As humans, in recent decades, we have been sold the idea that we deserve everything, that we all are "special",that life is just waiting for us to ask for things and it will give us everything, that when we wish for something with our hearts the universe will conspire to provide us with that... but it just doesn’t work that way.
The problem with assuming ourselves as being special, unique and unrepeatable, is that we feed our ego, we put a barrier before others that makes us believe that no one has the right to tell us that we are wrong; we label ourselves and simply say "this is who I am, whether you like it or not.”.
We can be very good at something. You may be an expert, you could even have masters and doctorates in one or more fields, yet, there will always be a thousand subjects you are just really bad at.
As a result of believing ourselves experts in a subject, we stop learning, we choose to feed our ego day after day, and it begins to grow. We want to give lectures to those we consider "ignorant", and we refuse to listen to them instead. I recently heard a speaker who proudly stated, "I don't attend conferences, I deliver them!" And this is the greatest evidence of arrogance and a clear example of how we limit the growth of our brain. It just seems stupid to me.
Why? It is simple, if in your 20s, 30s, 50s ... or 80s you think you have nothing else to learn about a subject, at that moment you become mediocre. And the worst thing is that we transfer that particular label to everything in life! Come on, seriously?!
There are thousands of topics, activities, skills that we just don't master, in which we are lousy, simply mediocre,and if we never accept it, we will never improve. That is why it is said that "the great goals are achieved by the dissatisfied",that is why the great dreams are reached by the rebels, the curious, those who take their passion to the limits where the average does not want to strive, where the label of "I'm already over the top"stops many.
My personal mantra is Socrates’ famous phrase "I know that I know nothing"since I would not put my hand in the fire for my own beliefs because I could be wrong. Another expression that I use a lot to keep my ego at bay is "I am only a human being",because I recognize my limitations, but I also strive to be better every day.
Accepting that we are simply humanthat we have a natural tendency to stay in the comfort zone,that the labels we put on are rather illustrative and not limiting statements, that we all tend to the path of least resistance, recognizing ourselves as mediocre in endless things, and that as long as there is life we can strive to learn and unlearn, we will be able to achieve all the objectives that we set for ourselves.
On this topic there is a book in particular that I really liked, which addresses the issue of labels and how we should simply eradicate them from our lives.
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Imagen: Freepik.com | Usuario: @onlyyouq
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