Pride and Prejudice
Whats your Pride & what you Prejudice?
Whats your Pride & what you Prejudice?
The inseparable pair that has forever caught the attention of the literature legends. The words that have been crowned most prestigious honor starting from William Shakespeare to Jane Austin.
Such a classic example of prejudice at work is, if your mind has thought about love and relationship as the discussion for this blog. But, hold your thoughts right there. This blog is to discuss 'Pride and Prejudice' in our day to day lives with non-intimate relationships.
When I use the term 'Pride' it can mean different to different individuals. It can mean 'self esteem', but it can also mean 'ego' and 'arrogance'. It can mean 'self respect', but can also mean 'self importance'. Intimate relationships are most often intertwined with this crown jewel partners, 'Pride' and 'Prejudice' and this blog is about non-intimate relationships and their behaviors while this ardent pair of 'Pride and Prejudice' show themself up.
As humans we always judge other humans. It is part of our behavior to do so. Now, just think of an individual you like the most and the one you hate the most. What is the immediate thing that comes to your mind about their pride?
Most common thought,
- "That gentle man, a one to be respected" or "That guy, an absolute egoist"
- "That Lady! what a fine, women" or "That Lady! such an arrogant individual"
So, what you just did is an assessment of their 'Pride' which is 'Prejudiced' by your judgement.
My dear reader, please take a moment to read and experiment this again by imaging two individuals who currently impact your life the most. It could be your boss or your next door neighbor, your trainer or your teacher. It could be anyone. Once you experiment your view about them, just delve over what you just did.
My dear reader, please take a moment to read and experiment this again by imaging two individuals who currently impact your life the most. It could be your boss or your next door neighbor, your trainer or your teacher. It could be anyone. Once you experiment your view about them, just delve over what you just did.
(Once you have done your experiment....read on....)
Again, I repeat myself. What you just did is an assessment of their 'Pride' which is 'Prejudiced' by your judgement. A judgement that is formed based on your interactions life offered under various circumstances.
What just happened is that, your pattern of experience brought up an interpretation of the individual to you. An assessment of the individual's pride that is prejudiced your judgement. And most often, once a judgment is made you do not change it. In other words, this is why, an individual is often seen to behave different with different people. Sometimes, you want to change the way things work with an individual. Your mind tends to ask you, why things always go wrong with this individual? And sometimes, you want to change the way it works. It is not with everyone you meet and have to interact that you want to change the way it works. It is not with the ones that you want to continue your interactions with. So, if its your trainer, you can ask for a different one. Just in case it is your boss? its probably an interaction that you want to go right. If it does not work and if your mind has already given up then your options are limited. Either of you should get a job change. But, before you give up, how much have your tried? If you feel you want to give another try, and even if your answer is a 'may be', then, all you need is a change in perspective.
You must clear your mind of all your judgements about the individual at this moment. Then, when you are ready, see if you can change your perception. This may not be easy in the beginning, since you have already established a pattern of interaction and the routine of hate or like approach has already been set with the individual. However its worth the try if you can erase your judgement and do not take it personally on your own pride. Your experiences so far with the individual is your strength of information to understand the individual(s) behavioral pattern.
If ever in your career you carried a perception that, 'anything I do, my boss will complain so why waste my time and effort' and this had developed into your routine, you would have started failing in your performance appraisals. In such cases, most often your opinion of your boss is that, he/she is forever complaining and never satisfied.
I want to bring a little change in perspective here. Can we say that, you may have prejudiced your judgement based on your experience pattern to assess the 'pride' of your boss. Once that is done, that moment you signed up for your failure because, everything else is a vicious circle of events impacted with frustrations, loss of trust and underperformance. While these establish a pattern of failure events the resultant is that, one day you tend to change your job or may be even tend to lose your job. Here, you can question to say that, your judgement of your boss is also the general perception among your peers. But, simply because everyone thinks in the same way does not mean it has to be true?. For argument sake even if it is true, why did you allow your professionalism to be compromised simply because your boss is a jerk?
While it is easier said than done to be self motivated, it is important to remember that, you should not fail because of another individual(s) behavior or their perception about you. Success comes to the one who fights all odds with dedication and commitment. To be successful is up to you and you cannot blame it on others. The simple truth here is, it is your own pride and prejudice that can cause your failure. Learn from your failure and be mindful of your pride and do not prejudice your mind of others pride. Stay committed and achieve success.
