I think I may be out of touch. Here’s the opening of a NYTimes piece:
Just about any sports movie, airport paperback or motivational tape delivers a few boilerplate rules for success. Believe in yourself. Don’t take no for an answer. Never quit. Don’t accept second best.
Above all, be true to yourself.
It’s hard to argue with those maxims. They seem self-evident …
Really? To me, everyone of them sounds some combination of dumb, false, and/or harmful.
Sydney
Alan Schmierer
Are you grumpy today, Sydney?
No, I am feeling quite well. Despite the opening of that NYTimes piece.
Amen.
I sent the piece to Sydney to see if he thought it fit his wife, since the article is all about how these kinds of maxims are the kinds that drive perfectionists. I never really knew what they meant by “be yourself” and “be true to yourself,” but I think I have a few maxims of my own that occasionally make life difficult. But they get me out of bed and off the couch!
Erin