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The tension between mainstream values and counter-cultural values makes auto-evaluation tricky if you have ambivalent and conflicting criteria. Are you self-sabotaging yourself by being successful in a business or job or is that sabotaging anarchy by selling out if you neglect anarchist projects or aspirations? Is collaborating with liberals in activism to achieve a reform a success or is it working against the anarchist cause by reinforcing these liberal notions of government, progress and humanism? Is a successful attack that gets you a life sentence in jail self-sabotage or anarchist success? The own person will have their own criteria, and others will judge too.

Previous TOTW about embarrassments was more about making fun, but if you're the one failing or someone you care about then the critique is from a more compassionate perspective, about trying to help and not mocking or tearing down. The TOTW about anarchist inspirations could show examples of the things some anarchist might want to achieve and ways to do it.

Sometimes pressures or standards set by society, mainstream society or the milieu, makes people feel bad when they can't reach these standards, there's the archetype of the over-achiever and under-achiever. There's a dynamic of avoiding failure -the first by trying hard, the second by not even trying - and seeking validation. If someone is stuck in avoiding trying things and not reaching out, then somehow (how in each case, i don't know) they should start doing things and reaching out. But in the case of those stuck in a scene or group that is very demanding and judging and if they're over-working themselves to meet some ideal standards, to gain or maintain acceptance (clout, social capital), then they need to do less things to cut down on being a workaholic, and stop needing constant contact and validation from these people, in that case distance would help.

If someone is depressed or anxious, they might resort to substance abuse or self-harm to cope, and there's an endless list of unhealthy coping mechanisms (like eating disorders, or pushing people away from you) that are forms of self-sabotage. But how can illegalist anarchists in clandestinity, for example, trust anyone with their existential issues, their moral dilemmas, their personal traumas, if they're currently doing or thinking of doing things that are illegal and reprehensible by mainstream society? There are no helpful psychology books for this type of people, they are truly alone. Specially those that end up in jail and even in solitary confinement. There are memoirs and letters by people like them, which are the closest thing to a helpful text for them.

People often recommend meditation, different types of philosophy (zen, stoicism, etc), exercise, walking, sports, hobbies, pets, drugs, dancing. All those help, but what can be said from an anarchist perspective that is not just merely repeating what they currently teach psychologists?