Do You Take Yourself Seriously?

Sarah Cooper Jun 6, 2016

When is the last time you had an opinion but didn’t share it with anyone
because you didn’t think anyone would care? When is the last time you got
really excited about an idea you had but then never pursued it because you
decided it wasn’t good enough? When is the last time you started to make
something but gave up before you finished because you didn’t think anyone
would like it?

You’ll read a lot of articles that tell you to “just do it,” — don’t worry what
others will think, keep going, keep persevering, don’t give up!

But if you don’t take yourself seriously you’ll never be able to take any of that
advice. Because you’ll always be able to convince yourself that what you’re
doing isn’t important enough.

I didn’t take myself seriously for a long time. I still struggle with taking myself
seriously. I couldn’t even put a finger on what it was I was doing to myself
until about a year ago. But finally I realized there’s this thing some people
have — this ability to get excited about something they’re doing and go for it
with some sort of crazy abandon. This ability to remain focused and stand
firm and get on top of a mountain and shout out what they want for all to
hear (so to speak).
And I knew I had the ability to climb up a mountain and do the same thing,
but I would always talk myself out of it. And I finally realized it was because I
just didn’t take myself seriously.

I even struggled writing this article…

Why am I writing this? This is stupid. This is

repetitive. Hasn’t someone else said this before
but better? Do I even know what I’m trying to
say? No one is going to read this. I should go
work on something else. This is a waste of time.

Those were my thoughts almost every time I tried to create something new. I
didn’t take my own opinions, my ideas or even what I wanted for my life
seriously.
So what happens when you don’t take yourself seriously?

You spend a lot of time dreaming but not actually doing. You come up with
ideas but you stop yourself before you even try.

Or you do try something but you give up quickly because you decide it’s not
good enough, no one will like it, and it was a stupid idea anyway.

But the worst part happens ten years later when you look back on that
thing you almost started and you realize there was something there. It wasn’t
half as bad as what you thought at the time and you might have really
accomplished something if you’d only stuck with it.

What happens when you don’t take yourself seriously?

You end up living a life you aren’t all that proud of. You keep waiting to do
that thing that you’re passionate about, you keep waiting to do that thing
that’s going to make you feel successful. You fill up your time with a bunch of
things you think you have to do, but nothing you really want to do. You work
hard and you do a good job but you also feel trapped inside yourself, putting
on a show that someone else is directing.

And the worst part happens ten years later when you’ve lost touch
with who you really are, and you can no longer tell the difference between
what you want and what other people want from you.

What happens when you don’t take yourself seriously?

You’ll eventually see someone else who had the same idea you had, but she
shared it with the world, she did something with it.

“But it was the exact same idea!” you say. Yes, it was — but that person took it
seriously. That person took themselves seriously. That person said, “this is
interesting to me, so it could be interesting to someone else,” and they did
something with it.
What happens when you don’t take yourself seriously?

You resent people who do. You look at people who promote themselves and
their ideas and you think they’re egotistical or ridiculous. Or you look at
people who you admire and you lament the fact that you could never ever
accomplish what they have.

What happens when you don’t take yourself seriously?

You sabotage yourself. You rush through a half-hearted execution and don’t
give yourself the time you need to learn something new, or do it the right way.
And when it doesn’t turn out the way you wanted you decide it was a total
waste of time. But you might have had a totally different outcome if you’d first
accepted the fact that it might take time but that the time would be worth it
because you believed in it.

What happens when you don’t take yourself seriously?

You get depressed. You get angry at yourself. You get disappointed in
yourself. You wonder why you haven’t done anything. You feel like you never
will. You feel like it’s too late. But it’s not.

Every piece of every tiny little thing you’ve ever thought is filled with
possibilities. You don’t know what. And that’s scary. You might not yet know
how. And that’s hard. But when you take yourself seriously, you give yourself
enough credit to know that you can figure it out. When you know in your
heart that you and your ideas are important, you will give every idea you have
a fighting chance.

That might mean speaking up at work. Or it might mean just finishing that
one thing you’ve been thinking about forever. Or it might mean tweeting
about it, making a video or blog post about it, or getting on a stage and
sharing it with an audience.

When you take yourself seriously you will make others take you seriously. You
will put your ideas out there. You won’t hide them. You won’t delete them.
You will keep trying.

Take yourself seriously.

Don’t treat your ideas like they’re nothing, don’t treat yourself like you’re
nothing, because you and your ideas are important and meaningful and have
the potential to become so much more than you realize.

TRUST ME…

Write a response…

Carlos Córdova-Meraz

This is awesome, Sarah. If it were possible I would inject this post right into
my bloodstream.

But the worst part happens ten years later when you look back on that thing
you almost started and you realize there was something there. It wasn’t half
as bad as what you thought at...

Sticking with it is the hardest part of Impostor Syndrome. It’s a u-curve — 

you start out high, with excitement. But then, in the bottom of the curve, you
start to see the major gap between what you’ve produced — and what you
think is “actually good.”

Every sentence was like … Can she read my mind or what? You put my
thoughts in this beautifully written piece. I used to carry this should I? Can I
with me for quiet sometime until recently when i decided to break open and
start working on my ideas without caring of approvals of friends, family,
colleagues. We tend to keep our thoughts to us due to…

Sarah, by the time I reached the final paragraph, my mouth dried up, my eyes
welled up, and my heart gained a few pounds. This was what I was looking
for, this was precisely what I needed. Thank you, from the bottom of my
heart.

(After reading the post, my fingers involuntarily clicked the “Write a

response” space, and began…

This has been the most poignant and well-described article on the illness of
not taking ourselves seriously that I’ve read. And the language is great,
because if we don’t take ourselves seriously, we can only be a joke.

It’s unfortunate that this disastrous humor is used as a cushion for our fear of
failure and rejection.

Wow..that’s an idea I had ! No seriously speaking this article does feel like
deja vu..I mean I have done this all during my 30yrs life. Beating down myself
and never trying to take myself seriously. Then suddenly I realized I need to
get myself out of this bubble and that’s what I have been doing in the last
month or so. Thanks for reminding that I am finally doing what I should have
done long time back.

The ultimate truth. I relate to every paragraph! Thanks for such an honest
write up Sarah. :)

Great article. Sometimes you need someone else to take you seriously too.
Like Google took you seriously enough to hire you at one point in your career.
Now you have that pedigree. You’re validated and now others will take you
seriously as well. I’m not suggesting that’s the only reason you’re successful
but I’m sure it helped.

Wonderful article … oh, but wait, if I’m now aware of the problem do I have to
fix it?! SCARY! See, until now, I could dismiss it all with ‘well, nobody *really*
understands what it’s like to be me … ‘ … there goes that BS then.

If a person has inferiority complex then it will not allow you to figure out
what you want. You spend time becoming even more negative seeing at
others success. Also if a person has superiority complex that is based on
nothing concrete then he tries hard at everything and never becomes
successful, will be busy in blame games.

This post was for me! Sometimes I don’t even take myself seriously enough to
leave a comment! I especially relate to the “that was my idea!” observation.
Yup, I’ve had a million of them that someone else actually did something
about. Ususally, because I assumed if I thought of it, then it must not be
‘advanced’ enough, ‘worthy’ enough, ‘cool’ enough…

Good stuff. And I would add, if you take yourself truly serious, then you
embrace playfulness, dancing, love and life fully. Not things to work for to
get, when it’s all around you already. Putting ideas into the world is great, but
when it become work or proof you are somebody, it misses the point.

When is the last time you had an opinion but didn’t share it with anyone
because you didn’t think anyone would care

Oh My GOD…..

You are perfectly describing myself. Its like you know me more than myself. I
have worked on 3 startups (all failed), many games and apps, blogs, and
anything I could get my hands on. But never achieved anything with any of
this really because I never took myself too serious and gave up ideas in
middle of the…

I think we don’t take ourselves seriously because all the other people (friends
and family) don’t take us seriously. And it’s a lot worse with age. I’m 29 and
all my relatives consider me a failure because I’m not married and because I
don’t have kids and a stable job. I tried to tell them what was it that I was
doing, but it flew passed them. They…

Thank you for writing this ! Because I spent this whole year struggling to
share my ideas when everybody else was doing so !
I will try to take myself seriously and speak up from now on because I have
things to show to the world ,dreams to reach and ideas to express !

Everything has happened in the exact same manner the way you described
above. I so much needed this today. It’s time to change. Thank you Sarah.

Thank you for sharing that heartfelt piece Sarah. You have inspired me!
Thought my mojo was gone forever this time.

What day know? Part of my “lost article” is there, after all. As I said in my
article, I’m brand new to this way of writing.

I hope at least some read it, and it would be nice to get a “recommend.” But
like many writers, I write for myself. I write for others mostly hoping they’ll
find it funny, as I enjoy entertaining. I…

Thank you for this relatable piece of writing.

I’m nodding and smiling. I feel like you’ve given me no choice but to take
myself seriously. Thank you Sarah. A seriously motivating read

Love this article, I can totally relate to every word of it.

This post is exactly what I needed to read right now, thank you for taking
yourself seriously enough to share your belief that people need to take
themselves seriously!

I am at a career crossroads right now and know in my heart that I can’t walk a
true path without overcoming this first. Thanks for the reassurance that I’m
not alone…

this article, it is a speak of my heart indeed, it really precisely pointed out why
most people will fail their dream even while they were already doing it on the
way. I am trying to build up my business right now, and recently I started to
realize that, no matter how suck when I started off, if you keep doing it and
take less serious about how…