By Dr Rajesh K. Pillania
We take ourselves very seriously. We spend a lot of time in our minds and take ourselves very seriously. Many of us take our position, our roles, our possessions, our responsibilities, and ourselves very seriously. This goes against the idea of happiness in life. Since we take ourselves so seriously, we get angry, upset, and offended very easily by a comment, an argument, or small things which we feel make fun of us or do not go well with our thought process.
This is a big problem, and many of us are not even aware of it. This habit of taking ourselves very seriously keeps us under stress, tension, and unhappiness. It creates unnecessary arguments, confrontations, fights, and unpleasant situations. It destroys relationships. It leads to loss of productivity and poor quality work output. It creates mental health imbalances, poor mental health, and poor physical health. Unfortunately, many of us are not even aware of this problem and the losses caused by taking ourselves too seriously.You can still be a good ,sincere, responsible person, without taking yourself too seriously. Taking yourself too seriously does more harm than good and you need to change this for your benefits and for others about whom you care.
This problem of taking ourselves too seriously can be solved by taking some simple small steps, as suggested here. The first step is to become aware of the problem. Ask yourself how seriously you take yourself and also seek inputs from people around you to get a fair idea of the issue.
The second step is to remind yourself that nothing is permanent in life. Everything is temporary—a victory, a failure, an achievement, or a loss. Once you look at life from this perspective, it will help you take yourself less seriously.
The third step is to stop associating yourself too much with position, title, role, or responsibility. You are not the first one to have these. There were people before you who had them, and there will be people after you who will have them. These are only a part of life; they are not life. Life is much bigger and beyond these.
The fourth step is to work on your sense of humour by laughing more and looking at the funnier side of life. Life is full of humour and funny situations.
These are some simple ways to help you take yourself less seriously. By following these practical steps, you can begin to take yourself less seriously. By doing so, you can be happier and enjoy better mental health, physical health, relationships, and work.
(The writer is a Professor of Strategy at the Management Development Institute, Gurgaon. He is popularly known as India’s Happiness Professor and India’s Happiness Guru.)
