A great dive into that balance between acceptance and improvement can be heard in the conversation between Brené Brown and Tim Ferriss. A great episode throughout. About her Ted talks, vulnerability and shame. But from minute 31 it really gets into that balance. How do you keep your drive to compete when you accept that you are enough? Her point is that you need to be centered in acceptance in order to have a healthy competitiveness. It unleashes her to strive for excellence. Not acting from that center results in a need for validation. And I couldn’t agree more.