No man can produce great things who is not thoroughly sincere in dealing with himself.

Nothing good gets built on a foundation of private flattery. If you cannot say plainly to yourself that a piece of work is weak, or that you took the easy route, you will keep protecting the flaw instead of fixing it. Self-deception is comfortable in the short run and expensive in the long one, because the thing you would not look at is the thing that limits you.

Ask one honest question about your current work: where exactly is it thin. Write the answer down without softening it, and spend this week on that part rather than on the parts that are already good.