Submitted by mcat_goon t3_11s17tz in GetMotivated

If you're like me, practicing gratitude rubbed me the wrong way and didn't really work. It was difficult to do when I felt like I was overwhelmed and fighting the world, and it afterwards it just made me feel more sad and lethargic than pumped up and ready to accomplish what I wanted. By practicing arrogance, I was able to improve my low self esteem, practice gratitude, and energize myself for the day ahead.

  • Problem: Working out - I am upset my with current body and my workout consistency. I would like to lose a few pounds and have visible muscle.

    • Gratitude: X I am grateful to have a body that I can use to do my daily activities. I am grateful that my body is fed and nourished. I am grateful that I am not sick, ill, or injured and can use my body to its fullest capacity. X
    • Arrogance: I am the god of my body. I and only I can control every movement of my fingers, my hands, my arms my legs. Every cell, protein, every atom of my body belongs to me and me alone. My teeth are stronger, my skin is clearer, my muscles healthier, and frankly I am better than most of the humans that have ever existed. 99.9% of every species and every animal has gone extinct, but never my bloodline, never me. From the beginning of existence my genes have been winners time and time again, and finally I have been given complete control over these genes at the peak of their evolution. I am the god of this domain.
  • Problem: School/Work - I am a medical student in my clinical rotations. I pay thousands of dollars a year to do tasks for real doctors 60 hours a week, and then I come home and study every day for multiple hours a day. I feel exhausted and tired. I get mediocre grades.

    • Gratitude: X I am grateful to be in a challenging and rewarding career. I am grateful to be able to learn from so many wise people every day. I am grateful to myself for studying hard to be where I am today. I am grateful to be passing my classes. X
    • Arrogance: I know things the greatest geniuses of their time will never know. I have been the first human touch a newborn baby has experienced. I have cut veins out of bodies and sown them back into different places, becoming a better designer that evolution itself. There are people walking around outside with my stitching handiwork on their bodies, and who will have a mark of me on them until the end. With just five minutes of my time I have made an impact on someone that will last months, years, decades. I know the secrets of how our bodies work, and I know exactly how each medication breaks them. With what I know, I am one of the very few who can one day discover previously unknown never seen before conditions, medications, and correlations and because of that I have the power to advance the entire human race.
  • Problem: Family - I'm gay, I got kicked out of my home when they first found out. They have come around now and accepted me. My sister is smarter, more dedicated, more beautiful, and better than me which makes me feel insecure.

    • Gratitude: X I am grateful to have a family that accepts me when so many people either do not have a family or have a family that they are not in contact with. I am grateful to have a sister who loves me and appreciates me X.
    • Arrogance: My family loves me so much they rejected hundreds of years of tradition to choose to be in my life. My parents are always happy to welcome me home, and even ask me to come home repeatedly. Instead of spending all his energy grinding up the career ladder, my father poured all the most important parts of his love, attention, time into ME, to make me better. Every one of my family members is exemplary, a pillar of society, and together we will build our clan to be smarter, stronger, wealthier than everyone else. Nothing in this world can break us apart, and together we are more powerful than they could possibly know.

Disclaimer:

MAY NOT WORK FOR EVERYONE

MAY NOT SOLVE THE PARTICULAR PROBLEMS YOU ARE CURRENTLY FACING

I MAY NOT HAVE BEEN PRACTICING GRATITUDE CORRECTLY?? IDK

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Comments

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kalysti t1_jcb7sqk wrote

Wow. Just wow. Become the self-aggrandizing asshole you hate does not sound like a good idea to me. How about becoming moderate, reasonable, and practicing things like compassion for self and others? And, maybe, recognizing the good things in your life on a daily basis?

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NoMoKraTo t1_jcb969b wrote

I get where you're coming from. Not sure if it's sane, but seems worth exploring even if it's just your own experience and experiment.

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Plissken47 t1_jcb9at8 wrote

Although I do like the attitude of gratitude, this is a good perspective, too.

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bxbyfzgh t1_jcb9kjb wrote

The arrogance examples you used were funny, I use a similar method as you lmao in that I push myself with motivating words and thoughts, and thinking highly of myself. This is not to actually become that made-up grand person in my head, it is very clearly fiction, but telling those stories gives you purpose- especially if you’re someone who feels unstable in their own selves and unsure. Doing that in the past has helped me get a grip of myself, and now I can better recognise all the blessings I have in my life already, to be grateful for and to jump on the opportunity to prove that gratitude by being modest and helpful to others. So yea, I dunno if this relates to u or

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mcat_goon OP t1_jcba3x9 wrote

Yeah, I agree! I think its most useful if your self-esteem is shaky, and then as you develop confidence it seems like pure gratitude becomes more helpful? Its cool to learn about everyone else's experiences since I'm still on the journey

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mcat_goon OP t1_jcbcnup wrote

Maybe you can help me out, I'm confused about how my examples aren't filled with gratitude. Gratitude towards being alive, my father, my experiences are all there framed in strength vibes?

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No_Weakness4909 t1_jcbgche wrote

I’m on board with the power of arrogance especially if it’s not really in spite of anyone else. I think however it could be TOO powerful of a concept for a lot of people. They may end up being able to justify internalized shame of some kind.

Overall if someone is suggesting to “be more moderate!” I think that’s something to ignore. This is an example of a human mind attempting life and I can’t knock that especially when there is honestly a lot of power that comes from the perspective.

Try it out and internalize that arrogance and report how it works for you

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Haunting-War-1606 t1_jcbh3nz wrote

That just sounds completely delusional. You just have to accept that most of the people in this country are assholes and will treat you like s*** if you let them. So if you're going to be arrogant, be arrogant to other people but not to yourself

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mcat_goon OP t1_jcbjb41 wrote

I don't see how this A) puts anyone down and B) doesn't show gratitude (expressed towards my father, being alive, and medical hospitals experiences)

Maybe you can explain that to me?

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bxbyfzgh t1_jcc4x3e wrote

Sorry for the confusion, I didn’t read ur previous reply I just sort of added onto my comment. But yeah, i mean in the short-term having that arrogance does help push you forwards. And you do it with that intent of wanting to be someone better as well, which I can see from your post, and with my experience as well, that that way of thinking has got something to do with self improvement haha.

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[deleted] t1_jckrwuo wrote

Yah know the Greeks wrote endless stories on why this was bad most of which involved picking fights with the gods ie. Beings against whom they had no hope of prevailing, and suffering the predictably horrible consequences.

Confidence isn’t the same thing as arrogance. The latter is delusion that blinds you to your own flaws until it’s too late to avoid catastrophe.

This isn’t building a foundation on sand, it’s building it on dynamite then taking up fire performing as a hobby.

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