ambition

Don’t Be Impressed With Yourself

Screen shot 2013-04-29 at 4.17.53 PM

Will you? Yes. Should you? Depends. Would it be better if you weren’t? Absolutely.

Let’s be clear: self-esteem isn’t being brought into question. Having a high self-esteem is crucial in preventing depression and anxiety, so please don’t get the two confused.

The difference between self-esteem and being impressed with yourself is within the very nature of the words. Self-esteem has everything to do with being content with yourself. It’s a word that relates to satisfaction and confidence.

By contrast, being impressed literally means to “affect forcibly or deeply” in relation to admiration. Why do you think the word is synonymous with “imprint?”

Most of us can agree that self-esteem is a positive force in our lives, but I’m not so sure about the idea of always being impressed with yourself.

Having such a high admiration of yourself leads to nothing but conceit and complacency. After all, our ambitions are stifled when we think we’ve achieved everything we can. This intense focus on ourselves prevents us from being objective and, more importantly, creative.

The essence of what I’m trying to say is this: don’t be satisfied with where you are at and what you are doing. Don’t be “impressed” with yourself. Instead, be confident in what you’ve managed to achieve and then move forward.

Like what you read? Connect with me further via twitter @JonNegroni. I’ll follow back if you seem like a real person. You can also subscribe to this blog by clicking the “follow” button in the top-left corner.

Don’t forget to check out THE JON REPORT every day, updated at 8am for a list of today’s main headlines as selected by my editorial team (me) 

New Professionals: Know Your Greatest Asset

NSAC Ad Competition 2012

Being thrust into the “real world” of entry-level careers and highly competitive internships requires more than just a good CV and connections. It requires something more tangible than a work ethic, more effective than a bachelor’s degree, and more lasting than a good recommendation.

Yes, those things are essential, but they aren’t nearly as crucial as your greatest asset: your peers. Going it alone is basically career suicide for the new professional. I’ve seen it firsthand.

Since I graduated, I’ve been fortunate enough to have other new professionals as friends (the above picture is me with a few of them), constantly giving me a rubric to measure myself against. It’s cold, but life really is a competition. Evaluating the success of your peers and pushing yourself to achieve your own goals is how you really progress after college.

Take my word for it. The millennial generation has to be the laziest one yet. It’s not just that we don’t work as hard, we know that we’re not working as hard as we can. I hope we see that change soon, and I’ve personally found that nothing humbles you into pushing your life forward more than watching your friends succeed.

I was a wreck during my first job. I had no idea what I was doing and frequently had to receive counsel from my friends. I remember late-night phone calls about my fear of talking to high-level journalists at magazines like Forbes and HBR. My peers got me through that.

Later, when I had to cement what type of industry I would commit it, it was the success of my friends that motivated me to strive for more. While I have my own ambitions, it was still useful to see just how capable my friends and I are. If they can do it, I can do it.

Don’t go it alone. Don’t measure yourself against your shadow. Creating lasting relationships with your peers and constantly watch what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. That’s how the new professional can find real success.

Like what you read? Connect with me further via twitter @JonNegroni. I’ll follow back if you seem like a real person.

Don’t forget to check out THE JON REPORT every day, updated at 8am for a list of today’s main headlines as selected by my editorial team (me)