📣Podcast version of this Memo
What does it mean to take things personally? Relating external events to my internal narrative about myself. Taking things personally is the ultimate form of insecurity. I am prone to it because I lack a sense of significance and I am looking to see myself as a part of some external narrative. Even if I feel hurt or secluded as a result, I still feel a sense of connection to something or someone.
To give up that source of affirmation is a great thing to do. Most things that are happening have nothing to do with me and are not about me; they are about themselves. I am simply not a part of that story. By engaging in it, I am risking missing out on being in my story.
The only thing that is worth taking personally is the thing that I must take VERY PERSONALLY, meaning not having any excuses or blaming externalities. My life, my path, my relationships, my health. Everything that is not those things, is not personal.
Relevant Posts:
Two Kinds of Judgement | Paul Graham
See Randomness | Paul Graham
It’s not personal, it’s not about me | Real Edu