"The sad truth is that excellence makes people nervous." - Shana Alexander
Why are many of us so afraid of other people's virtue, great accomplishments, and success?
The easy answer is that we envy the greats; that we don't like how we look when compared to them. We resent people who can do what we cannot do ourselves.
But could it be that, on the contrary, we do see a little of ourselves in great people? Perhaps what bugs us is that we know we could do great things too, but haven't?
When you get right down to it, there is no reason hundreds of thousands of people can publish their mediocre books, but you cannot write and publish your good one ... except that they believe in themselves and have put in the work.
There is no reason a refugee from Syria can come to the U.S. with nothing but the clothes on her back and little to no English and build a business empire, but you cannot ... except she believes in herself and has put in the work.
There is no reason a college dropout can invent a toilet cheap and efficient enough to enable dirt-poor third world people to stop defecating and urinating in their drinking water supplies ... saving millions of lives ... but you cannot ... except he believes in himself and has put in the work ...
... And you don't believe in yourself, or haven't put in the work, or both.
Yet you do have reason to believe in yourself. You have survived in a brutal world for many years. When you needed to, you found inner strength you didn't know you had. You have never, ever, given yourself enough credit for this. None of us have.
That ideal you have ... that dream ... Yes, that one. It is within your reach.
Believe in yourself. And put in the work.
You can.
