Why you should focus on yourself

It is always fascinating to me how close philosophy and psychology are. One often finds parallels or at least similarities between modern studies and ancient wisdom. I stumbled across one of these similarities the other day while reading an article by Simon.

In the article Psychological phenomena explained: Spotlight effect is, as the name suggests, about the spotlight effect. To summarize the phenomenon in a few words: We humans assume that others observe us much more and more closely than they actually do. Since we are the center of our own perception, we believe that others have a very sharp eye on us. This is, of course, total hokum, because everyone is busy with themselves. If you want to learn more about the spotlight effect, I recommend you read the article linked above.

In another article where I analyze a quote from Siddhartha Gautama, the original Buddha, it is about this, that no one will save us except ourselves. At first glance, it may seem that these two articles have little to do with each other, however, I find there is almost a symbiosis between these statements.

We think that other people are always paying attention to what we do, giving them power over us. We do some things, or some things not, in order not to be condemned by others. We give up a large part of our freedom to be liked or at least not hated by others. However, most people don't even care what we do and even if they did, what would be so bad about being laughed at or ridiculed by someone else? We only have a limited amount of time on this planet and we shouldn't waste it thinking about who thinks about us and how.

We should use our time as we think best, after all, no one else will save us, we ourselves have to the way - and all the way. But if when we walk we only take care not to fall, for fear of being laughed at, then we will never make any real progress. Trying to go your way often means falling, but it also means freeing yourself from the dust after the fall and continuing to walk. If you live your life in fear of being ridiculed by others if you fall, you will spend your whole life standing in one place. It is important to put one foot in front of the other, not without reason they say that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

What is your opinion on this topic or do you know other similarities from philosophy and psychology? Feel free to write us a comment.