Selfish (Adjective): concerned chiefly with one's own personal profit or pleasure.
I can most definitely be considered a selfish person and upon meeting someone new I typically own up this information. Initially (as expected) a statement like that this does not leave a good first impression. So I would like to clarify.
Being selfish means putting my happiness and my success before anyone else’s. I have been told multiple times “How can you sleep at night knowing you are choosing yourself over people that could be suffering?” My answer is usually an exasperated explanation so I decided to sum up my reasoning in 7 reasons to avoid future bad impressions:
7 Reason’s Why I’m OK being Selfish Prick:
1. People will always take whatever amount of energy you offer to them
If you offer up all of your energy, they will take it utilize every last piece of it and continue on their personal journey to happiness without thinking twice about your path and the lack of energy they left you for your personal goals. The world will pull you in a million different directions but it is up to you to decide which way is going to benefit you in the long run.
2. Everyone is fighting their own battles
Of course everyone has his or her own obstacles, and I am in no way recommending that you watch someone fail if there is a way to help them. What I am saying is that every single person goes through very hard struggles at some point in their life and although it is nice to lend a helping hand, you cannot expect them to turn around and help you solve your problems down the road.
3. No one will give up their goals to help you achieve yours
I ran a Spartan race and there were times where I would stop to help someone up an obstacle, and there would be times that other people would stop to help me. I was not in the race to win, I was in the race to complete it so stopping and helping others was not something that I had an issue with. However, I did notice that some of the runners ignored the people struggling. This could mean their goals were different and although this aggravated the people struggling, those runners understood that sometimes you have to focus on your personal battle and not everyone else’s.
4. If it is a choice between someone else’s happiness and your own, choose your own.
Everyone should take responsibility for their own feelings, and you should do the same. No one else can make you as happy as you can, so leave other peoples emotions to themselves and do everything in your power to maintain your own happiness.
5. Wherever we take ourselves is where we end up
I want to change the world. It would be extremely naïve to expect someone else to fight through all the obstacles for me. I am aware that the only way I will achieve my goals is to work towards them. No matter how much studying or work someone else does for me, when it comes to the final test I will be as prepared as I made myself. No one else’s hard work can make up for that.
6. We all go through rough patches, but learning how to get through them by ourselves is what creates our true character
I have had bad days. We all do. I have had days of doors getting shut in my face, days where people laugh at me, days where I feel like all of my hard work isn’t going anywhere. But it is those hardest days that have made me more determined to succeed. Those are the days I can credit most for getting me to the point am I am now.
7. If you value your self worth, you will realize you deserve to be just as happy as everyone else.
I used to make sure everyone else was happy first because I knew I could handle the stress that I felt they could not. Although it was great for everyone else that was getting helped, I was miserable. But I was ok with that because I figured it was ‘better me than someone else’. After some extensive soul searching I realized my self worth was worth more than that. I finally understood that I deserved to be just as happy as the next person. I understand that I am a human being with a heartbeat, a passion and things to bring to the table, just like everyone else out there. Why should I hinder myself so that someone can take my place?
Back to the question that most people ask me, how do I sleep at night with this mentality? Everyone has their own battles they are fighting. Every day of my life has been a battle for a step closer to my goal. There have been a lot of great days and a lot of not so great days. I sleep well at night because I know that I am 110% able to take care of myself and nurture my dream without needing someone else to give me the energy that they deserve to keep for themselves.
Every single one of us out there is capable of something great, but if we continue to serve all of our energy to those surrounding us we may never get the chance to show the world who we are. This is why I tell people I am selfish, we should all be proud of our goals and we should all make it aware that we respect ourselves along with our dreams. No one dream is more important than another, all we can do is focus on achieving ours and hoping everyone else is doing the same.
I can most definitely be considered a selfish person and upon meeting someone new I typically own up this information. Initially (as expected) a statement like that this does not leave a good first impression. So I would like to clarify.
Being selfish means putting my happiness and my success before anyone else’s. I have been told multiple times “How can you sleep at night knowing you are choosing yourself over people that could be suffering?” My answer is usually an exasperated explanation so I decided to sum up my reasoning in 7 reasons to avoid future bad impressions:
7 Reason’s Why I’m OK being Selfish Prick:
1. People will always take whatever amount of energy you offer to them
If you offer up all of your energy, they will take it utilize every last piece of it and continue on their personal journey to happiness without thinking twice about your path and the lack of energy they left you for your personal goals. The world will pull you in a million different directions but it is up to you to decide which way is going to benefit you in the long run.
2. Everyone is fighting their own battles
Of course everyone has his or her own obstacles, and I am in no way recommending that you watch someone fail if there is a way to help them. What I am saying is that every single person goes through very hard struggles at some point in their life and although it is nice to lend a helping hand, you cannot expect them to turn around and help you solve your problems down the road.
3. No one will give up their goals to help you achieve yours
I ran a Spartan race and there were times where I would stop to help someone up an obstacle, and there would be times that other people would stop to help me. I was not in the race to win, I was in the race to complete it so stopping and helping others was not something that I had an issue with. However, I did notice that some of the runners ignored the people struggling. This could mean their goals were different and although this aggravated the people struggling, those runners understood that sometimes you have to focus on your personal battle and not everyone else’s.
4. If it is a choice between someone else’s happiness and your own, choose your own.
Everyone should take responsibility for their own feelings, and you should do the same. No one else can make you as happy as you can, so leave other peoples emotions to themselves and do everything in your power to maintain your own happiness.
5. Wherever we take ourselves is where we end up
I want to change the world. It would be extremely naïve to expect someone else to fight through all the obstacles for me. I am aware that the only way I will achieve my goals is to work towards them. No matter how much studying or work someone else does for me, when it comes to the final test I will be as prepared as I made myself. No one else’s hard work can make up for that.
6. We all go through rough patches, but learning how to get through them by ourselves is what creates our true character
I have had bad days. We all do. I have had days of doors getting shut in my face, days where people laugh at me, days where I feel like all of my hard work isn’t going anywhere. But it is those hardest days that have made me more determined to succeed. Those are the days I can credit most for getting me to the point am I am now.
7. If you value your self worth, you will realize you deserve to be just as happy as everyone else.
I used to make sure everyone else was happy first because I knew I could handle the stress that I felt they could not. Although it was great for everyone else that was getting helped, I was miserable. But I was ok with that because I figured it was ‘better me than someone else’. After some extensive soul searching I realized my self worth was worth more than that. I finally understood that I deserved to be just as happy as the next person. I understand that I am a human being with a heartbeat, a passion and things to bring to the table, just like everyone else out there. Why should I hinder myself so that someone can take my place?
Back to the question that most people ask me, how do I sleep at night with this mentality? Everyone has their own battles they are fighting. Every day of my life has been a battle for a step closer to my goal. There have been a lot of great days and a lot of not so great days. I sleep well at night because I know that I am 110% able to take care of myself and nurture my dream without needing someone else to give me the energy that they deserve to keep for themselves.
Every single one of us out there is capable of something great, but if we continue to serve all of our energy to those surrounding us we may never get the chance to show the world who we are. This is why I tell people I am selfish, we should all be proud of our goals and we should all make it aware that we respect ourselves along with our dreams. No one dream is more important than another, all we can do is focus on achieving ours and hoping everyone else is doing the same.
