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“Status Anxiety” is the Source of Your Paralyzing Fear of Never Having Enough
…and this fantastic book is the antidote (14 key takeaways)
Most people are paralyzed by the fear that they aren’t “enough”; that they aren’t “worthy” enough in the eyes of others, or that they need to add something to themselves in order to be deserving of love and acceptance.
Alain de Botton refers to this phenomenon as status anxiety, and it’s the topic of his positively brilliant book.
I’m somewhat desensitized to it myself, having been on “both sides,” as it were. I spent a long time working minimum-wage security jobs in hospitals and bars (which is where I found so much free time to read!), and so I have plenty of experience dealing with people who thought they were “better than me” for whatever reason.
It’s funny: the doctors never talked down to me (they always treated me with respect), but the nurses were the worst!
Nowadays, I have more of the “trappings” of success and status, with people going out of their way to befriend me or make me notice them, etc. But here’s the thing: “rich” or “poor,” I was always me!
And I was always enough, no matter who may have thought otherwise. Truthfully, I barely even noticed them — I was just going on about my life!
