I was once recording a video talk for a TED-like online platform. When I was preparing the script, the organizer asked, “Can you insert some struggle in this part of the video? We want it to really motivate our audience!”
I told him that I did not have any struggles in that part of my life. And he was a bit disappointed. 😊
That is when I realized that a lot of the curated motivational content you see on the web is designed to trigger emotions — factual accuracy is not the top priority.
More generally, when you see all the amazing stuff on Instagram, YouTube, etc., remember that people are just crafting a good story. They are selectively showing glamorous parts of their lives, and sometimes not even truthfully.
Yet, we see such content, compare others with our own mundane lives, and feel terrible.
The truth is that everybody lives a mundane life most of the time — no exceptions. Even your favorite film star’s life is probably 95% drudgery.
Forget what others are portraying. Focus on your life. Craft your own journey. Everything else is a distraction.
– Rajan