Most of us are familiar with the phrase “keeping up with the Joneses,” but few are willing to admit we would ever give in to petty societal pressures.
Status is an inescapable part of modern life. It’s also a false but demanding god that an awful lot of people choose to worship.
Status demands that we care so deeply about what others think of us that we are willing to abandon our deepest principles or healthy habits in order to keep up appearances.
This dependency on outside approval can also lead to the kind of serious unhappiness that comes from constantly comparing ourselves to others.
The other side of this coin is when our quest for status makes us look for reasons to consider ourselves better than others.
This competitive attitude leads us to view happiness and success as a zero-sum proposal in which another’s happiness is seen as a threat to our own.
Paul Rosenberg makes a strong case that status-seeking can make us so fixated on titles, awards, material goods and praise that we put more effort into convincing others that we are a good person than actually becoming a good person.
The answer isn’t to turn our backs on society and to sequester ourselves in some remote location.
It does require that we find the courage to stop running with the crowd for the sake of gaining favor.
If you’re serious about improving the world around you, praise cannot be your primary concern.
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