The high stakes of this time of year can lead to despair. A little bit of self-knowledge and creativity can go a long way in fixing that.

Doing mitzvos primarily because Hashem said to is the right way to go. There still may be another piece to puzzle though.

There are some conflicting messages when it comes to doing mitzvos. Are we supposed to relate to them or not?

Different mehalchim exist in Yiddishkeit. Understanding how can give us some helpful context.

Looking at ideas individually is easy. Putting them into one framework is the real challenge.

Hardcore old-fashioned mussar seems to depress us. Are we just weak or is it something else?

The Baalei Mussar recognized the pursuit of pleasure as basic to human identity. Perhaps we don't give it enough attention.

We don't have great associations with mussar. Understanding the whole ideology would help a lot.