I really hate the expression "be your best self." It promotes an external, competitive, airbrushy selfhood that makes me feel anxious (which, I suspect, is the point) & rebellious (probably not the point). "Be your best self" says "because you sure as hell ain't her right now."

Who is this person? Your Best Self? Because she seems like your very worst friend, raising an eyebrow when you skip the gym, judging you for eating a cookie: "Is that what your best self would do?" Fuck you, I want to say, my best self loves cookies.

Why does your Best Self seem to look like everyone else, act like everyone else, & shop like everyone else? Is it possible this so-called Best Self is actually a fabrication of consumer culture, the same impulse magazines use to sell makeup & clothes & weirdly expensive candles?