this is how it happened in my head I’m
walking down an empty hallway quietly
singing something then suddenly out of
nowhere my friends appear surprised to
hear my singing voice for the first time
and attack me with demands to hear it
louder after a game of oh no what I
can’t I give in to their pleas and to
keep it short the day ends with them
showering me with compliments to the
dismay of my timid younger self this day
never actually happened because I
figured singing in public was claiming
that you were talented enough to do it
and that was too risky because how
narcissistic would it seem if after
claiming I was good I was actually
really bad fast forward to 2016 were at
the Society for Personality and Social
Psychology it was announced that after
surveying over 700 adults that
Millennials are seen as incredibly
self-centered by all generations
including themselves and I understand
why I mean we have social media likes as
a rating system and the snapchat dog
filter yet history is constantly laying
down a field of innovation from the
invention of the handheld mirror it’s
the invention of the smartphone that
fuel narcissism Joel Stein a writer for
Times Magazine states that he doesn’t
disagree with a narcissistic label but
argues that a Millennials egotism is a
byproduct an adaptation through an
ever-changing technological age and I
agree yes maybe we are the most
narcissistic generation right now but in
another 20 years maybe my children will
be so why not use it as a tool I’m not
let’s say Janita
younger Janita i know you have this big
fear of being called arrogance but
there’s a difference between dreaming
and doing and if you dream of changing
the world to bridge that gap you may
need narcissism and look I can see it in
all of your faces too I can hear my
younger self reply older me are you okay
narcissism is bad you’re talking about
self-confidence okay well yes and no
let’s say there’s a spectrum of all the
kinds of people who like themselves in
this world with one side being the
Oxford Dictionary definition of
self-confidence trusting in one’s
abilities qualities and judgments and
the other of being that of narcissistic
having excessive interest or admiration
of one’s self just for perspective I’ll
put Kanye West and Lady gaga on the
scale to the intensity of what I’m
referring to is narcissism without the
envy or ego or lack of empathy one
that’s built upon self-confidence what
I’m not saying to become a narcissist
I’m saying use narcissism as a toolbox
because it offers an array of elements
that allows you to do things that you’ll
never think possible otherwise I’ll
explain it starts with a little
something called human potential nothing
is fancy as the name just the ability
for people to do things sometimes big
things for years businesses have been
discussing the question how can we reach
our maximum human potential but my
personal answer to that is that you’ll
never reach the maximum there’s no
inherent invisible roof limiting how
high you can jump because in life we
make decisions and sometimes those
decisions lead to opportunity and then
more decisions and the next thing you
know that roof is moving
up there’s no shame in inflating your
potential to more than what others may
think your maximum is because then a
maximum won’t exist take Chiara Negron
one of times Magazine’s 30 most
influential teens at the age of 16 she
used fruit peels to create a super
absorbent polymer that keeps crops alive
during droughts we see these people and
we think oh my god I’ve done nothing
with my life but what it comes down to
is that at some point she noticed a
drought and then maybe she googled a
couple of things I’m guessing and then
finally she decided to experiment among
other things that last step is what
really puts us apart because to do that
you can’t just think that your potential
is like every other 16 year-olds it’s
got to be a little more heightened than
that okay older me but narcissism is
still really conceited well I’m not
saying go blind with ego but sometimes
you need to convince other people to
care about what you do on December 17th
1903 the Wright brothers were the first
to conquer human flight in the first
airplane model and absolutely nobody
noticed according to the author
Frederick Lewis Allen the Wrights the
Wright brothers creation of human flight
wasn’t fully grasped until nearly four
and a half years later and there was no
recognition in newspapers for days weeks
even months after many successful
flights and this isn’t an uncommon story
the same thing is happened to Alexander
Graham Bell on the phone Henry Ford in
the car it’s happening right now with
the 3d printer which by the way was
invented in 1989 imagine if these
revolutionaries abandon their projects
after years of no recognition because
after all the silence they couldn’t see
how transformative they were I’m not
saying too
nor constructive criticism or abandon
empathy but stay true to believing that
you’ve done something worth sharing even
if others don’t agree it’s just as
important to believe in your own ability
as it is to believe that that ability
can do something I’m not saying that you
have to do something big small or medium
or nothing at all if it suits you is
perfectly fine as well but usually it’s
the size of an event that stops us from
pursuing it whether it seems impossible
because it’s too big like learning to
fly or it seems like it’s not going to
make an impact because it’s too small
like throwing a plastic bottle and the
recycling bin if you consciously use a
quiet narcissism as a tool to believe in
your fullest potential and its ability
to make good change then those things
won’t stop you anymore we’re in a world
where the front lines of social and
political problems are often hidden from
international eye a world where the most
pressing issues are invisible until it’s
too late we believe that a certain type
of person is a game changer a certain
type of person experiments a certain
type of person invents a certain type of
person learns to fly a certain type of
person can sing we can’t depend on that
belief anymore having been gifted with
the burden of all of humanity’s problems
the world’s cannot afford for you to
believe that your talent and your
ability and your ideas are just good
instead believe that your ideas are
worth other people’s time and that
whenever you speak speak as if somebody
is always listening and somebody is
learning and somebody is doing something
because you are right everyone has a
story that is worth sharing even if you
share it as badly as I did in the
beginning and yes that’s really
narcissistic but that’s how you’re gonna
get things done thank you you