Do you know what’s strange about growing up in a rough neighborhood? A lot of things are actually good for you and make you incredibly tough:
• Having very few possessions
• Sharing a room with your brother or sister
• Having to figure everything out on your own
• Doing everything with your imagination
• Living in a constant “hustle state” – you’ll find a way
But there are a few things that are extremely dangerous. The scariest one is that, somewhere in the background of your mind, you develop this idea that this is just how things are—and that you won’t move up in life. You adapt very quickly to a certain role. It’s really bizarre. You can overcome almost anything and still carry a tiny seed in your mind that you don’t even notice.
It’s like: I’ll take this and that, and it’s fine. Even though, for example, you might actually find your work way too easy—and you don’t act on that. I think this happens a lot to people who are or have been in a certain position in society. It’s very hard to shake off that idea.
It’s not necessarily that you feel inferior, but it’s more like you constantly feel the need to justify what you’re doing. It’s hard to put into words. I’m a man, but I can imagine women experience this too. You get so used to a certain idea in your head that you don’t even see it anymore.
What helps me is to see my body as something big and powerful, and that idea in my head as something very small that’s holding me back. Something small, but in a practical sense, extremely dangerous—because you end up acting according to it.
Daydreaming about daydreaming
Right now, you can do anything. You can look out the window, eat an ice cream, drift off into a daydream, or actually do some work (I’m at work right now, and I’m supposed to be working). You could also turn the trash can upside down or flirt with your colleague.
Not doing all those other things takes a lot of energy. I actually like doing everything at once. Ideally, I’d do as little work as possible and as many other things as I can.
Do you realize how much energy working costs me?
Honestly, I’d rather stick my head under the desk just to see what happens. Or fiddle with my laptop screen. Or give my colleague a little playful headbutt.