Starting off strong, aren't we? Our first concern is about pressures and how it's really just a pain in the neck sometimes. Over the course of the next few chapters, we will be analyzing how pressure truly affects the human mind and we'll be providing a few anecdotes on what these things do to us.
Self-pressure, debatably the greatest enemy in an adolescent career. "Self-pressure" as a term is usually quite vague, so remember, if we don't cover every single tiny corner of this subject, it's because we try to limit guesswork on subjects we don't have completely researched or experienced.
To pressure yourself is to put yourself under your own restrictions, rules, and expectations. In healthy, good doses, self-pressure gets people motivated and promotes independence. Too much self-pressure, however, leads to overwhelmingly high expectations and self-deprecation. Now, there's a definitive line between true self-deprecation and fishing for compliments, and unfortunately, the accusations mistaking the two become increasingly common.
Extreme self-pressure isn't good for anyone and it develops the mindset that nothing you do can be good enough. In a white-knuckle society that's always pushing you to be "better, better, better", it's easy to get caught up in the storm of your own head. Truth be told, most advances to "Relax and be content with your current work," is too often associated with "You're being lazy and you're not willing to improve yourself!"
How do you know if you're being too hard on yourself? Well, honestly, we can't definitively give answers. Obviously, pushing yourself is good for expanding your horizons and there will always be adversity in the way of pursuing your goals, but what about the aforementioned self-deprecation?
Do most of your jokes rely on hurting yourself or bringing your talents down to lift others up? Real self-deprecation slips out because whoever says it truly believes that it's true. Hence, clear evidence of extreme self-pressure.
Confession time, and our first anecdote of this book, this excerpt was brought to you by the insomniac author themselves, Raileo:
"It's hard to bring yourself to the point where you can say, 'Okay, I can improve this later, for now, it's alright'. It's even harder to say, 'I'm proud of this and I'm ready to show the world what I'm proud of.' I can say I have never been proud of any of my artistic works, and that's because I'm never satisfied with them. I've spent sleepless nights tossing and turning, imagining a picture-perfect image that is impossible. It's perfectly fine to say that you can improve but there's a line and it's unhealthy to cross it. It's unhealthy to say 'None of this is good enough and I need to get this perfect.' It's been told several times that this is the mindset of a mindset, of a winner, of some of the best leaders in society. It's hard to beat that stigma out of your mind, but it's okay to be satisfied with your work. It's okay to say, 'I like what I've done, I'm proud of what I've done.' The balance between narcissim and self-deprecation is a thin tightrope, so I guess we all need to become circus legends to walk across."
Self-pressure, again, is good in healthy doses. Improving yourself is always a good thing, but although it may be hard to accept, saying you're proud of what you've done isn't narcissistic or bragging. Avoid self-deprecation when it isn't true, and it's good to be satisfied with something you're truly happy with.
Developing a healthier mindset starts with accepting and improving yourself in healthier ways, not just throwing yourself to the wolves every time you make a mistake.
Best regards,
MinorlyConcerned
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Minor Concerns
Non-FictionJust a couple of minor concerns discussed by a couple of minors with concerns, adding in some minorly concerning issues, and also concerningly aware minors. (Cover is original- Made by Sonny Appleseed)
