Which self-eating brain type are you?
⏰ As of today, we’re 47.08% of our way through 2024
Issue #103: let your kid chill out this summer, the National Weather Service’s experimental HeatRisk site, and a self-sabotage quiz
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“You might think that being good at things meant feeling good about those things, but unfortunately — for lots of reasons — the opposite often seems to be true,” begins career coach
in a Medium story about why we sometimes undermine our own talents.We worry we’re not good enough when we definitely are. We hide or run or overwork ourselves instead of just calmly doing our thing. Everyone does this, but in Elliott’s nearly 20 years of coaching she’s found it’s even more true of high-achievers.
The essay, published last fall, hit home with me and a few thousand others — including many readers who felt very seen by Elliott’s catalog of “self-eating brain types,” aka specific genres of overachievers and how each one gets in their own way:
🚚 The Over-Deliverer
Does more than humanly possible. They’re usually the first to get something done… and the first to burn out. They resist growth by accomplishing something — anything! — instead of taking a beat to ask themselves what they want in life. (This might be me.)
What they need: To locate and embrace a version of themselves outside of work.
🌀 The Spin-Cycler
Has 738 ideas at any given time. Is always starting something new, yet also keeps avoiding The Big Thing They Really Want to Do (write a book, travel, vlog). They get in their own way by starting and aborting new projects.
What they need: To dismantle whatever makes doing The Big Thing intolerable.
🚧 The Upper-Limiter
More powerful than they’re letting on. Consistently scared of embracing their power and just doing sh*t. Asks for help when they don’t need it. Asking for permission is how they self-sabotage.
What they need: Self-trust.
😅 The White-Knuckler
Is doing great but constantly feels like they’re going to get fired. Criticism and competition sends them spiraling. They get in their way by numbing themselves.
What they need: Emotional safety.
If you want to resolve your internal resistance, you’ve got to start clocking your own patterns. Elliott observes: “Pattern recognition is how we move from the general sense that things are not working to a specific account of exactly what in our brains is preventing us from using our skills with ease — and why.” Curious what self-eating brain type you might be? Take the quiz.
What else we’re reading
- The heat index — which combines heat with humidity to approximate how air feels on your body — reached 103° Fahrenheit in parts of Texas, Florida, and New York this week. If you’re heading outside, retired cardiologist says rehydrating with water is good, but not good enough. You also need electrolytes — which are not just an invention of the sports drink industry! They’re essential minerals like sodium, calcium, and potassium that you sweat out in the heat. And if you want to get a general sense of how hot various parts of the U.S. are right now, check the National Weather Service’s experimental new tool, HeatRisk.
- There’s a lot of nuance to Juneteenth, which we covered on Wednesday: It’s known as “emancipation day” in Texas, but freedom came with caveats. Enslaved people were told, essentially: You’re free, but don’t go anywhere, just keep working for your former enslavers. Historian summarizes the holiday’s conflicted history: “The more accurate description of Juneteenth 1865 was the day they were officially informed of an old proclamation, but to get back to work, and not call us, we’ll call you.”
- , who homeschooled her kids through high school: Don’t stress if all your kid wants to do this summer is play minecraft or read super easy books. Let them do stuff that comes easy to them; it’s how they’ll build a better foundation to do hard things in the fall.
Your daily dose of practical wisdom: on success
A lesson from bestselling author Ryan Holiday: “If success — more knowledge, more ability, more money, a promotion, whatever — doesn’t make you a better person, it’s not success.”
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