Hikikomori, Imposter Syndrome And How To Save The World
Let’s talk about imposter syndrome, setting goals for your life and a Japanese phenomenon called Hikikomori.
This is a free-form kind of piece that ties a few thoughts I’ve had recently together. I’ll start with the term Hikikomori, because it’ll be unfamiliar to a lot of readers.
Hikikomori and an Epidemic Of Lost Souls
Without getting political, the latter half of the twentieth century and first nearly-two decades of the twenty-first century have been absolutely brutal for cultural stuff.
Social hierarchies have broken down, politics, business and religion (as well as all the other major social structures) have become polarised and the family unit upwards has become atomised.
Technologically, biologically and structurally, the world has never been better. You can travel, have economic mobility and social freedom and you can probably get a pill that’ll cure hundreds of diseases which would’ve wiped your great-grandfather off the Earth.
Despite those boons, people are miserable. The average lifestyle of a Westerner has gotten worse; relationship satisfaction is down, people are addicted to devices and many people don’t speak to anyone outside their place of work, and mental and physical health has deteriorated pretty rapidly. The rest of the world is trailing the West, but it’s definitely marching to the same drum.
There are people who take it further. In Japan, it’s called Hikikomori, but you don’t have to look far to see that the phenomena occurs in a ton of other countries and cultures too.
Essentially, Hikikomori are people – it tends to be younger people – who’ve given up on life.
They sit in their rooms without leaving, ever. They’re supported by disability benefits or parents that don’t know what to do. No education, employment or other goals in life.
Many of them sit and are addicted to computer games or otherwise balls of depression. For those of you who have time, here’s a documentary on it:
It’s pretty depressing watching if you’re an empathic person.
Imposter Syndrome; The Journey
Why is this on a blog about writing, internet and business stuff?
Because with all of those things, there’s a tendency to suffer from “Imposter Syndrome.”
You think that you couldn’t possibly be good at writing.
You think, “There’s no business or service I can do” or “I have no real talent or usable skills.”
Maybe some of the readers of this site think, “Hey… I spend all my time online and never draw the curtains… Am I one of these?”
(I hope that’s not the case.)
Now, assuming you’re not a shut-in, imagine for a moment the life of one of these people, or their parents or something.
Imagine the struggles they face with even the most basic issues. Do you think that you could help them in any way? Could you give life advice to someone who can’t feed, dress or leave their own house?
I’m not talking about therapeutic advice… I’m talking in a life advice sense.
The answer is… probably.
So when you think, “I don’t think I have a usable skill” remember that there are people who – for whatever reason – can’t even bring themselves to leave their house.
You don’t need to be some super-mathematical engineer to help people. You just need to find the niche.
You’re Only A Novice Because You Know Your Unknowns
Most people suffer from imposter syndrome – or anxiety related to their skill level – at some point.
The crazy thing about this feeling is that absolutely nobody else notices it.
Think about it this way; we can all see the opposite. When someone’s exhibiting the Dunning-Kruger effect, that is, when they’re behaving like they’re a whole lot smarter than they actually are, you can see it immediately.
But the other way around, not so much. When was the last time you thought, “Jesus that guy should really act a lot smarter than he is,” or, “that girl is totally amateur at being a person.”
When you have a skill at a level that’s remotely useful, you’ll be keenly aware of your limitations. In with that, you’ll develop insecurities.
“I’ll never be as good at chess as that guy from my school!”
“My physique will never look like a bodybuilder’s!”
“When I was a kid I didn’t get straight-A’s so I can’t possibly be smart!”
So on and so forth.
Here’s the thing: unless you’re constantly trying to punch above your weight, nobody knows your limitations. Certainly, it’s rare that anyone expects you to do stuff that you can’t. (Save for your boss, who wants ten hours of work done in three.)
You are more keenly aware of your limitations than anyone else will ever be, and for a lot of people, that shackles them into inaction.
In a business sense, this is the opposite of what you want. If you can do a job, you should do it. If you fail at first, you can improve your position, provide a better service and nobody will see anything other than a better finished product next time.
Final Thoughts
This topic has been a bit meandering, so let’s summarise in a few points:
- There are a lot of issues in the world. Millions of people suffer silently. There are always things to be fixed.
- Some people just give up. They can’t do basic stuff like look after themselves, for whatever reason.
- Therefore, you can assume that any victory you have over life, or, more importantly, any victory you can give to other people is an incredibly valuable skill.
- One could assume that there’s an obligation to give those skills and victories to the world, but we’re not a preaching blog.
- Any skill you have, you’re going to be the harshest critic.
- If you can solve a problem, then you’re good enough to solve that problem. You don’t need to be a genius. You need to solve a problem and do a good job of it.
The above is a framework for starting a business, but to get a bit moralist, it’s also a nice framework to take pride in yourself and also turn any skill into a means to fix the world and make it a better place. No ideology or ideological motive required.