I think there's a tendency for overachievers to see self-compassion as "going easy" on yourself.

However, it's very useful to recognize that self-criticism is the _emotional_ self giving feedback, rather than the _logical_ self. Obviously, this is the worst self to receive feedback from!

I think once you can reconceptualize this, you see self-criticism as the dark half of constructive feedback. You can practice self-compassion, yet still independently recognize that you can logically focus on improvement (without the emotional criticism).