you're using self improvement to cope

I see a lot of young people in particular that have these sharp shifts in their lives where they improve and grow rapidly and are almost unrecognizable from who you knew them as just a few years before. What I've noticed in myself is that the internal and external validation, confidence, and feelings of efficacy that such a shift can bring is extremely addictive. To the point that you begin to idolize "self improvement" and create a narrative with it being savior. And yeah maybe that is what got you through a tough time and maybe it has added so much good. But the question is can that pendulum swing too far? Do the returns begin to diminish or even backslide as you continue to enslave yourself to a way of being that should have been momentary? Maybe now the best thing you can do to actually improve yourself is conversely to have more acceptance and grace with your flaws instead. Just something I'm tossing around in my head.