SCRIPT CHECK · 60 SECONDS
Five quick questions show how often it appears, how believable it feels, and what it makes you avoid. You’ll get one private next step.
This is not a diagnosis and there is no pass or fail. It measures the current frequency, credibility, and behavioral cost of “I used to be good at this — now I can't do anything right”, including the private rule underneath it: If I truly had this skill, it would still come easily now. If it takes effort, mistakes, or extra time, then the old competence must not have been real.
QUIET
“I used to be good at this — now I can't do anything right” appears, but it rarely gets the final say. Keep this line available for higher-pressure moments: “The meter saying I’m incompetent is running on the same depleted battery as everything else.”
PRESENT
“I used to be good at this — now I can't do anything right” wins some small decisions before you catch it. Your useful interruption is: “This output is what burnout looks like, not what I am.”
ACTIVE
“I used to be good at this — now I can't do anything right” is shaping action often enough to deserve a deliberate counterexample. Start privately and concretely: Open one old piece of work you still respect and one recent draft. Spend under 10 minutes noting, on paper or in a note, three differences you can attribute to conditions rather than character.
DOMINANT
Right now, “I used to be good at this — now I can't do anything right” is steering many of the moments you measured. That is a pattern reading, not a diagnosis or character verdict. Begin with one reversible receipt: Open one old piece of work you still respect and one recent draft. Spend under 10 minutes noting, on paper or in a note, three differences you can attribute to conditions rather than character.