Humiliation
We’ve all experienced this feeling whether it’s the slight tinge of embarrassment or shame from making a mistake. It’s that not-so-warm-fuzzy feeling when someone points out you effed up, because they don’t know how to read the room or did that intentionally to make you feel bad.
It’s not a great feeling — no one wants to feel this way.
But it happens. And it happens all the time. Mistakes happen. We all look like a fool at some point or another. Some of us don’t care what others think about us. We just don’t hold ourselves in that high esteem. It’s not because we don’t have high self-esteem, it’s perhaps we have too much self-esteem that we simply are indifferent on what people say about us behind our backs.
Honing in on this skill is not easy. Our natural, human tendency is to want people to like you because you see all the great benefits that come with it (the path of least resistance, people want to work with you and be around you, less tension in the room). All good things that we want in our life.
But you do lose a little part of yourself if you’re not speaking what’s on your mind and using your voice. Don’t be afraid to look stupid. Honestly, who gives a damn. The humiliating feeling is fleeting.
Whenever self-doubt creeps in, I think about how Steve Jobs got fired by the very own company he started.
How’s that for embarrassment?
