The Glorious Advantages of Low Self-Esteem

January 6, 2014

It has been brought to my attention that I am sometimes too full of myself. I will stipulate that this is true. And it made me curious: Is the opposite approach to life – cultivating low self-esteem – working out well for its many practitioners?

A lot of people tell me I need to lower my self-esteem in the service of modesty, credibility, and protecting the sensibilities of those around me. I would like to heed that advice and be a team player, but I’m also plagued with bouts of rationality that are keeping me from making this improvement to my character.

Before I do anything drastic in life, such as evolving into a person who thinks less of himself for the well-being of others, I like to do a pros and cons list. I’ll start with the advantages of thinking too much of myself.

1. It feels great! All the time!
2. It boosts my testosterone.
3. It improves my performance at most things. Science agrees.
4. Higher testosterone makes muscle growth easier.
5. I take more risks. (This is admittedly a mixed bag.)
6. I rarely feel embarrassment even when I should. (Such as now, for example.)
7. I am emotionally immune from criticism.
8. Cockiness has an aphrodisiac effect on some. (You know who you are.)

Now for the downside of thinking too much of myself…

1. I take more risks than I probably should.
2. People call me a dick in every online comments board on the Internet.
3. Higher testosterone increases cancer risks.

 Advantage: cockiness (until I get cancer anyway)

I see my inflated sense of self-worth as more of a strategy for happiness than a flaw. And by that I mean I know how to dial-back my self-esteem but I choose not to. Just moments ago I was reading the five-star reviews for my new book (How to Fail…) for no other reason than boosting my morning energy. I manipulate my self-esteem the same way I manage my intake of coffee. When I need a jolt of feel-good, I spend some time dwelling on whatever has gone well recently. And when my mind wanders to the graveyard of my many failures, I change the mental channel as quickly as I can.

There’s no such thing as the right level of self-esteem. Everyone who interacts with you will have a different idea of how much is too much for you. So I intentionally err on the side of too much. The benefits simply outweigh the costs.

Keep in mind that I have succeeded in several fields in which I had no identifiable talent before starting, including cartooning, the speaking circuit, and writing books. Had I cultivated a more socially acceptable level of self-esteem I wouldn’t have tried any of those challenges.

I have failed in my personal life and in my career about ten times more often than I have succeeded, but my artificially high sense of self-esteem allows me to quickly bounce back and keep punching until something lucky happens.

Some of you will be quick to point out the difference between quiet inner-confidence and being an arrogant dick all over the Internet. But if you think high self-esteem can be masked, you probably don’t understand what it is. The moment you feel high self-esteem, you lose the filter. In other words, if you feel you need to hide your high self-esteem, you don’t have high self-esteem. That’s how self-esteem works.

So I ask the following question in all seriousness: If you think I’m too full of myself (which I am), how is the alternative strategy working out for you? Are there some additional benefits of low-to-moderate self-esteem that are not obvious to me?

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How to Fail at almost Everything and Still Win Big