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Hey everyone! I hope you had a great week! I am late in writing this blog as I spent a lot of time working on another project that I will talk about next week. Thus, I’ll try to make this week’s blog will be slightly shorter (probably to your delight), and not about Web3 (definitely to some of y’all’s delight). Instead, I want to focus on a mindset I have taken to heart the older I’ve gotten and have implemented in many aspects of my life, including this blog. This is the idea of not taking yourself too seriously. Let’s dig in!
Quick disclaimer: There are times in this blog when I feel like I toot my own horn more than I like. For the record, I am not trying to flex on anyone, cause I hate when people do that more than anything. It’s just the only way I’m able to get this point across. Ok, glad to clear that up.
Why So Serious?
It can be due to a lot of reasons (increasing divide of the US, social media, me simply getting older), but it seems like most people are taking everything so seriously these days. And it’s not just one thing they take too seriously: it includes everything from their personal image to their social media account posts, to their political opinions, and more. If Heath Ledger was still around (RIP), he would be walking around in full Joker makeup going to random people on the street and telling them this famous line:
The worst spot where you find this type of overly serious behavior is on B School bros’ favorite social media: LinkedIn. In one of my favorite Substack of all time, Why is LinkedIn so Cringe, Trung Phan illustrates the absurdity of the LinkedIn newsfeed where people are saying how grateful and humble they are as they celebrate themselves regarding a job offer they received or an accomplishment they were given (kinda ironic). I mean, you have to be a little narcissistic to write a message like that and not cringe as you write it…
One thing that is always associated with seriousness is becoming older (as it should be) and inversely, being younger is typically associated with being fun. I always hear people reminisce about their college days or express sadness as their time in college comes to an end, associating that period of their lives with fun and carefree experiences. However, the notion that college is the epitome of fun and the real world is devoid of it may be a limiting belief that we have adopted without question. Here’s a quick, extremely complex equation of why I think we take things too seriously as we get older.
So clearly people take themselves too seriously for a multitude of reasons, but it actually can be a lot worse for you than you think.
The Drawbacks of Being Heavy vs. Light-Hearted
Although being extremely serious about oneself can benefit you in some ways (mainly in becoming more like Patrick Bateman), there are actually lots of potential drawbacks to doing so.
Firstly, taking oneself too seriously can lead to an inflated sense of self-importance, which may come across as arrogance or superiority to others. It also may result in a lack of humor and playfulness in life, which are important aspects of human experience. This can make it difficult to build meaningful relationships or connect with others on a genuine level.
Piggybacking off this point, not having this playful or humorous side can lead to a persona that seems inauthentic and fake to others. Trying to constantly project an image of seriousness or perfection can prevent one from being themselves, and in my book, being yourself is the most important piece of advice I recommend people stick to (disclaimer: I am a 23-year-old who doesn't know where he will be housed in 2 months, so take this advice with a grain of salt).
Lastly, taking oneself too seriously may make it challenging to accept feedback or criticism from others as a result of rigid thinking and behavior. One may feel defensive or threatened by feedback given to them by their bosses, peers, family, etc., thus limiting their ability to adapt to new situations or consider alternative perspectives
Although American Psycho Sigma Male memes are popular right now (trust me, I enjoy them too), taking yourself too seriously will move you closer to the psychopath, narcissistic murderer side of the scale, which, by my estimation, is probably not where most people want to be.
Taking Yourself Less Seriously is Actually Seriously Good for You
There are actually many health benefits associated with not taking yourself too seriously. As I am not taking myself too seriously in this blog (or am I), I will admit that all of the following health benefits I will provide come from this NBC article if you want to go in depth. If not, here’s a quick TLDR (too long, didn’t read):
Those who don’t take themselves too seriously are more self-aware and can look at themselves and their actions from an outsider’s perspective.
People who can laugh at themselves are more prone to feeling good and worrying less and are thus less susceptible to chronic stress.
Laughing and having an active sense of humor can protect against a heart attack and prevent heart disease.
A cheerful person is more resilient against negative events and is more able to face adversities in life with a smile.
Laughing can help you remember better.
What’s the verdict? Seems like everyone can learn a thing or two from The Eagles:
Some Cheeky Examples
Hopefully by this point in the blog, you begin telling yourself that maybe you should approach each day a little more light-hearted and less like the Karens who are always on edge. To help brainstorm a few ways to do this, here are some examples I used in the past for inspiration:
In my current role at the NEAR Foundation, I frequently make memes that poke fun at recent internal events, partners of ours that are causing us headaches, and more. This has been a great way to bring some laughs and humor into an otherwise pretty intense work environment for a remote team. Here’s one example that’s appropriate, easy to do, and still helped promote me to the CMO (Chief Meme Office) position.
On my first day interning at the White House (one of the most serious work environments, you could ever imagine), we were told to ALWAYS greet people entering our office by saying, “Hi, Welcome to Room 1.” Although this really only applied to new people walking in the office and not the regulars who were constantly in and out, I took the always to heart and literally said it every time someone walked in the office. For the regulars who were always coming through, I would even start using different accents, languages, tones, and more to spice it up and help them crack a smile even amidst all the craziness occurring during the Summer of 2020.
While being an intern in the Senate, I attended a virtual speaker panel with Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, who also happens to be a former NFL player. At the end of the talk, there was a Q&A session. Every question was politics-focused and asked by a 20-something-year-old undergrad student who believed their career depended on it (nowhere else has more ultra-serious college kids than hill-terns over the summer) until my sports brain kicked in and simply asked if he could still run a 4.40s 40-yard dash. It was the only question he laughed & smiled at.
During my senior year of college, I was a part of the Aaron Selber Jr. Course on Hedge Funds (don’t expect y’all to know what this is, lol) where the final project was to pitch a theoretical hedge fund and if your team got past the first round, you would then pitch to top Wall St. millionaires our professor knew from working in NYC for 20 years (hi Mara if you’re reading this). I convinced our group to make a crypto hedge fund (naturally) and I was in charge of the opening and closing of our pitch. Here are just a few of the ridiculous quotes I used:
“So let's look at 2016 when Bitcoin started making noise on major news programs like CNBC. A $1000 investment then would be worth $81k today.
Now, at least for me, I was more worried about why my high school crush thought about me than my financial future.”
“We understand that this is a confusing market to most investors, so we want to use an analogy to help y'all understand why we are here. Do you remember the first time you ever jumped in a pool? You probably were nervous, intimidated, or even terrified of taking that leap into the troubled waters, even though you knew the excitement and joy that it could bring. Imagine us as being that loved one of yours, ready to catch you as you jumped in to help you navigate the world unknown and explore the amazing opportunity that awaits”
Our team made it to the finals of the pitch competition and each member of my team (shoutout Kendel & Kerwin) won money for getting in 2nd place out of eight teams. Obviously, our team put in a lot of hard work outside to make a quality & thorough presentation, but every judge told us at a cocktail party at my professor’s house afterward (shoutout to Mara) that we by far had the most memorable and engaging presentation.
So what happened as a result of all this? Well, I’ve carried myself in the same light-hearted manner for every job I’ve ever worked. Although it could be due to other, more traditional factors, I’ve been asked to come back for every job I’ve ever worked (except for my current role, fingers crossed 🤞). I believe this silly attitude is one of the primary reasons because I made work more fun and enjoyable for those involved.
A Distinction to be Made
Now, before you go out and try to ease up a little bit at work or at home, I need to bring out my best Obama impression and clear something up:
Not taking yourself seriously DOES NOT MEAN you don’t take your work seriously or you don’t hold yourself to a high standard. If I didn’t have the self-drive to hold myself to a higher standard, I wouldn’t have pursued some of these great opportunities like coaching middle school & high school football, working in government halls, and more, in the first place. Furthermore, without taking my work seriously, I most certainly wouldn’t have gotten return offers, and probably would’ve been fired before a return offer could’ve even been a consideration.
What not taking yourself seriously means is understanding that you are not the most important person, entity, etc. in people’s lives but your own, so you shouldn’t act like it. It means being more like Nicolaus Copernicus’ discovery of our solar system (Earth revolves around the Sun) and less like Claudius Ptolemy’s (everything revolves around the Earth).
It means being able to find the humor or silver lining in both good and bad situations. It means being able to acknowledge your faults, imperfections, or, in a broader sense, YOUR HUMANESS! Not taking yourself too seriously helps you become more comfortable with who you are, allowing you to be more creative, take more chances, and most importantly enjoy life to the fullest.
I hope you enjoyed the blog! This blog ended up being longer than I originally anticipated, and came later than I wanted partly because I enjoyed writing this blog so much. Next week, I will be writing about a strategy all of y’all can use to help stay in touch with your mentors in a fun, unique way. Stay tuned!