Who do I have to be for them to like me?

Consciously or subconsciously, how much of your life is driven by this question?

How much of yourself do you lose in order to be liked?

Or maybe you no longer know who you are because you’ve spent so much of your life looking for the acceptance of others.

There is a term used in psychology called ‘Status Anxiety’ and it results from a focus on how you are perceived by others.  It essentially stems from the constant comparison between your life and the lives of others. And depending on your views and exposure, sometimes you feel greater than and other times less than.

Both of these feelings can drive you to behave in ways that are not beneficial to you. They create a constant state of anxiety that you are better than some or not as good as others. Learning to live comfortably in your own skin is no easy task because you are constantly bombarded with external information of who you ‘should’ be.

Take a moment today to think about one thing you know in your heart that you do not because you want to but because you want people to see you in certain way. You don’t need to share this with anyone but realize that these behaviors compound over time and if you’re not careful then eventually almost all you do will be for the acceptance of others.