One of the greatest obstacles to improvement is ego. If the idea of getting better — learning new ways to do things, new strategies to deal with people, new ways to motivate ourselves — is thought of as an implicit criticism that we weren’t good enough before, we are likely to reject it. That you are a better parent, manager or person now doesn’t
mean you were bad or inadequate before. The key is to welcome personal growth as proof of your strength, not evidence of prior weakness. The phrase “You don’t have to be sick to get better” simply means that improvement is always possible. It is also always desirable.