Bucket of crabs
When trying to escape mediocrity (or worse), you have to turn your back on the crowd
Self-improvement is a lonely game.
Podcaster Joe Rogan, while interviewing bowhunting athlete Cameron Hanes, mentioned that life is like a bucket of crabs, especially when it comes to personal goals and chasing excellence.
Here's what that means: in a bucket of crabs, when one tries to figure out how to climb up and escape, what do the others do? They pull him back down.
Joe offhandedly said, "That's pretty much what's wrong with the world in a nutshell. We're all in a bucket of crabs."
I've thought the same thing, crab metaphor aside.
Especially on the internet, where everyone seems to be hardwired to criticize and find fault and be offended, this seems to the the daily playbook.
Don't be inspired, be insecure.
Don't celebrate someone else's success, be envious.
Don't learn and adjust, but instead cling more fiercely to your own confirmation bias.
Don't escape. Stay and suffer the collective fate.
Pull that dude back down.
It's a toxic pattern that comes down to self-awareness.
I don't think people consciously understand what they're doing, but nonetheless their behavior is viral, as it's easier for everyone to displace their own insecurities and worries by rooting for the failure of others. I see it in fitness, careers, even kids' sports. Self-awareness is hard work and a constant vigil. Jumping into the middle of the zeitgeist and rooting for the one successful guy to take a fall, or to mock his new product or service? Well shit, that's easy. After all, you didn't quite get that startup off the ground, so that dude certainly can't, right? That one guy you know who’s trying to get stronger and leaner, and has changed his life? Nah, he’ll quit after a few months. Reversion to mean and all that.
Or at least so says your ego.
Many of us live in a bucket of crabs.
Maybe we should learn a thing or two from the dude who escapes.
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