Have you ever been somewhere and just felt like you weren’t good enough? They’re usually ego-filled places where people will end a conversation if you haven’t caught their attention in 5 seconds by name dropping a flashy company.
These rooms make us feel inferior. They make us feel like we don’t belong.
I’ve been in many such rooms and I always leave thinking that I need to get better. I need to do more, be more interesting and strive harder. Some of those feelings are good, but sometimes those urges are just wrong. The thing about more is that more is never enough.
The motivation to impress others, and feel superior is not a sustainable and healthy drive. That feeling is fueled by a competitive, scarce, fixed-pie mindset. When we feel the need to be better than others it’s for our ego’s sake. When that’s the case, we’re just perpetuating the problem.
You don’t have to be more or yell louder or buy a nicer watch. You’re probably just in the wrong place. “Oh this room is for jerks who only care about how expensive your car is? Sorry, I must have opened the wrong door. I’m looking for people who want to build thriving communities around creative education.”
Next time you feel like you need to change who are you, take a step back and realize you need to try another room.