I’m no stranger to being called arrogant. Often times it’s a result of vocalizing an opinion counter to the norm. Maybe it’s just my smug demeanor and matter of fact way of presenting ideas that I believe in. It used to irritate me, but now I’ve come to understand that it comes from a lack of understanding how far I really want to go. Waiting my turn or not taking the proper channels has always been a strange idea to me. Who decides when it’s my turn and who set up these channels? There are many layers of socialized contempt when “I’m not staying in my place” but most of it seems steeped in the American idea of humbleness.
Humble: ‘having or showing a modest or low estimate of one’s own importance.’
Humbleness as a social practice makes a lot of sense. In a world that rewards hard work, effort, and excellence, one shouldn’t have to be overly self-promotional to be appreciated. Meritocracy is the American credo. The American Dream itself is predicated upon the idea that if you work long and hard enough you’ll be magically granted all the riches that our great nation has to offer. But here’s the catch, it’s not true. Furthermore, only certain segments of our society are even held to the “standards of humbleness.” It seems to be more of a means of control than a social construct needed for stability. This is why I’m here to throw a brick through humbleness’ window.
Aint no room for humbleness ‘round here
The market is simply too crowded for purely merit based consideration. In more basic terms; issa whole lotta people, but not a lot of time.
World Population – 7.5 billion
Chinese Population – 1.4 Billion
Indian Population – 1.3 billion
American Population – 325,365,189
In America alone, there are over 325 million people. The basic idea of “standing out in a crowd” starts to take on an entirely different connotation when looking at how many people we actually share this country and earth with. To make matters worse, that number is rapidly increasing. “But I’ll go to college like the system told me to, that’ll help me stand out,” you say.
Number of Americans Enrolling in College – 20.4 Million
Number of American’s with Degrees (between 25-64) – 54.4 Million
Number of College Graduates (2016) – 3.8 Million
But alas, the number of people enrolling with you tops 20 million. 40% of Americans between the ages of 25-64 have college degrees. Every year we graduate over 3 million new people into the job market. Underemployment, college graduates doing jobs that don’t require a degree, is nearly an epidemic. 1 in 3 college graduates are underemployed, that number is even higher for recent grads at 56%. And don’t even think that good grades will save you. With the sharp increase in ‘grades inflation,’ the average grade in colleges are A’s and B’s.
“At Yale, 62 percent of grades were in the A range in the spring of 2012. That figure was only 10 percent in 1963.” – Yale Alumni Magazine
Even with an A in the Ivy Leagues, you’re still not a special snowflake. “But what about social media!?” you smugly rebuttal, knowing that your passive aggressive ‘vaguebooking’ and middle of the road nonoffensive stances will give you a platform to be found, appreciated, and eventually celebrated.
Active Social Media Users, by platform.
Facebook – 2 billion
YouTube – 1.5 Billion
Instagram – 700 Million
Linkedin – 510 Million
Twitter – 328 Million
Snapchat – 255 Million (estimated)
The number of active users on Facebook are almost twice as populous as our largest continents. Youtube stands above China by 100 Million people. Your professional Linkedin profile is sitting silently on a platform that is nearly 200 million people larger than the population of the United States. All-in-all, why you?
A celebration of ego
Whether being fans of mega superstars like Bono and Lebron James, voting for the massive egos of Presidents Obama and Trump, or being inspired by the world changing confidence of Martin Luther King Jr, Gandhi, or Malala Yousafzai one thing is for sure. They didn’t “have or show a modest estimate of their own importance.” You might say that MLK Jr wasn’t a braggart, but he delivered the I Have a Dream Speech to nearly 250,000 people. There he essentially laid out his vision for a fully reformed and integrated America at a time where that level of collaborations between races seemed impossible. He was only 35 at the time and was eventually assassinated as he pushed his vision forward. Malala Yousafzai began writing for the BBC about her experiences with the Taliban at the tender age of 11. After an assassination attempt by the Taliban, she continued to speak, write, and tour the world to have her voice be heard on the topics of rights and education for girls regardless of the backlash she received. She became the youngest Nobel Laureate in history while still in high school.
Malala Yousafzai, the face that strikes fear into the hearts of terrorists around the world. #DontMessWithMalala
Donald Trump is notorious for his outsized ego. He’s plastered his name on buildings, clothing, golf courses, and even steaks. His launch of The Art of the Deal in 1987 cemented the Trump brand as a master negotiator and shrewd business magnate, whether that was true or not. 30 years of self promotion laid the foundation for a long shot, but successful presidential bid. As for Barack Obama, I’ll let this excerpt from an Interview with a potential campaign political director speak for itself.
“I think that I’m a better speechwriter than my speechwriters. I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I’ll tell you right now that I’m gonna think I’m a better political director than my political director.” – Barack Obama
Even our award shows are multi-million dollars spectacles that celebrate wealthy elites that have won awards on the backs of movies and albums with 100 million dollar marketing campaigns. Their names emblazoned over the covers, cases, and posters with the largest font size their production house could fit. They stride across the stage in tailored gowns and suits by world renowned designers just to tell us how lucky they are to happen to be in the right place at the right time. Even a woman in a 100,000 dollar dress, adorned like a goddess is forced to feign humility. The way we celebrate our heroes seems completely at odds with our social expectation of humbleness.
“Sure Beyonce, we believe you’re shocked at your accolades” Queen Yonce, dressed like a goddess, 106 Million Instagram Followers Strong.
If not you, then who?
But honestly, the real reason ‘be humble’ is the worst advice you can get? Someone will take your place. Nature abhors a vacuum. While you’re waiting around hoping to be noticed, some other much louder, possibly less qualified, person is speaking up, being heard, and taking your slot. There is a much more vast chasm between humbleness and cockiness than we often think there is. Sometimes you have to be aware of your own talent, skill, or importance.
Sometimes you have to be your very first cheerleader.
Before anyone else knows that you’re amazing, you’ve got the inside scoop. You’re the person tasked with breaking that news to the world. We live in a society that told us that celebrating our own accomplishments were uncouth and vocalizing our ideas are taboo. We should fall in line and go with the flow until our time arrives. I reject that. I don’t believe you can be seen by blending in.
Even more so, there is a great public service that can come from standing up. Representation. Somewhere in a tiny little town, there’s some one just like you. They have the same fears, skills, insecurities, and opportunities as you do. Everyone around them is discouraging them from finding and shining their light. And here you are with the chance to fan that flame just by being counted and letting all those people know that success isn’t just for the classically charismatic. It’s not just for the movie stars and athletes or the politicians and activists.
Steve Jobs, the world’s most confident nerd about to change the world once again.
Sometimes it’s the engineer that dared to think that he could change our relationship with technology. It could manifest itself in the woman that thought ‘maybe news could be just a little more human, despite what my producers are saying.”
Oprah Winfrey, once told she wasn’t the right fit for TV, not only dominated the platform, she created her own station. She called it OWN.
Don’t get me wrong, this is not a call to rudeness, rather, it’s a call to not dim your light to make others comfortable. For some, this will be permission to go out and be great. For others, a reminder to ignore the nay-sayers. No matter the path remember, it’s a crowded world out there. Don’t be ashamed to make it notice you.
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Eric Thomas is a Branding Specialist and Senior Partner at Saga MKTG based in Detroit MI. He’s also an entrepreneur who never believes “the way it has been done” is the “way it must be done.”
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