We Think Our Insecurities Are Limited To Us
I was listening to a speaker recently who said something interesting. If you took 100 people, had them all write down their fears, insecurities, and limitations on pieces of paper, and threw them into a jar, then had someone read them aloud, you wouldn’t know when yours was read.
Underneath it all, most people are struggling with the same things. Not being enough, fear of failure, fear of rejection and fear of making the wrong decision. It really made me think about how similar we all are.
People tend to believe their struggles are so unique, but they’re not.
There’s a lot of comfort in that.
The other night, I went to a very emotionally charged co-op meeting about a large project the building is funding. At first, everyone was completely locked into their own position. People were on the defensive and expressing their frustrations.
Certainly, they were the only ones seeing it clearly.
Then over the course of two hours, something shifted. People started actually listening to each other, which I did not think would be possible, and by the end, it became obvious that many of the concerns were the same.
People just wanted to feel heard, understood, and safe with the decision.
On the surface, these two situations seem unrelated, but to me, they were about the exact same thing.
Most people are far more alike than they are different, which is important to remember when you’re in the people business.
The more you understand that everyone has fears, doubts, and insecurities, the easier it becomes to communicate with empathy instead of assumptions.
Underneath all the noise, most people are just trying to figure it out, too.
