Your dog doesn’t care about your GPA. Some love is just there for you coming through the door.

Most attention you receive is conditional on performance in some way, which makes it easy to assume all of it is. An animal at the door is responding to your existence and nothing else, and the shock of that is a useful reminder that unconditional regard is a real category. The same thing exists in some human relationships, usually the quiet ones.

Notice who is glad to see you on a day you achieved nothing. Spend time with them without bringing news or updates. Being valued for presence rather than output is worth practicing, because it is easy to forget it is possible.