Feeling Inadequate or Inferior? Do More of What You Love

Sharks can smell blood up to a quarter of a mile away. Over their ancient history as apex predators, they've developed a killer instinct that tells them blood is a sign of weakness. Some people are like this when they detect inferiority. They pounce on the person who's feeling inadequate and move in for the kill.

That makes people with an inferiority complex uncertain and sometimes even fearful in public settings. Sometimes we are our own predators. We prey on ourselves. We attack when we begin to feel like we're not as good as other people or don't measure up. We beat ourselves up, which only furthers feelings of worthlessness and inadequacy.

It really doesn't matter what's causing you to feel inadequate. There's a simple fix that makes you feel good and can influence more emotional highs than lows in future situations. You do more of what you love.

Your Passions Speak to Who You Are

What are you really passionate about?  What are the things that you love thinking about? If you could be doing anything right now, what would it be? What would you do in your spare time if there were no restrictions or barriers?

Whatever you answered is something you're passionate about. It appeals to your core values and your strong beliefs. This is a part of who you are. 

It can be vastly different from one person to the next. That doesn't mean that one person is wrong, and another is right. What you enjoy doing is right for you as long as it's healthy, even if it isn't right for someone else.

Now think about the emotions you experience when performing this activity or action. You feel great! At the very minimum, you have feelings of calm and peacefulness. When you're really into something you care about, your feelings can be euphoric. The positive feelings you receive are accompanied by a release of feel-good chemicals designed to reward your pleasure center.

How you were created, combined with your experiences, history, and personality, means that you have high self-esteem, self-love and happiness when doing certain things.

The next time you feel inferior and compare yourself to others, do whatever you love doing.

You Don't Have to Be Good at What You Love

By the way, you don't even have to be good at something you love doing. You might experience joy and happiness when you go bowling with your friends. It doesn't matter if you're excellent, average, or terrible at bowling. If that experience creates positive feelings and you smile days, months, or years later when you remember those times, that activity can crush feelings of inferiority.

Do what you love doing more often. Engage in healthy, safe experiences, and you'll feel inferior less frequently. You might even find yourself moving away from environments or people that are the source of your bad feelings, and that's a good thing.