Are you the right size?

Over the last few decades, we have seen a rise in the narcissitic inventory. And according to social psychologist, Dr Daryl Van Tongeren, this increased self focus has not lead us to be happier. Rather we are also more miserable, anxious and depressed. In his book, Humble: Free Yourself from the traps of a narcissistic world, he talks about being humble in a couple of ways.

Firstly, he sees humility as

- Knowing yourself or being self awareness of your strengths and weakness

- Checking yourself which is being able to reign in selfish impulses

- Going beyond yourself and prioritizing the needs of other people

But he also talks about it as being the right size. It doesn't mean you need to become a shrinking violet, but that we don't over-inflate ourselves either. Humility is the point between arrogance and self deprecation. It allows us to take up the appropriate space.

And there is good reason to take this to heart. David Robson, writing for the BBC, reminds us of the many ways we express our overconfidence. We suffer from the bias called the “illusion of knowledge”. We think we know more than we do, we mistakenly believe we learn easily from observing others, and we appropriate Googled knowledge as our own.

So, wherever you find yourself, are you the right size?

#doonethingdeep #rightsizing #humble #cognitivebias