I have an allergic reaction to aspirationalism, no matter the context or source. If someone tells me to "do better" or "become good", ironically or sincerely, my instant reaction is to start thinking of ways to do worse by the standards the person has in mind. Not a beast to feed
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what kind of inner dialogue do you use to motivate yourself, if not "do better"? Genuinely curious
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Why do you need motivational dialogue? Just doing whatever seems interesting seems to work well enough. Sometimes you grow, sometimes you degenerate, sometimes you hold steady.
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Do you actively have people telling you this now, or is this a reflection of younger years?
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Fortunately not happened to me directly+personally especially often nor or ever. Par for the course I suppose, or even slightly less than average. But there's a lot of it around now, and quite often an admonition/exhortation applies to me even if I'm not the direct target.
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Oddly enough, I was the least rebellious teenager ever. Simple open rejectionism is not actually much fun. Quiet, imaginative subversion of over-evangelized norms, served slightly chilled, is much better. That takes adult sensibilities/agency. Teens can't really pull that off.
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Yeah, such exhortations seem simplistic. I find that when someone isn’t “doing better”, what they crave is actually finely attuned nuance, or a contextually sensitive inquiry, not a platitude
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I don't mind the aspirationalism myself; it's the condescension and presumption inherent in telling complete strangers how to live that irks me. Same end result though.






