3 Reasons Why You Should Be Selfish

We live in a society where the negative is highlighted while the positive is either underrated or ignored. Coming from an Asian family (I hate to reinforce stereotypes but they are there cause there's always some truth in them) there's a lot of pressure to succeed academically when I was young. It was always "Aunty XX's daughter got a scholarship/straight A's/won a competition/plays the piano" and the list goes on and on...

I did pretty well in school, I wasn't a straight A student but I didn't fail any units and I got into college and university without any problems. After school I did what I thought I was supposed to do: follow the general norm of finding a job, work said job, save money, buy a car and a house, get married.

That's when it all fell apart. I did what I was told and when things didn't go the way I was told it should turn out, I broke down mentally and physically. I did a lot of soul searching and realized that all along my dreams were dictated by what others have pushed on to me since a young age. And a friend told me that I needed to be more selfish.

Here's 3 reasons why:

1. People are not out to get you, they are for themselves

Humans are generally assholes- not everyone is one but I believe that there's 2 sides to everyone and no one is 100% nice. But you can't deny that everyone has dreams and want to succeed. If the world only consisted of good people who treats everyone like a brother or sister then it would be an amazing place. Unfortunately, there are people out there who can only feel success when others fail - Beware of these toxic people, keep them at bay.

2. When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all

And why should they? You were only doing your job right? Should your boss compliment you each time you hand in a report? It's what he's paying you for right? It is sad to say that the society we now live in rarely recognizes the good that people do. Even when it is acknowledged, the news is forgotten in a blink of an eye the next time Justin Bieber goes to jail. So be selfish, do things for your own reasons, the kind of reasons that makes a decision right for you and not for the acknowledgement of others.

3. You can't (and shouldn't) please everyone

Does this really need explaining? No matter what happens, the one sure thing is that you will always have you to count on. So why bother about what other people think? It is none of your business - unless you decide to run through the city stark naked, then yes, please think about the people you will traumatize.