Living up to our own demands on ourselves

The pressure we put on ourselves to be special has never been greater. 

Thanks to the chorus of voices from parents, teachers, authority figures, corporate marketers and mass media brainwashers, we’ve spent the past several decades constantly adhering to a superhuman expectation of originality. 

And as a result, we get down on ourselves for not being special, standing out and doing remarkable things. We torture ourselves for falling short. 

But the reality is, very few people are likely to be the most or the best or the world’s foremost expert at anything. 

And so, perhaps it’s time to let the air out of that balloon. To start adopting more realistic and compassionate standards for ourselves. Maybe even embrace the liberation of exquisite ordinariness. 

I’m reminded of a brilliant commencement speech by the president of a corporation that makes war robots. 

In world where individual accomplishment is praised above all else, he said, people create artificial attempts to attract attention. But it’s just a mass obsession with petty specialness. Individual differentiation for its own sake. And it’s a recipe for disaster. 

Proving, remarkability without purpose and consistency is just a stunt. That there are more important things in life than being amazing. 

Besides, since when did we decide that being special solidified our standing with the gods? Who runs this remarkability committee that says if you’re not the most gifted and talented person who ever lived, you’re an underachieving bag of shit? 

I understand that human being have a competitive code in their chromosomes, but if job number one is being number one, then we’re in for a world of disappointment, fatigue and insecurity. 

Say the following mantra with me. 

I no longer feel the peer pressure of having to do that anymore. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…  

Who were you before the world told you that you weren’t enough?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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Namaste.