Overcoming the Need to Be Exceptional - The School Of Life

Your brilliance has become a disguise for your fear of being ordinary.

You’ve built your life on exceptionalism.

And yet... the thought of being “just another person” quietly living in peace terrifies you.

Not because it’s bad — but because it means you weren’t chosen, needed, or irreplaceable.

So you chase scale, impact, genius.

But underneath, what ... See more

It seems odd to look at achievement through this lens, not as the thing the newspapers tell us it is, but – very often – as a species of mental illness. Those who put up the skyscrapers, write the bestselling books, perform on stage, or make partner may, in fact, be the unwell ones. Whereas the characters who – without agony – can bear an ordinary ... See more