take easy wins. Why?

There is something in me that revolts at taking help when it’s the type of help everyone else would take. “Here, this is the way to study…” If nobody was going to take this advice, or if it required real effort to gain this advice, I would be open to it. But if a bunch of kids are raising their hands and asking the same question, I can’t stand being seen alongside them. You need help, but not me!

It’s fine to hold yourself to a higher standard if you can actually win under normal conditions. But if you are finishing 7th by your “higher standard,” you might wanna check if that standard is truly higher. Maybe it’s a defense mechanism that guarantees you never have to take a loss.

A lot of this comes back to wanting so badly to be different from everyone else. Different needs. Different desires. Different standards. Hard vs. soft. Overindexed on all this stuff.