well" from "I'm not good at this."

What great PMs do differently: They're ruthlessly self-reflective without being self-destructive. They can look at what went wrong and figure out how to do it better next time without spiraling.

The distinction:

• •✅ "That meeting was clunky, here's what I'll do differently next time"
• •❌ "That meeting was clunky, I'm bad at my job"

The meta-skill: Learning to observe your work objectively without tying your self-worth to the outcome. You're not your product. You're not your last meeting. You're a person getting better at a hard job.