I brought up that example about money only so I could show an example how I see the self improvement argument. Regarding the line about egoism - Well, I do stand by it. As for example - I'm fine that I'm not very good at sports. I don't feel bad and I don't care that more sporty people consider that I should move more. I'm not trying to live up to their standards - but I'm not saying I'm perfect the way I am. I know that I would feel better if I did sports more. If I would say that everyones perfect the way they are and I don't need to do sports due to that, I'd have to be egoist - I wont take up sports and I will sit on my ass playing games and I'll be happy - but this doesn't make the fact I need to move to be healthier obsolete. Also someone not wanting to go to University because they don't plan on going into management or office work is fine. And just because some graduates say that you need University no matter what doesn't mean you should go and study. But you can't really go and say that it's completely useless and people shouldn't do it because it wasn't for you. As in - just because Moorjani has lived her life by trying to be liked by others, doesn't mean "becoming better" is some kind of horrible thing that destroys our personalities - it's personal journey and maturity of some kind - understanding you are not perfect, but you are good as long as you feel like you are good.

I suppose I might be interpreting the quote a bit different then you as well.

We seem to believe that we constantly have to work on ourselves to improve ourselves and become "better". But the question is, "better by whose standards?"

This line already does it for me - it seems like she already associates improving with conforming to societies norms. And it ends with negative and tragic example how she gets cancer from this "process" of improving. And that's what I said in the beginning - self improvement is becoming a better version of yourself - be yourself if you want to be, but improvement isn't only by some external factors that ruin your life. It's within yourself. I'm not really against the quote with all fours as it might seem from lengthy discussion - I just think it leaves out an important part about self improvement that people should take into consideration (not just the negative stuff about how society deems you to be different and "better"). It kind of boils down to being very shallow phrase in my opinion and it's easy to find things to disagree with it.

And I really want to bring up the money argument again - "money doesn't bring you happiness" - it situates pursuit of money to be something you shouldn't do. As in her quote - improvement is made into something bad (as in that's something society is pressuring on you, you shouldn't do it). I understand I'm probably seeing more into the quote as I should - but isn't these "motivational"
quotes exactly meant to be like that - it's supposed to be something that makes us think more about life.

I love to have such discussions - makes you think about stuff. You can see what other people think and I see such moments as little self improvement episodes where I can be either convinced by someone else to perceive something differently or I can be that someone
So I hope OP doesn't mind us having a little discussion about quote he posted with the GA

But becoming "better", just by the slightest margin is always possible.

And this is basically what I meant - there's always something to improve within yourself. it's enough for you to realize that - you don't need to do something just because others say you need to. Introverts don't need to ruin their mood just to be a better speaker because extroverts say everyone has to speak good publicly. But is it really that bad for and introvert to improve his public speech skills and have a great skill (despite it probably being difficult to achieve).

Laziness as such is very bad characteristic in my opinion. In the end there are things you must do - you have to work, you have to eat, you have to take care of yourself. You can't just be lazy POS and sleep in bed all they and think you are perfect.
Then again - if you for example spend a weekend playing games because you love to do that - is it or is it not laziness ? It is by other standards but it is not for you because it's a hobby of yours - you enjoy "throwing that time away". So there is a fine line I think. Still - I know that I must work harder. I have my masters thesis to write, I have a start up I'm trying to build and I have a decent job where I get great experience. My laziness (which I enjoy participating in) is really intervening with my professional life - so where is that line of me trying to better by societies standards and me wanting to improve myself because I want to (as I know I can do better in all the activities I take up)..

In the end - I think I just find the quote to be shallow and unprofessional. It throws some easy phrases for people to feel better about themselves but it doesn't touch upon what it should actually give the people.