10 Harsh Things You Need To Hear Right Now - Jessica Hagy forbes

Our world can be quite the harsh place.

It does you no good to avoid that fact, to hide from it, or to pretend it's untrue. Look directly at the harshness, at the ugliness, at the unfairness. Process it and understand why it's there. Then respond to it with all the energy you have. You'll be stronger for it, every time you have to do it.

(Illustration by Jessica Hagy)

1. You’re good, but not as good as you could be.
   That’s not an insult. It’s a fact. And as long as you think you’re good enough, someone else will be practicing, learning, and perfecting their work until it makes yours look like a feeble, laughable attempt at competence.
   
   
   

   (illustration by Jessica Hagy)
2. You don’t fit in with every group, and you never will.
   You will always be a little too different, a little too much, a bit too little, too much of insider, to much of an outsider, too experienced, not experienced enough, and not something enough. You, and everyone else you know, is a misfit to every group they don’t belong to.
   

   (illustration by Jessica Hagy)
3. Nobody cares about that great work you did yesterday.
   All the brilliant work, great accomplishments, shattered glass ceilings, insightful papers, all the people you mentored, all the work you did: it only matters as much as it can impact what you can do today. Laurels wilt surprisingly quickly.
   

   (illustration by Jessica Hagy)
4. Things will change with or without your input.
   You might as well try to move the needle toward the future you desire.
   

   (illustration by Jessica Hagy)
5. Somebody thinks you’re what’s wrong with the world today.
   Don’t dwell on the hatred, the dismissiveness, the disgust. Instead, work to make the world safer for people life you. If your very being is being threatened, that means that your very being is threatening to those who wish to erase you. There’s power in being frightening. Use it to your advantage.
   

   (illustration by Jessica Hagy)
6. You’ll never get a day off from your responsibilities.
   You cannot escape your personality, your ever-changing legacy (or lack thereof), your role in your family, your role in your community, or your nagging sense that you should do something more with your life. When you are exhausted by those demands, just know: having responsibilities means you matter.
   

   (illustration by Jessica Hagy)
7. If you quit your job, someone else will take it. If you quit your life’s work, nobody will swoop in to finish it for you.
   If your work truly matters, if it’s fun, if it’s rewarding in any way, other people will be happy to do it—unless it is yours and yours alone. See also: your art, your children, and all the effort you put into surviving.
   

   (illustration by Jessica Hagy)
8. Your problems are not on most people’s radar.
   You must tie your own self-interest to other peoples’ benefit, or you’ll be seen as a whiner. So give extra, empathetic attention to other’s cries for help: even if they aren’t crying to help you. And when you call for help, frame your troubles as dangers to your audience.
   

   (illustration by Jessica Hagy)
9. Your brain is constantly lying to you.
   There are hundreds of cognitive biases built into your cerebral circuitry. Don’t be so sure that what you think is true, or even in sync with reality, and know that everyone else is battling the same obstacles to logic.
   

   (illustration by Jessica Hagy)
10. If you’re not being taken advantage of, you’re not making anyone any money. All employees generate more money than they cost a company. All services cost less to deliver than they do to undertake. The idea of a rip-off is relative. Keep your skeptical senses about you as you make transactions.